The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 131

So @BTDandFeelingThis and I are exchanging our sort of “Best of 2016” albums as a bonus.

They will be listening to:
Architects-All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
Parkway Drive-Ire

I will be listening to:
Taking Back Sunday-Tidal Wave
Jimmy Eat World-Integrity Blues

 

I’d like to welcome our newest member to the CMCS: @ShadowTh2b

I will be trading with them this week.
They will be listening to:
Fall Out Boy: MANIA

I will be listening to:
Unwritten Law: Elva

 

This Elva recommendation makes me happy

This hedgehog knows its stuff

 

QFT

 

he's seeing red because Knuckles is red

 

@ShadowTh2b and I teamed up this week and they gave me:
Unwritten Law: Elva (2002) Interscope Records

Let me start out by saying that sadly I had never heard much of this band or this record except for radio single Seein' Red. I will follow that up by saying that I am mad at my younger self for never picking this record up and giving it a chance. This record feels like it was unearthed from the southern California sand and is packed with the sounds that came from that area in the early 2000's. It's just a fun record and brings me back to my youth.

The record immediately kicks off with Mean Girl, a song Fu Manchu would proud of. This sound is revisited again on the songs Blame It On Me and Hellborn. Then it transitions into the second single on the record, Up All Night, which you could tell is a song that tweens across the country were rocking as their anthem of the year.

Sound Siren is my favorite track on record and draws the biggest comparison to Blink 182 or MxPx. The theme in this song is one that is echoed throughout much of the record and that being Scott Russo's failed relationships, a topic that has plagued pop punk since the beginning.

I had read that this was the second album released on a major label by the band and it is pretty evident on Seein' Red, the most radio friendly song on the album and one that sticks out a like sore thumb. Despite it being the odd man out, it is great song and once again brings to light Russo's love life or lack there of. I had also read this song suffered from the Nickelback plague in being played almost non-stop on the radio, which saddens me as it really is a great song.

Being signed to a major label can be hard for a punk band and there can be an identity crisis to find a good balance between the two worlds and this record is proof of that. Two other songs that ride the fence are Rest of My Life and title track Elva(It's Alright) and bring to mind other southern California act Third Eye Blind. These are insanely well written songs and fit really well in the grand scheme of the album though. As mentioned previously, this record is a great tour through southern California and especially the punk scene.

This was a great recommendation and one I will listen to VERY frequently. There are a few forgettable tracks like Rescue Me and Evolution(which has a fun voicemail from Tom Delonge at the end), but it is a great introduction to the band.

Favorite Songs:
Up All Night
Seein' Red
Hellborn
Geronimo
Actress, Model...

RIYL: Blink 182, Fu Mancu, Third Eye Blind, MxPx

8/10

 

This makes me so happy

 

Also I kinda decided to wait for my partner to message me first this week but they never did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

@mescalineeyes gave me La Bouquet- Heavy Sunshine and Hundreth -Rare B-Sides which are both eps/only a couple songs

I find it hard enough to review when there's a whole album and find it even harder with less songs, I liked the mood in the La Bouquet one but no particular song jumped out at me, with the Hundreth songs the vocals were too muddled for me to really tell what was going on

sorry bud wish I could write up more

 

I agree that EP's are hard to recommend, especially one with B-sides. I learned that I shouldn't recommend B-Sides and cover albums after I See Stars. If you have never heard of the band it's hard to get into them through that medium.

 

yeah I was wondering about cover albums in general and I think that might not work for this

 

Good to know for the future. Consider it an experiment haha

 

@Patterns in Traffic and @Fuck You Aurora I found another album for us to listen to from the 70’s.

 

Ok, @bachna84 and I did some trades, and I got a charizard, and he got blue eyes white dragon.

But for real:

I’m listening to:
Thursday - Common Existence
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

They’re listening to:
Fall Out Boy - MANIA
Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were

 

Tell me !

 

I've been listening to nothing but MANIA for the last 3 days. Album is so good!

 

This is the hit song off the album. The vocals are weird but the music is impressive.

 

I know this song from somewhere...

 

Is that your band?

 

I wish! It's Nate Ruess' (fun. / solo) old band. Their album Dog Problems is one of my all-time favorites.

 

That song played at the end of one of the Guardians of the Galaxy Telltale games and it really impressed me. I’m interested to hear the rest of the album.

 

I need an extension. I've been pretty busy and am only on my first listen. I'll write something up when I finish if that's cool.

 

YOOOOOOO.


@bachna84 gave me the 2018 album “lifoiic” by the band Author.
Over all I enjoyed this record. I definitely got some Copeland vibes, which lurking through the album thread, I wasn’t the only one.
I’m not going to lie, I only listened to it like 3 times. It’s definitely an album I can appreciate but doesn’t appeal to my current sweet spot a ton, but I’m glad i got to listen to it because i could see myself coming back to it more later in a couple months when I’m in a different musical mood.
I would have loved to see them explore more of what happens in “Is It Far Or Is It Close”. Particularly the last minute and half or so of that track, where their lead vocalist starts to add some variation in the volume of his delivery. I loved that climax, and that track is definitely a highlight for me in the album. Aside from that track, “Sonder” was probably my favorite track. Instrumentally this song TOTALLY reminds me of something that could’ve been on After Laughter (Paramore). I think Sonder has the strongest chorus for me, and that After Laughter-esque (how the hell do you spell esque?) guitar work in the verses is so awesome.
Overall, good production, groovy bass lines, catchy pop-rock tunes. RIYL Copeland and later Lydia albums maybe. Maybe even RIYL From indian Lakes. People that love those bands / albums will probably really dig this. Thanks for having me check it out!!!

 

This next week I was paired with @Nate_Johnson.

He has blessed me with the opportunity to listen to Black Rebel Motorcycles 2018 releases “Wrong Creatures”.

Meanwhile I am demanding that he listens to Typhoons 2018 recorded entitled “Offerings”.