The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 228

I feel like I have heard the name and possibly seen him open at a concert. When I was reading your review I was thinking of where I heard that name. It’s kind of gnawing at my brain to be honest.

 

I saw him open up for Dashboard Confessional at the 10 year anniversary tour for Swiss Army Romance.

 

I want to say I saw him when he opened for the bouncing souls and gaslight anthem.

 

A couple days late, but it is time to hammer these out. Thanks for your patience, everyone. First up, @SamLevi11

Neckdeep-Lifes Not Out To Get You

Neckdeep is one of those bands that I had heard a lot about and heard a few songs, but never really sat down and gave them a good, honest listen. I had heard some of their first album, so I was curious to see if this 2015 album was what could make these guys click with me. This melodic pop punk band from the UK had always been named in my wheel house when people talked about my music, so I had high hopes going in. Did they match up?

This album is reminiscent of bands such as Sum 41 and Blink-182, which should be a for sure indicator of how I liked it. The production on the album is great, and the riffs are beautiful. There is a level of sound on this album that even with it being their sophomore album they seem to have found a stride that they are comfortable in. The album is filled with massive choruses, anthemic vibes, kick ass riffs, and some very nice aggression mixed with melodic vocals. The first track 'Citizens of Earth' was nice, but didn't sell me; but the minute I heard ' Threat Level Midnight' kick in I was sold. This song was one that made me go "This is what I was hoping this would be!", and then from there that feeling did not leave. That song is a prime example of the break neck speed song this band performs so well on this album, and in my opinion would have been a better intro song than COE. You also though, have songs like 'Lime St', which while still melodic and very much fitting on the album are in some ways a bit more restrained than the rest of the cuts in the tracks. Each song contains these powerful melodic hooks that will be stuck in your head for days, especially 'The Beach Is For Lovers', which was by far my favorite song on the entire album. You also have the wonderfully mellow acoustic "December", which still manages to sit nicely within the faster paced up beat songs. While this album ended with a song that did not really work as a closer, 'Rock Bottom' it still was a good song that I found myself returning to on repeat listens. 'I Hope This Comes Back To Haunt You' would have made a much better closer, and contains some amazing drumming and catchy guitars, this one just kicks especially in the chorus.

This album was a good listen. It had a couple minute, small faults, but in the grand scheme of things those were nothing compared to the riveting shreds and pop punk bliss that this album contains. If you are a fan of this genre and have not listened to this album, this will be an album you will enjoy. My Stand out tracks had to have been 'Threat Level Midnight', 'Cant Kick Up The Roots', 'Lime St.' , 'Serpents, and 'The Beach Is For Lovers'. This album especially works well when driving in the car, which is where I found myself prefering to listen to it, its good driving music.
8/10

Note: After writing this review, I was notified of the accusations surrounding the band. You may want to look into that before deciding to listen for yourself



Seaway- Colour Blind


If I could recall the amount of times that @skurt wanted me to listen to a Seaway album, I don't think I could even put a number on it. I had listened to some on his behalf, but this was the first time I was going to sit down with a full fledged album of theirs, and in all honesty I had no idea what to expect. What I came to discover, just like Neckdeep, was an energetic pop punk album filled with thumping drum lines, shredding guitar riffs, and just a good time. At 38 minutes long, this album is a very quick listen and it doesn't waste a moment of that time. Filled with memorable lyrics, catchy hooks, and a sound that just made you want to get up and move around while listening to the album, I can see why people enjoy this album. In places they kind of reminded me of State Champs and Hit The Lights, which is a very good thing. This album commands your attention, but it does it in a way that it deserves it.

Musically, this is straight and well done pop punk, with guitar riffs and a shredding sound that would have been great to have listened to back in my skateboarding days; but is still just as great these days. The lovely stretch of 'Trick(So Sweet), 'Freak' and 'So Sweet' is my favorite on the album, and a definitely engaging 1-2-3 punch that had me up and doing things around the house with my head bobbing the entire time. Each of these songs stands strong in their own right, but when its one after another you cannot help but love the flow of this album; and that is not just cornered to these 3 songs. Lyrically, these songs deal with the heartbreak of a wrecked love, and the ferocity of the music matches the powerful lyrics that they encompass. Each song stands out with memorable moments too, whether Its lyrics, or delicious riffs like the intro to 'Airhead', your head will have something from this album in it in the back of your mind for quite a while after your first listen. Some songs have a catchy aggression to them, such as 'The Day That She Left', which has some of the best punk guitar work of these songs; and its a ferocious song that musically runs at a rush speed and contains one of the best choruses on the entire album. Another thing to note is that none of these songs are repetitive, each song has its own unique sound that is well sequenced and sits perfectly on the album, can be identified as a by itself work, and also works well as a whole album listen.

This album was a damn fun listen, and I regret being so stubborn to start listening to these guys. I listened to this album many times through the past few weeks, and will be doing more so with their other releases in the days to come as I have decided to delve into their entire discography. Fun, catchy, fast pop punk that hooks into you and draws you in, making you just want to embrace these songs. This was a sweet listen, and I am glad I experienced it. The stand out songs are; 'Trick(So Sweet), 'Freak', 'Still Weird', 'Stubborn Love', 'Air Head', 'The Day She Left', and 'Turn Me Away'.

