Remove
Month: October 2013

Review: A Wilhelm Scream – Partycrasher

A Wilhelm Scream - Partycrasher
AbsolutePunk

Many bands who release an album after a long hiatus inevitably disappoint. Expectations are too high, inspiration isn’t what it once was, and momentum is lost. Partycrasher is a boot to the face of every flat late-career release that preceded this one. “Why’d I take so long to break these chains around me?” The band soon answers the opening self-imposed question with an admission in “Boat Builders”: “I admit I’ve been bored, I’ve been lazy.” The next 10 tracks serve as more than an adequate apology, as A Wilhelm Scream has stuck yet another jaw-dropping middle finger to the competition.

Read More “A Wilhelm Scream – Partycrasher”

Review: Katy Perry – Prism

Katy Perry - Prism
Craig Manning

The first time I heard “Roar,” the lead-off single and opening track from Prism, Katy Perry’s fourth full-length record—as well as Perry’s eighth number one hit—I thought it was a solid pop song. It had a catchy melody, a huge, arena-rock-esque hook, generic lyrics, and just about everything else you would expect from the new Katy Perry single. It was neither a great song nor a terrible one, and after coming to loathe pretty much every radio hit from both 2008’s breakthrough, One of the Boys and 2010’s world-conquering juggernaut,Teenage Dream, “solid pop song” was just about a home run for Perry in my book.

Then I started paying a bit more attention.

Read More “Katy Perry – Prism”

Review: Into It. Over It. – Intersections

Into It. Over It. - Intersections
Blake Solomon

Just short of admitting all of my neuroses to a bunch of strangers, it seems pertinent to start a review of Intersections with the beguilingly cliche statement that you’ll like this if you often find yourself alone. Evan Weiss has become known for his sheer proliferation of music, a sort-of workman in the emo age. Which is fine and true, but what you really get on a stellar album like Intersections is a painting of a person forced from the safehaven of their mind. It’s music with all of the intricate guitar, soft singing and autumn-hued loneliness we love about Into It. Over It., but these one-on-one conversations (or more often one-on-none) carry more weight. Mr. Weiss is far from talking to himself these days, and as a mouthpiece for those of us tripping through our twenties, he’s someone we need to hear.

Read More “Into It. Over It. – Intersections”
Remove

Review: Mayday Parade – Monsters In The Closet

Mayday Parade - Monsters In The Closet
Drew Beringer

I’m not really into pop-rock music anymore. That might be a shock to the people who know me/follow me on Twitter, but it’s true – the oversaturation of the genre has really turned me off to the entire sound. Despite all of my preconceived notions about this style of music, Mayday Parade always seem to write an album that needles its way into my heart. I hate using the term “guilty pleasure,” so I’m not going to use here, especially on a band that just wrote 12 huge tracks on its latest release, Monsters In The Closet – an album built for arenas. 

Now, I’m not saying the band has reinvented the wheel or anything – rather they’ve continued to refine and perfect the pop-rock sound so many fans fell in love with six years on A Lesson In Romantics. Vocalist Derek Sanders is still one of the most emphatic and charismatic front men today and he totally owns each of Monsters’ twelve tracks. “Ghosts” kicks off Monsters with Sanders singing a cappella (with the band harmonizing behind him) before kicking it into high gear. Drummer Jake Bundrick punctures through the dueling guitar riffs of Brooks Betts and Alex Garcia while Sanders carries the song’s massive hook. And honestly, nearly every song has a monstrous hook. “Girls” and “Repent and Repeat” go from zero to sixty in an instant (displaying the band’s pop-punk chops), while “Last Night For A Table Of Two” and “The Torment of Existence Weighed Against The Horror Of Nonbeing” (awesome Calvin and Hobbes reference by the way) showcase the continuous growth in the band’s songwriting (Betts and Garcia have really outdone themselves on Monsters). 

Read More “Mayday Parade – Monsters In The Closet”

Review: Panic! at The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!

Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!
Ryan Gardner

If there’s anything to be said about Panic! At The Disco it’s that they aren’t afraid to try new things. Each of their three records up to this point have sounded drastically different. But you know what, they probably don’t really care which one you like more or why. With that in mind, the band’s fourth record, the long-titled Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die, takes yet another step away from previous material. 

Demographically, this record sort of sounds like the band started down a similar path of Vices and Virtues before quickly veering down a more dance/dubstep inspired path (Side note: this is where I apologize if I am an idiot – I do not listen to dubstep, so I am only speculating that some of the instrumentation is dubstep-influenced). The explanation for this path reasoning comes very early with singles “This Is Gospel” and “Miss Jackson.” Both of these tracks basically take the pop sensibilities of Vices – I’m looking at tracks like “Memories” and “Ready To Go” – and pick up where they left off. “Whoa-oh-ohs,” repetition, and bombastic choruses start this record off on a note of addictive pop tunes.

Read More “Panic! at The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!”

Looking at the a Day to Remember Court Case; What Does It Mean?

