The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 277

DUDE! NICE! I love that one!

 

If you want more information on the band check out the labeled podcast. It is a couple guys from Emery and As Cities Burn talking about a lot of the bands on Tooth and Nail and Solid State. There is an episode devoted entirely to mewithoutyou. Let's just say Aaron Weiss is an interesting guy. Passionate, but interesting.

 

Right on! Thank you so much!

 

No probs. I'll probably do my first listen in about an hour, then my second tomorrow and then do a write up on it and try have it up here tomorrow evening UK time.

 

Really cool podcast - they have a bunch of interesting episodes. Even the ones with bands I'm unfamiliar with are intriguing.

 

Yeah, they had one with the more obscure bands on the label like Terminal, Beloved and Dead Poetic. I think they interviewed the guitarist that has been in all three and there was talk of a new Beloved album soon.

 

I had two partners this week. My first partner is @Mr. Serotonin . He assigned me Butch Walker- The Spade. I’m a casual Butch Walker fan, but I am getting more into him. Prior to this record I had heard Stay Gold and love it, and was assigned Sycamore Meadows recently right here in CMCS and also really liked that record.

The record begins with “Bodegas and Blood” and I knew from the start this was going to be another fun Butch Walker record. His records in general (from what I’ve heard) have so much energy, and he has a lot of fun with the songs. There was a nice moment in this song where everything cut out except for the vocals to have a nice big lead in to the last chorus. The song seemed very reminiscent of 90’s alternative, which I also heard a good amount of influence on when listening to Sycamore Meadows. “Every Single Body Else” was another song reminiscent of the 90’s alternative scene. I picked out some Stone Temple Pilots and Oasis influences in this one. I liked the lyrics on this, as they were pretty uplifting, positive lyrics. I especially liked the bridge:

'Cause Today we're alive
But tomorrow, we could die
But I live knowing that I love
And I'll die knowing that I've love

The next track “Summer of 89” started with some ‘whoa’ chants and set the tone for the rest of the song. This was easily one of the catchiest tracks on the album from start to finish. The ‘whoa’ chants appeared a few more times throughout the song. The song also had a cool spoken word part in the bridge that slowly built up to the last chorus, before ending on one last set of ‘whoa’s” The next track “Sweethearts” starts with a twangy guitar, but in the verses his vocals actually reminded me a lot of Rob Thomas in his delivery. There were some nice random guitar solos scattered throughout the song, and his falsetto made an appearance a few times during the song as well. “Day Drunk” starting with urgent drums and bass, and a brief guitar solo before the bass and drums pumped through the verses with Butch delivering some storytelling lyrics before seamlessly transitioning to the chorus. It was a strong track, as all of them were, but this was one of the more forgettable tracks on the record, outside of a pretty strong outro, where they toned it down and had a quiet guitar solo with the bass and drums quietly playing before bringing it back up to the standard volume towards the end of the song as it faded out. “Synthesizers” sounded like it would have been a logical single choice for this record(maybe it was?) As he’s done multiple times in the record, he referenced other bands from other time periods in a piano-driven verse that leads into a big chorus, with some unique instrumentation. I couldn’t help but tap my foot during the chorus, and I’d imagine this one would be really fun live! “Dublin Crow” completely changes the sound of the previous track with a banjo beginning the song before folk gang vocals begin the verse. This song was so enjoyable, and a really nice way to break up the record at the midway point. “Closest Thing To You I’m Gonna Find” took a really stripped down tone at the beginning of the song before the full band kicked in. The vibe of this song reminded me of a song the Counting Crows could’ve written in their peak. “Bullet Belt” had a lo-fi sound to it in the verse, with some heavy effects on the bass-line as he almost spoke his verses, before going into another massive, catchy chorus.("Mayyyyybe, I'm not that craazzzyy") This was one of my favorite tracks on the record. "Suckerpunch" ends the record, and my only complaint is it's possibly the worst song lyrically, and seems like a low point to end the record, which up until this point was incredible. It's not that it was a bad song by any means, just doesn't fit the record's vibe in my opinion.