9/10

 

@Cody yours are coming tomorrow!

 

@JediMasterKevo182 if I were you I wouldn’t listen to Neck Deep. They’re bad people.

 

He was legally obligated.

 

He was doing it for a review. Moving along.

 

Alright here's my second review from last week on the behalf of @Patterns in Traffic

Paris, Texas - Like You, Like An Arsonist (2004)

Going in I've never heard these guys before and I wasn't really sure what to expect. The album kicks off with a tune called " Bombs Away " it starts off with a pretty groovy baseline, the chorus is a banger with crunchy guitars witch I dig. Now, I'm not sure if anybody remembers a band by the name of S.T.U.N. but this band gives that sound somewhat and the singer really reminds of Bobby Alt a little bit. The next song " Action Fans ! Help Us ! " is another groovy track and I hear a little Beatles influence in the mix, this song is just straight up good old Rock N Roll. Honestly this album is pretty much just straight up Rock N Roll, It's got that pretty sweet early 2000 sound. I'm honestly surprised these guys didn't take off. They have catchy tunes and an awesome sound ! Not to mention they put on a pretty tight rock show. Such a solid and fun rock record.

 

I completely forgot about Paris, Texas! I have that album lying around somewhere. It's a fun listen!

 

I never heard of it before this!

this has me curious

 

Nice review! Love this album. One of those forgotten gems that never really took off but could have been big with a few lucky breaks.

I remember reading a review of this album when it was released that said that every song sounded like it could be played in the background of a triumphant scene from a teen movie. The reviewer meant it as a criticism, but it always stuck with me as a pretty good description of why I like this album. It's just fun, lighthearted, well-written and performed rock and roll with commercial appeal.

That Late Show footage is awesome haha. YouTube is a treasure sometimes.

 

[AMATORY] - 6 (2017)



So @nickyeatworld gave me this album last week to review and due to life stuffs I've just been really busy and have only just got round to reviewing it now, sorry about that Nicky.

I'd never heard of this band before so I was looking forward to checking it out. Nicky told me they were a Russian Metal band in a similar vein to Bring Me The Horizon.

I enjoyed this album from the few listens I've been able to give it, they reminded me a fair bit of the last Bring Me album That's The Spirit, just with a bit more weight behind the guitars, they also bring in a few electronic elements here and there throughout the album. Musically on some of the heavier tracks it also reminds me a little of Architects.

All the vocals on this album are in Russian so I couldn't really connect with them but the vocalist seemed quite good and he seems to take a fair amount of influence from the two bands I mentioned above in the 2 vocal styles he sings in (Bring Me for the more melodic singing and Architects for the screaming).

Overall I liked this album and it was nice to have on in the background while I was working. There were some great melodies throughout this album especially in the vocals. It kinda reminded me how I loved all the early albums by the Japanese punk band FACT, where I don't always understand the vocals but I enjoy just rocking out to it.

As a side note Nicky informed me that this band had some drama recently where the vocalist Slava Sokolov was kicked out the band. This was due to him going on a Russian XFactor/American Idol style show and explaining his reason for being on the show as something like that heavy music had peaked long ago. The other guys from the band took this personal and booted him out. Which I think is a shame as his melodies really brought something to this band.

Favourite Tracks: Прощай, Имя Война and Другие (I have no idea how to pronounce any of these)

RIYL: Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Metalcore with pop hooks.

 

Nice to see you enjoyed them. I just chucked a load of bands in that list and forgot about the issues there was with Neck Deep's drummer and former guitarist. Despite that, it's still one of my favourite pop punk albums, and always puts me in a good mood. I agree with pretty much all of your points, although I'm not huge on Serpents.

I was nervous about giving you Seaway as they seem a little more divisive, but I'm glad you dig it. They have a consistent discography, with great songs all the way through, 'Shy Guys', 'Alberta', 'Airhead' and 'London' are probably my favourites and they are all on different releases.

 

Great review man! And yeah that FACT records were jams

 

I need to check this out!

 

This sounds intriguing, but the Russian vocals are probably going to put this pretty low on my list of priorities

 

The band Kvelertak sings all in Scandinavian but it still doesn’t take away from what you feel from the music. Even when they signed to Roadrunner they didn’t sing in English!

 

It was a pleasure !

 

I feel the same with Alcest too, they sing in French and Shelter (from 2014) is one of the best records I've discovered this year.

 

I understand that russian sounds pretty strange for foreign ear. Even I am not a big fan of russian language in music and I am the native speaker.

You can just check two official videos from that Amatory record to decide if the whole record worth checking

 

I don't speak a bit of Italian, but I truly appreciate nearly 3 albums' worth of Italian techno music. The English translations are pretty good, but I find myself going back to the Italian originals more often than not.

 

I don’t expect every band to sing in English. I’ll also listen to non-English speaking artists, all I said that it was low on my list ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Wow! His vocals are almost exactly like Sam’s from Architects.

Also, what is up with the dancers in both videos?!

 

I am not sure. As far as i know their drummer is big rnb/hip-hop fan so maybe they were influenced by these genres' music videos and decided to use dancers in videos.