Review: Thrice – Major/Minor

Is there a more reliable rock band than Thrice? The band was consistently delivering landmark album after landmark album in the wake of Vheissu, the ambitious The Alchemy Index, and one of my all-time favorite Thrice albums in Beggars. The band approached their eighth studio album, Major/Minor, with veteran poise under the leadership of producer/mixer/engineer Dave Schiffman, who also oversaw Vheissu (audio engineer) and Beggars (mixer). Vocalist/guitarist Dustin Kensrue described their choice of producer in an Alternative Press interview where he said, “We had him come down to our practice space when all the songs were kind of being played and [he] just kind of listened through and talked about them and made a couple changes based on little things said here or there, but it was really minimal in that regard. He was mostly just bringing his experience as an engineer and mixer, just knowing how to get the sounds nailed down. We’re really comfortable with him.” This comfort that Thrice felt with Schiffman pays major dividends as the band continued their mean streak of solid-sounding albums.

Read More “Thrice – Major/Minor”

Review: The Horrible Crowes – Elsie

Brian Fallon didn’t NEED to make Elsie. By the time this album arrived – the one and only record Fallon made with the side project he dubbed The Horrible Crowes – Fallon was already well on his way to rock star status…or, at least, it seemed that way at the time. His full-time band, The Gaslight Anthem, had released three albums and an EP in the space of three years and about two weeks – a remarkable run that saw the band gaining ground with each release. By the time Elsie arrived in September 2011, there was already buzz brewing about Gaslight Anthem LP4, and about how that album had the potential to launch Fallon and company into a whole new stratosphere. Just about anyone else would have taken a well-deserved break. Based on the exhaustion that would eventually crash The Gaslight Anthem, maybe Fallon should have. Instead, he teamed up with his guitar tech, Ian Perkins, and made one of the great left-turn albums in 21st century rock ‘n’ roll. Some days, I think it might just be his masterpiece.

Read More “The Horrible Crowes – Elsie”

Review: Longsleeves – Joyrider

It’s commonplace for me to be pitched new bands looking for my thoughts on their music, and I can’t help but feel flattered by the number of submissions I’ve received since I started writing for this site. It makes my job that much easier when being presented with music that immediately shimmers through the speakers as it does on Longsleeves debut EP, entitled Joyrider. The band is comprised of vocalist/bassist Austin Fontenot, guitarist Curtis Allison, guitarist Kyle Bauer, and drummer Matt Francis, and their charming debut is somewhere between a mix of early-Hawthorne Heights emo mixed with the polished grunge of 90’s rock acts like Smashing Pumpkins all blended with the radio-ready hooks of Gin Blossoms. The Norfolk, Virginia band has plenty to like on Joyrider, and Longsleeves are one of my “bands to watch” as their career in music seem poised for future success.

Read More “Longsleeves – Joyrider”