Thanks @Mr. Serotonin for helping me search further into Butch’s discography. I need to keep digging further, as he makes fun, high energy records! I think it’s really fantastic how you can hear countless influences on his records, and that you can even hear sounds of bands he’s produced as well coming through, which shows how hands on, I’d imagine he is in the production process.

Favorite tracks: Every Single Body Else, Summer Of 89, Sweethearts, Synthesizers, Dublin Crow, Bullet Belt

 

I'm glad you liked it man! You think you'll return to some of the songs? Interesting because my favourite is prolly Bodegas and Blood.

 

First listen down. Out of interest which members of the band do we have on the forum? They all have moments where they shine on the record and it would be cool to know.

 

@CSWAPPO and @bradsonemanband

 

That was a great episode - I've always wanted to check out Terminal but I keep forgetting. Beloved's record is great.

 

CSWAPPO plays guitar and sings/screams, and I play guitar.

 

Awesome, that's what I thought but I felt I should ask! First listen is almost complete!

 

I usually don't re-visit songs, I re-visit records. I'll definitely keep this one in the rotation

 

Everybody's writing songs with synthesizers
But I don't have a synthesizer

 

That sounds like a problem you should blame on @Dumblecore

 

Dammit @Dumblecore send me synths! I can't work under these conditions!

 

@Larry David awesome review of Butch Walker there, I adore this album as it was the one that got me into Butch’s work in the first place, plus it’s super fun. Totally agree with hearing bands he’s produced coming through on some of his records.

If you want to delve even deeper I’d say go for either The Rise and Fall or Left of Self Centred next if you want more fun Butch. If you want more serious Butch go for either Letters or Afraid of Ghosts next.

Also you were right about Synthersizers being a single, it also had an incredible video to go along with it.

 

Giving the Stonefield album a listen now based on your recommendation! Good stuff!

 

Hell yes it is.

@Mary V would be proud

 

Time for a review! I will be doing the first of two albums given to me by @Bad Frequencies two weeks ago. This album is Hawthorne Heights - Bad Frequencies.



My history with this band goes back to sometime before the release of their 4th album Skeletons. I knew some of their big tracks, like Ohio is for Lovers and Niki FM, but had never actively listened to a full album by them. For some reason, I really anticipated Skeletons and really loved it and the following EP Hate, but kinda fell off after that. So I was excited to get back to this band.

Right with the first track, In Gloom, I already knew I would love this album. It starts with vocalist JT Woodruff singing gently over some piano, and then the full band kicks in and sets the tone for the many great hooks and catchy choruses scattered through this record. The song that follows might be my favorite from the album. Pink Hearts is a catchy track, like most tracks found on here, but there's also some references from past records (You know you already killed me, you know you killed me well ; Call to arms and send out your SKELETONS)

The song that follows, titled Crimson Sand, is another great track, featuring gang vocals, but is also the first one to feature the only thing that brings this record down in my opinion. I'll be honest here, the screams on this album don't sound really good. They don't make the songs bad, there's not a single bad song on this record, but they certainly don't make them better. That is my only complaint about this album.Later on, they push their sound toward a poppier direction with Edge of Town and Starlighter (Echo, Utah).

Lyrically, the album talks about being older and reminiscing about past relationships, hoping not to have hurt too many people. The closing track, Pills, talks about losing a loved one. So, basically they don't stray too far from their usual lyrical themes.

I absolutely love this album and will probably go back to check out their other stuff I missed earlier. Thanks for the recommendation!

Favorite tracks: they're all great, but I'd say Pink Hearts, Perfect Way to Fall Apart, Just Another Ghost, Edge of Town, Starlighter, Push Me Away, Pills.

9.5/10

 

Yo whoever mentioned the "Labeled" podcast earlier, thank you. I listened to the Zao episodes today and they were great.

 

Your welcome! Haha!

 

Great review! I think @Bad Frequencies goal is to get everyone to listen to the album! Haha!