The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 153

I only mentioned it because he has an account on here and you tagged him in your post. Glad you enjoyed the record!

 

Okay, this review will not be as good as my other review i did this week haha. Last week the other album @BTDandFeelingThis gave me was "Crimson", by Alkaline Batteries



So, its funny that this review wont be nearly as long as my Black Parade review because as a whole i enjoyed this album more haha. Another funny thing about this album being given to me this week, was it made me remember that there IS an Alkaline Trio song that i LOVE (Armageddon - shout out to Tony Hawk Underground circa like 2003 lol)... anyway, listening to this album inspired me to check out the album that Armageddon is on (From Here To Infirmary) and i actually like that album more than Crimson hahah. I think it is a little more punk~~ or something, i dont know, but FHTI was definitely a littttle more my thing.

anyway, this album haha. Very strong opening. Time To Waste is a banger of an opener, and it actually really reminds me of Northstars "Pollyanna" to be honest. Time To Waste is my favorite song on this album, no doubt. that chorus is frickin awesome. like that chorus can get stuck in my head so freakin easily. Mercy Me is another favorite from listening to it this week. i dont really have much negative to say at the moment. its a record ill be returning to so i can see how much staying power it has on me. it helps that there are a couple tracks i really really like to pull me back in. But like i said earlier, ill also be listen to FHTI ha. I also, wanna say i love the bands other vocalist.

Something that made me like this album more than TBP was the vocals. honestly, these vocals are more down my alley. I like that bud isnt given it 112% every single lyric. Sometimes on TBP i just wish Gerard Way would like take it down an octave and give me a lower register. i tend to like lower register vocals.

Overall, good album. nothing groundbreaking IMO, just a good alt rock whatever album. Glad Kev gave me this one.

 

Glad to hear it went over so well and that you likexone of my favorite albums :) good wrote Up. And I too discovered them because of Armageddon being on the Tony Hawk Underground Soundtrack lol

 

Alkaline Batteries

 

Lol that was a joke

 

Hahah I thought it was autocorrect

 

Last week I was paired up with @Nate_Johnson and he recommended the new album by Marmozets, Knowing What You Know Now. I had never heard of this band until I saw a handful of people bringing them up in the comments of the “Albums in Stores” post a few weeks ago. I did give the album one listen prior to this rec based off of that, but I knew I needed to dive deeper and spend more time with it.



This album is just one banger after another. Really strong, impassioned vocals from Becca Macintyre throughout, backed by mostly fast-paced, hard-hitting, rock/punk style music. I’m very surprised that this band doesn’t have more buzz on this site, because it seems like something that a lot of folks here would enjoy.

The album kicks off with the infectious “Play,” which sees Macintyre spitting out a choppy verse over a bed of guitar riffs before the song explodes into a catchy, wall-of-sound alt-rock chorus. This template is followed through a number of the songs on the album, with the verses more riff-based and the choruses more full-sounding with layered chords and melodic, powerful vocals. That is not intended as a criticism, as the band is truly adept at creating compelling songs in this manner. Track two, “Habits,” generally follows this structure, though it creates a beautiful moment in the first chorus by turning it on its head. The punishing riffs pull back, leaving Macintyre delivering the first half of the chorus almost acapella. These small moments really pay off in the midst of a largely chaotic album, and it becomes all the more apparent how captivating Macintyre’s vocals are.

“Meant to Be” features a bit more of a hardcore edge, with Macintyre unleashing some screams over the heavy riffage of the bridge. This is followed immediately by “Major System Error,” which may be the most pop-tinged song on the album with some high-pitched yelps from Macintyre and a very catchy vocal hook in the chorus. I could see a song like this doing very well on rock radio.

There is a softer side of Marmozets that is revealed in a few songs on this album, namely “Insomnia,” “Me & You,” and “Run with the Rhythm.” Macintyre’s voice carries these tracks, and it is no surprise that she sounds great even within the construct of a ballad. Even on the slower songs, the band tends to inject bits of heaviness into the background to keep the listener engaged.

If I had one criticism of this album, it would be that the middle section, after the listens I’ve completed, is less memorable than the beginning and end. Of course, this is the case with many albums, and these songs are still enjoyable enough to make the album as a whole very strong.

Overall, I was really impressed with this album, and it’s on the short list of my favorites I’ve heard so far in 2018. Highly recommended!

Essential tracks: Play, Habits, Major System Error, New Religion, Run with the Rhythm

 

Great review and I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s sitting in my top three for this year so far!

 

I was given a couple of albums by @BTDandFeelingThis, the first was Jimmy Eat World - Futures.