A Day to Remember
Jason Tate

You either care about the current A Day to Remember vs Victory Records court case or you don’t, and if you do, odds are you are a little confused about just what the fuck is going on. I’m going to be speaking with the band shortly for a longer piece about the new album and the ongoing legal stuff, and we’ve already read the statements from Victory. After pouring over countless court documents, talking to a variety of legal sources, and caring way too much about this (yeah, this stuff fascinates me, in another life, I wanted to argue in a courtroom instead of a message board all day) — I’ve begun piecing together what we currently know.

Read More “Looking at the a Day to Remember Court Case; What Does It Mean?”

Review: A Day to Remember – Common Courtesy

A Day To Remember – Common Courtesy
AbsolutePunk

The law is a complicated thing, but listening to music is not. Listening to music is easy. So even though you might not be interested in learning the ins and outs of A Day to Remember’s ongoing lawsuit with (former?) label Victory Records, you can instead digest something much more straightforward: The band’s new album, Common Courtesy. And in the face of two years of drama surrounding the release of this record, it seems like an important time to remind the Internet that years down the road, people won’t remember that a band was once in a lawsuit with its label – but the record, and these songs, will be remembered. The record lasts forever.

Read More “A Day to Remember – Common Courtesy”
Remove

Judge Rules a Day to Remember Can Self Release ‘Common Courtesy’

A Day to Remember
Drew Beringer

PropertyOfZack has just received word from trusted sources that A Day To Remember have officially won its near two-year long court case against Victory Records. This story is developing and will be updated with more details as we learn more information on the matter.

UPDATE

AP.net writer, Thomas Nassiff, has reached out and recieved a statement from Victory Record’s lawyer, Robert S. Meloni.

While Victory is disappointed with the ruling, and disagrees with the court’s conclusions, it comes as no surprise. Courts rarely grant negative injunctions of this nature, but the circumstances of this case presented a unique opportunity for such a ruling. Having said that, in denying Victory’s motion, the court’s reasoning actually contained silver linings that significantly favored Victory. First, the court held that it supports Victory’s argument about the construction of the recording contract – that ADTR is still obligated to deliver two more albums to Victory — “at last equally, if not more so, than that offered by ADTR.” That is the core issue in this case and the only one that really matters in the end, so Victory is heartened that the court agreed with Victory’s position on that core issue. Also, the sole basis for the court’s denial of the injunction was that Victory would not suffer “irreparable harm” that could not be compensated by money damages if the album were to be self released, in that it has ample evidence to prove its damages against the band (in the form of lost profits if ADTR does proceed to self release Common Courtesy). That is, even if the band self releases it, Victory is likely to be awarded any profits the band makes on that album, plus additional lost profits suffered by Victory based on the fact that Victory would undeniably do a far better job at marketing the album had Victory released it, which is what Victory is known for and is the reason why ADTR signed with Victory in the first place. In sum, it is a “successful” defeat in a way, and one which Victory welcomed because of the manner in which the Court rendered its opinion.

This case will proceed to trial, and Victory is looking forward to the opportunity to vindicate the baseless claims filed by ADTR. 

Robert S. Meloni

UPDATE #2

I’m reading some blogs that ADTR “won” their two year battle. That is not all all what happened today. This ruling is strictly limited to Victory’s request for a negative injunction. In other words, it involves a small battle in a dispute that will only be resolved after a trial next year. My point was the court’s reasoning today was favorable for Victory in that it forecasts what I believe will be a victory for Victory in the end (excuse the unintended pun). 

Robert S. Meloni

UPDATE #3

I just heard from the a representative of the band: The new album will only be available through the band’s website, digitally. It will not be on Amazon or iTunes or any other digital retailer (assuming that means no Spotify either). It will not be available at shows or in any physical form. So, if you want Common Courtesy, grab it here.

Read More “Judge Rules a Day to Remember Can Self Release ‘Common Courtesy’”

Review: Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2)

Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2
Craig Manning

Making a double album is a risky proposition for any artist. Plenty of the greats, from Bruce Springsteen to the Beatles to the Smashing Pumpkins, have stumbled into the pitfalls of self-indulgence and/or plentiful filler material en route to creating their own double albums, and those records are considered the classics of the medium. Imagine what a complete double album disaster could sound like. Expansive and interconnected musical projects hardly become easier when you break them up into separate releases and space them out across several months (just ask Green Day), and it all becomes a little bit trickier when you have nearly seven years of built-up anticipation waiting on the receiving end of your return.

Such was the perfect storm of intensity waiting for Justin Timberlake when he made his comeback earlier this year with the first part of The 20/20 Experience. Timberlake’s answer to handling the “double album” pressure was, unsurprisingly, to play it cool and not tell anyone he was actually making a double album: The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2 wasn’t even announced until well after the first part had scored a just-shy-of-a-million-copies first week of sales. Timberlake also subverted expectations with the music, inflating his song lengths to the five, six, or seven minute range (if not more), meaning that his two 2013 albums have ended up with a collective running time of 144 minutes, enough music for three or four records. Needless to say, the 2013 version of Justin Timberlake has been a guy with a lot of songs to share and plenty of surprises up his sleeve.

Read More “Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2)”
Remove