The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 304

Great review! Brandon is still in Atreyu as well!

 

Ah...Google Play is lying to me then. Cool that he can maintain both!

 

I think Hell or Hellwater is his side project while Atreyu is his full time gig. Although, I'm not sure how active Atreyu is anymore. They are supposed to release a new album soon. I saw them right before they released Long Live and his vocals are still fantastic.

 

Yeah he sounds like a great vocalist. It's obvious why he wanted to make his own records on the side!

 

This week I was matched with @Night_Sky for the bonus week. One of the albums recommended was Yoncalla by Yumi Zouma, another band I've never heard of. I'm super grateful that is no longer the case!



This is an album of upbeat, lighthearted pop with delicate female vocals and mostly electronic accompaniment. Opener "Barricade (Matter of Fact)" starts off with a nice electronic beat and some guitar before the vocals enter. I foolishly thought I had this band pegged from the first 30 seconds of music, and felt like I was in for a boring listen. As soon as the chorus kicked in I was really surprised at how poppy and infectious it was. This is probably my favorite track on the album.

The next song "Text from Sweden" has vocals that project a bit more, drums that are a bit busier and hit a bit harder, and the addition of a male vocalist. This higher-energy track had me drawing comparisons to recent Tegan & Sara. Fourth track "Haji Awali" introduces acoustic guitars and has an island/beach feel. "Remember You At All" features a melody played on electronic bells and sounds musically very much like a SYML or Jome track. The vocals on this track have heavy reverb applied, which gives the whole song a light and atmospheric tone.

The eighth of ten tracks, "Short Truth," is one of the most propulsive tracks with a strong drumbeat and moments of wall-of-sound electronics. The chorus contains the most rapid vocal cadence on the album. The next track "Hemisphere" has a beautiful section where the electronic sounds cease and are replaced by a mellow acoustic guitar. The closer "Drachma" features consistent guitar plucking that serves as the rhythmic backbone of a very hypnotic-sounding track. The delicate vocal delivery is almost haunting over the simplistic music, and it's a calming and groovy soundscape to get lost in. This track always leaves me wanting to hit play and experience the album again from the beginning.

This is a pretty gentle record overall, but if you're in the mood for something pleasant, catchy, and upbeat it should be right in your wheelhouse. There are plenty of infections melodies here, but there is also a strong emphasis on rhythm and it is easy to have this album on as background music or just something to vibe to when you want to relax. As someone who has been getting more into female-fronted electropop, I really enjoyed this, and with the recent popularity of similar bands I'm surprised that there isn't more buzz for this band on this website and elsewhere. I would put this in the same ballpark as Jome, as they are both electropop artists that I had never heard of before being recommended their albums in this club. Both have left me highly impressed. If you like Tegan & Sara, The Postal Service, and the like, this is an album you should definitely seek out!

 

Glad you liked it so much man! I agree with every word. Wildfires has become one of my all time favorite songs.
Also, this band released an EP or two under the name Brother Bear first, the first of which I think is on par with this record.

 

I meant to put Wildfires as one of my favorite songs. This album will get a lot of play time from me!

 

Two weeks ago @Kiana gave me the following:

Ibeyi - Ash (XL Recordings; 2017)

I'm going to make this relatively brief as I wasn't really into this record. I can recognize that this is a well crafted record and lyrically I found the artist to tackle many political and gender issues in a tone that didn't feel as dour as most artists. Musically there were moments that grabbed me but overall I felt the artist chose experimentation in favor of melody. Ash was an interesting and intriguing listen but a record I don't think I will revisit in the near future.

Last week I received the following from @Micool1

The Almost - Monster Monster (Tooth & Nail; 2009)

I'm going to start off right away saying that I loved this record. I'm not sure why I never checked out The Almost in the past especially since They're Only Chasing Safety and Define the Great Line are favorite albums of mine. I was immediately surprised by Aaron's ability to write such catchy pop/rock songs. There is certainly a country/southern tinge to some of the songs such as "Hand Grenade" and "No I Don't" which give the record a welcome detour from the norm. There are moments when The Almost remind me of a more "scene" version of the Foo Fighters in a good way. I will return to this record and I'm excited to check out their other records.

 

This past week I was assigned I Can Make A Mess- The World We Know by @CSWAPPO When he sent over his list, this was an easy choice for me. I absolutely adore the Early November, and enjoy Ace’s solo stuff, but have somehow never taken the time to check out I Can Make A Mess. I was very excited to check this out.