The band need little-to-no introduction around these parts and I had been a huge fan of Bleed American. But after that release, they dropped off my radar into the most casual of listens and I never sat and spent time with a release since Bleed American from start to finish, that's despite me seeing them live on the UK festival circuit a few times over the years and always loving their performances. Futures rectified a good few years of that very mistake.

I was immediately hooked by the direct hit of the opening (and title) track - full of crunchy guitars, angelic harmonies and the call-to-arms vocal style Jim Adkins performs so well which is even more pertinent here with a song about the elections and voting (from what I gather). For some reason I'd envisioned an album full of the more mellow side of JEW, I had no reference point for this so I was immediately surprised, welcomingly so, when "Just Tonight" propelled the energy further up a notch. "Work" was what I expected the entire album to be like, but that's by no means the band falling into a negatively associated, pre-conceived stereotype of mine. The backing vocals from Liz Phair and its classic mixtape style make it feel like a worthy single and one that will have soundtracked so many lives upon release, and I'm sure continues to do so.

From there the album starts to lose my attention a little with the middling pace of "Kill" and a melody that occupies the verses of "The World You Love" that I swear I've heard several times before. However, the first track which I'd heard many times, "Pain" kicks in and I'm right back in any one of the festival crowds, where I'd find my respect and enjoyment of the band re-invigorated. Futures hits the high-pace marks so so accurately that anything that fits a more mid-tempo stream on the record feels like it's slightly lacking. I know they're not a band whose trademark is relentlessly energetic rock songs, but they set a new bar for themselves here with the likes of "Futures", "Just Tonight" and "Pain" that it's hard for me to not want more and more of that upon several listens. It's not to say I only enjoy albums that set a tone and stick to it, with no room to breathe creatively, but Futures nailed a sound I'd love to have heard even more of. "Drugs Or Me" is beautiful, but slightly meandering, "Polaris" has such soaring guitar tones and Adkins' breathy vocals remind me of Pinback in a brilliant way, but the chorus leaves me wanting more. It's a theme I find with this record, there are a few tracks that I absolutely love, but there's moments I really wish for more too. Moments that I wouldn't expect rather than a chorus I could imagine before the first verse had even finished.

Then, "Night Drive" comes along. This is the song I'd known the most from this record after it was included on a Mix CD sent to me by a girl I used to know who lived across the ocean in California. Not only is it so captivating as a song, so enthralling but it's shrouded in such a specific mood that it legitimately transports me to a near out of body moment. Without realising it until sitting with this whole album I'd certainly include it in one of my favourite songs of all time, a lot of that is attributed to nostalgia and personal experience with it of course, the haunting melody and consistent ethereal soundscape put me right in an American open road scenario full of a clear night sky. Adkins' delivering lines towards the end through gritted teeth always got me, and it gets me in exactly the same way almost 15 years later. A masterpiece of a song.

Ultimately, I have such a respect for the band and will always have time for them. But my relationship with them is just the same as when at a music festival: when ever I'm there, I do make time for them and I do always have fun, but I wouldn't necessarily prioritise them or go out of my way to catch them outside of that scenario.

There is music that we can have attachments or memories to that are cherished dearly, but revisited with fondness less frequently than others. There's no less respect, just a reserved space for specific times. Just like Jimmy Eat World.

Recommended Tracks: "Futures", "Just Tonight", "Night Drive"

 

Such a great write up. I’m glad you loved the album so much it’s one of my all times

 

Great review! I listened to this and enjoyed it as well.

 

Thank you! Thank you for rec'ing it too. I just edited it a little after re-reading haha.

 

We most definitely agree on this one. One of my favorites of all time as well.

 

Both because of me. LOVE FUTURES FOR ALL!!


Excited for the next review Wall!

 

Starset with special guests Grabbitz & Year of the Locust
House of Blues Cleveland
February 3, 2018

Prior to the start of the CMCS I had heard of Starset, but I wasn't familiar with any of their material. That changed during session 3 when @BTDandFeelingThis assigned me their debut album Transmissions (see my review here: The Chorus Music Club Society). I enjoyed the album a good amount and planned to check out their second (and most recent) full-length album Vessels sometime in the near future. I hadn't gotten around to checking out when @BTDandFeelingThis and I were paired together again during the bonus session we had around the holidays and he assigned it to me then. I enjoyed Vessels even more than Transmissions (see my review here: The Chorus Music Club Society) and I mentioned in my review that I'd like to see them in February when they came to Cleveland. I was pleasantly surprised when my very generous friend @BTDandFeelingThis bought me a ticket to the show! Here's my review of the show.

I arrived at the House of Blues around 7:30 PM on Saturday evening. The show was scheduled to start at 8 PM, but I didn't want to risk getting there late as I always make a point to catch the openers even if I'm not familiar with them. Going into the show, I wasn't familiar with Year of the Locust or Grabbitz at all. It was a good thing that I got there early, because Year of the Locust took the stage around 7:45 PM. I would classify them as hard rock/radio rock. They had pretty heavy guitars for the most part, but there were one or two slower songs/ballads. I didn't care for the vocals at times. I'd say that the vocals were about 95% clean singing and 5% screaming/growling. I will give the band credit for being energetic. Their lead singer moved around a ton to try to get the crowd into it, which I guess is what you want from an opener. They played 7 songs and for a total of 25 minutes. My favorite song that they played was called Broken Now and I would recommend them for fans of Seether, Godsmack, etc.

After a very brief break (only about 10 minutes), Grabbitz took the stage. Grabbitz is an EDM DJ who sings and/or raps over the beats. I'd say about 3/4 was singing and the rest was rapping. I enjoyed his rapping more. The beats were pretty good (I don't listen to much music like this, so I can't really expound much here), but overall it wasn't really my thing. He was definitely giving a lot of effort and moving around and interacting with the crowd a lot. Overall, he didn't get much crowd response, but it's not too surprising given that he's on a tour with two hard rock bands. My favorite song that he did was probably the final one in his set which is called My Cloud.

After about a 30 minute break, Starset took the stage. I've been to a lot of concerts of the past 15 or so years, but I could tell right away that this was going to be a unique experience. From a visual aspect, it was quite an experience. The guitarist, bassist, and drummer all wore astronaut outfits which was something that I'd never seen a band do before. The videos that played in the background throughout the show and the lighting effects really complimented the performance well.

Musically, Starset sounded spot on. I was very happy with their setlist (the Cleveland one isn't posted, but it's the same as this one: Starset Setlist at Highline Ballroom, New York) as 11 of the 17 songs they played came off my favorite album of theirs - Vessels. I thought they did a nice job with the setlist that they developed in terms of sequencing. They started out with 5 songs in a row off of their newest album Vessels, followed by 4 songs in a row off their debut album Transmissions. After that, they played a couple of acoustic songs and their violinist and cellist took a spot on center stage along with Starset's lead singer. Starset officially has 4 members (lead singer, drummer, guitarist, bassist) but they tour with a violinist and a cellist which adds a lot of depth to their songs. After those two acoustic songs, they played several more songs that were a mix of Transmissions and Vessels songs.

All in all, it was a fantastic performance and I wouldn't hesitate seeing them live again! It was a very unique experience and I was very impressed that their songs sounded just as good live as they do on their albums. It'll be exciting to see what direction this young band takes in the future.

The highlights of their set for me were Frequency (the bass in that song sounded awesome live), Last To Fall, Carnivore (probably my favorite Transmissions song that they played), Telepathic (one of the two acoustic songs they played - unfortunately there was a lot of talking going on in the area by me during that song, but it was still great), Ricochet (my favorite song of theirs and probably the highlight of the set for me), and Bringing It Down.

I said it during my reviews, but I'd recommend Starset to fans of Thirty Seconds To Mars, Breaking Benjamin, and Skillet. If any of this interests you, I'd recommend checking out some of their tracks that I listed above. Or you can just wait until you're paired with @BTDandFeelingThis and he'll assign it to you ;)

Thanks again for the ticket @BTDandFeelingThis !

Here are a few pictures that I took:

View attachment 13968

 

Dude great write up of the first ever CMCS inspired concert. It sounds like everything I heard about their live performance (atmospheric, unique, etc) was right on point. I’ve been told there’s nothing like it. Very excited to see them myself in March and glad you got into them like I did

 

Kyle how have you not heard Futures before? I feel like that’s one of the big “AP” albums from back in the day.

Anyways I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s not my fav record by them but it’s definitely got some of my fav tracks by them on it.

 

Haha, I'd heard songs but the point of this is to say yes to albums you have never sat and listened to whole before or maybe only listened to once - this was the case here. I'd listened to cuts from it but I've never dedicated time to it from start to finish for a decent amount of time. I know it's still a bit off though for such a big band/album in the scene. Glad I did though, but "Night Drive" is still my favourite.

 

I didn’t realise the rules extended to albums you’d maybe listened to once or twice, that’ll make it so much easier to recommend albums.

 

There really aren't any RULES per se, lol

 

What are the other two in your top three?

 

The new Author and the Shame album. BRMC is getting up there as well.

 

Author is great. I'll have to check out Shame.

BRMC is probably tops for me so far this year, Marmozets isn't far behind.

 

I haven't heard a single song yet, but I already know Thrice will be my top this year.

 

That Marmozets album is great, Becca sounds amazing on it. It’s also great to see them experimenting with their sound on tracks like Insomnia and Run With The Rhythm