The record starts off with “Sleep Means Sleeping” which starts off almost atmospheric with an acoustic guitar cutting in and out, before chimes and Ace’s vocals join the guitar which continuously plays going forward. The vocals start of quiet and faded, before his easily distinguishable voice comes in with some nice female backing vocals. “Old Man” was my first instant favorite on the record, which featured very good acoustic guitar, even adding a little bit of twang to this song. As always, Ace’s voice was spot on too. “You’re Not Good At Talking Anymore” featured some more fantastic guitar playing. This track could have fit into an Early November record comfortably. “Rosary” started with a nice violin part, and continued with the mostly mellow atmosphere on the record. It’s a welcome change from the projects I’m used to hearing from Ace. “No Idea Where I’m Going” is one I wish was a little longer (1:36) because it was almost a little folky, and was a nice little ditty. “Stop Smoking Because It’s Not Good For You” besides being a great song title, was another song I could almost hear being on an Early November record. It was a fun, catchy track. I feel like I might have caught an Early November callback in the lyrics too:

Now the dirt from the yard blew away so far,
Growing more each day 'til we saw
It became a mountain range and I just stared and blinked

To me I thought that might be a callback to “The Mountain Range In My Living Room” from the incredible record The Room’s Too Cold. “100 Dollar Bills” picked back up with the acoustic songs, and this one one of the highlights on the record for me. I could see this being a fun one for him to do live with good crowd interactions, especially with the “la la la’s” “Baby Steps” was another fantastic acoustic track with light drums and bass accompanying it. When he sang out the lyrics the last 30 seconds or so of the song, was the highlight of the track. “Light Voices Long Rides” was another short acoustic number that led into the last track “Telling Me Goodbye” This track felt like a proper closer, and was one of my favorites off the records. It had a pounding bassline, with sporadic, staccato drums that continued building as the song went on. It also had some very nice harmonies.

This was a very difficult review for me to write because I absolutely love Ace, and already knew he was incredibly talent. What can be said about Ace Enders that hasn’t been said before? I’ve always known Ace was talented, especially at singing, but I never realized he was this good of a guitar player until hearing this record. My only complaint with the record is it doesn’t feel like a proper record because of the way that it flows. It sounds more like a collection of songs he’d compiled over the years and turned into a collection of songs than a proper studio record. I’m so excited to check out the rest of his I Can Make A Mess project, and a part of me is excited that I’ve waited this long to check this project out. Checking out the rest of it will be a nice hold over until the next Early November record comes out!

Favorite Tracks: “Old Man” “You’re Not Good At Talking Anymore” “No Idea Where I’m Going” “100 Dollar Bills” “Telling Me Goodbye”

 

Glad you liked it! I think Hand Grenade might be my favourite on that record. Also the Foo Fighters comparison is even more pronounced on their last album Fear Inside Our Bones. I really wish they do another album one day.

 

Nice! I'll move to that one next. I remember hearing the first single or a single from the debut record way back when it came out and being a little meh on it so I never really got around to checking them out.

I heard on a podcast maybe 6 months ago or so that Aaron basically said The Almost was done.

 

That's a shame, they made great stuff. What I heard was that The Almost was on the backburner because of the band members busy schedule, but it was a couple years ago.

 

When Underoath slows down I can see Aaron getting The Almost back together. It's not like they weren't successful.

 

Great write up. They are a band that is deceptively catchy and very easy listening, while not sonically in the same vein they remind of The xx because of this. Definitely dive into the rest of their discography if you liked this. If you want more Electropop/Synthpop orientated material they compiled their earlier EP's together (with their original vocalist), 'Willowbank' their sophomore album leans little less on the electronics.

 

Woooooo! Glad you liked it! I really think its such a solid rock album for sure. My favorites are Gimme Love and Come Alive, and agree with the closer being the only real weak track on the album.

I don't really care for their 2017 Vista. It's such a 180 from this album which is a shame as they are really talented. They do have a 2013 EP called The Other Side which is great and I suggest. I can get it to you if you can't find it, so let me know!

Since Long Live, they haven't really toured the Midwest at all so I haven't seen them in yeeaaarrrssss. I really need to, Long Live was great and has some of their best stuff

 

Thanks! I found the EP and Vista on Google Play. How is Vista different?

 

Thank you @Nate_Johnson for my 2,000th like. I feel appreciated.

 

It has the same rock sound kinda, but all just more bland and doesn't have the guitar work and vocal melody that made Begin Again memorable. I haven't listened to it in awhile so I hope I'm wrong.

 

Haha! It’s my pleasure!

 

THRICE Sign With Epitaph Records, Premiere Song, Announce Fall Tour

 

I've listened to the radio rip so much over the weekend. Glad to have a high quality version finally!

 

I’ve heard it on XM at least 10 times and this version doesn’t seem as high quality for some reason. Either way, it’s nice that everyone can finally hear it.

 

Kev do you want another album this week

 

In all seriousness though, seeing that post made me feel old as hell. I was 18 when that came out

 

Speaking of Metallica: