Review: The Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good

Adam Grundy Oct 14, 2022

The sophomore album by The Promise Ring, called Nothing Feels Good, is largely credited for its influence in starting a wave of movement in the emo genre. The record has now turned 25 years old, so I thought it would be a great idea to revisit just what made this album so damn special. The album was produced by J. Robbins, and the cover art features a shot of Trimper’s Rides in the heart of the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. The album title also inspired author Andy Greenwald to use it for his great, comprehensive guide of emo music called Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo that I thoroughly enjoyed reading when it was released. What made The Promise Ring so endearing was their mix of power pop chords paired with a heart on their sleeves approach to their lyrics that led to several quotable moments within their songs. Nothing Feels Good is an endearing collection of 12 slick emo anthems that deservedly earned their time in the spotlight today.

Adam Grundy Oct 12, 2022

Has there ever been a more emo opening on an album than on The Wonder Years “Doors I Painted Shut” as lead vocalist Dan Campbell croons, “I don’t wanna die / At least not without you / Alone here in the August heat / In the shadows of the afternoon”? The Wonder Years’ latest studio album, entitled The Hum Goes On Forever, may be their best record to date and features several unique callbacks to the sound they have perfected over their collective careers. The set was produced by Steve Evetts and veteran hit-maker Will Yip, and the album sounds like a million bucks. The Hum Goes On Forever also features two outside collaborators/writers on “Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)” (Mark Hoppus) and “Oldest Daughter” (Ace Enders), and showcases a band blossoming gracefully in the later stages of their career.

After the cautious opening song, the album explodes into “Wyatt’s Song (Your Name),” the third single released, and possibly one of my favorite songs that the band has ever crafted to date. I found the verse of “I found glass in the garden / Dug it up with my thumb / I won’t let you cut your feet / When you learn to run / But you learned to say, “Moon” / So, we waved from your room / He called to you like it might come to you,” to be particularly well-written since it reminded me a bit of the relationship I have with my kids and wanting to protect them from the worst situations.

Adam Grundy Oct 11, 2022

I would like to introduce everyone to Band of Silver, an alternative rock band out of Nashville, Tennessee that has all the right tools working in their favor for sustained success in the music industry. The band, which is comprised of three siblings, worked under the direct tutelage of veteran producer Mike Green (Paramore, All Time Low) to helm the songs that would become Something Stronger. This frenetic mix of arena-ready anthems showcases the band’s ability to convey a wide range of emotions through their slick pop songs.

Adam Grundy Oct 7, 2022

Hard rockers Drowning Pool have returned with their latest full-length effort entitled Strike A Nerve. The band stormed onto the metal scene with their single “Bodies” in 2001 from their now-legendary record Sinner, but the untimely passing of original vocalist Dave Williams left the band unsure of where to turn to next. The lead vocalist turnstile would continue over the band’s tenure, as current lead vocalist Jasen Moreno is the latest to carry the mantle. Strike A Nerve sounds like a band re-focused, and hungry to take back the airwaves on the coveted Hard Rock radio top spot.

Adam Grundy Oct 7, 2022

Petal Crush comes from the talented mind of Andy Petrusky, who left behind a promising professional tennis career to devote his life to music. The latest single, called “Of Course Of Course” comes from the project’s new EP entitled Lucky Ever After, which will be released everywhere you stream your music on October 18th. This song channels a new wave-esque approach with its vibrant 80’s pop guitars that help frame the art around Petrusky’s vocals. The single unfolds nicely as it picks up momentum to a dream-pop chorus.

Petal Crush would fit in well for fans of The XX, Cold War Kids, and The Killers, and I came away fairly impressed with Petrusky’s approach to songwriting on this song that is fairly simple in its construction, yet has several earworms within it to be memorable. If this is the style that Petal Crush is going for, I’ll be very much looking forward to the rest of the material once Lucky Ever After drops later this month.

Review: Catbite – Nice One

Adam Grundy Oct 5, 2022

There’s nothing more rewarding than going to a concert and discovering a new band that re-captures your love for a certain genre of music. I attended a concert in DC over the weekend for Anti-Flag, and the supporting band, Catbite, really blew me away with their live performance and overall showmanship in winning over the crowd. Catbite’s sophomore effort called Nice One is a thrilling listen from start to finish, and re-captures my love for ska, especially when it’s this well done. The Philadelphia-based band formed in 2018 and is comprised of lead vocalist Brittany Luna, guitarist Tim Hildebrand, bassist Ben Parry, and drummer Chris Pires. Their ska/punk sound strays somewhere between early No Doubt, paired with Less Than Jake, while mixing in some well-placed organs similar to Motion City Soundtrack. Nice One certainly lives up to its name.

Adam Grundy Oct 4, 2022

The legendary record, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, by Dead Kennedys has recently been remastered by Chris Lord-Alge, and has officially been re-issued as of last Friday. Given this recent exciting news, I figured I would take a walk back through the band’s debut studio album to see how it sounds through some fresh ears. Lord-Alge shared, ““Revisiting Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was such an inside peek at a band packing so much excitement onto tape for every song. The style and playing has such drive and spirit. The big challenge for me was keeping it honest to its original sound and not letting it become modern but improving the separation and clarity. A major chapter in history for Dead Kennedys.” With such steadfast dedication to making each and every song come alive again, Dead Kennedys can look back fondly on this reissued set that packs a nice new shiny punch to it.

Adam Grundy Sep 30, 2022

The sophomore effort from Good Charlotte was by far their most successful record, selling over 3.5 million copies in the United States alone. The Young and the Hopeless features plenty of crisp pop-punk production, courtesy of veteran hit-maker Eric Valentine, and the band spent nearly three months crafting the recordings. While many critics panned the new material, fans of pop-punk and fans of their earlier material were able to find plenty to enjoy on the album. The record rips into a introductory track called “A New Beginning” and the hard-nosed guitar parts in the instrumental song signaled a cosmic shift in the direction Good Charlotte were taking their sound. The leaning towards darker material in their songs showed that the band were not comfortable with simply re-hashing the same sound on every album or song, and it would open them up to several new artistic opportunities.

Adam Grundy Sep 29, 2022

Dirt was the second studio album from grunge heavyweight hitters Alice In Chains, and ended up being the band’s best-selling record to date, selling over five million units in the US alone. It would end up being the last record with all four original band members in the group, as their bassist Mike Starr was fired shortly after the touring support of the album. The songs found on Dirt are brutally honest, heartfelt, and deal with the themes of addiction, depression, and the fragility of relationships. The majority of the album was written by lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell, with the exception coming from two solo songs from Layne Staley in “Hate to Feel” and “Angry Chair.” The album would peak at #6 on the Billboard 200 and make Alice In Chains a household name in the crowded Alt Rock and grunge scenes in general.

Adam Grundy Sep 28, 2022

The latest single from pop rockers, PHNTMS, is a cool blast of rock energy that pulsates along in the best way possible. The track features some cool synths, 80’s-esque guitar tones, all paired with their powerhouse of a vocalist in Alyssa Gambino who commands the song from the opening notes. The lyrical material discusses the pitfalls of being stuck on social media, watching the world go by, and the dangers of losing that personal connection with the people around us. The band does a nice job of never letting the heavier lyrical material bog down the overall pop sheen of the single.

Guitarist Adam Jessamine and bassist Mikal Smith each have their own standout moments on “Rather Be Lonely” that allows the song to expand upon what the band was going for on their previous singles of “Body Language” and “Paper Flowers.” While the song doesn’t explode into each chorus the way I was expecting on my first few listens, the band’s ability to reel things in at times pays off in the long run as they continue to craft out material that showcases the depth to their songwriting.

Review: No Devotion – No Oblivion

Adam Grundy Sep 21, 2022

There’s a lot to be thankful for when one of your favorite bands decides to give it another go and release a proper follow-up to one of your favorite albums of all time. Before I started writing for this site, I was obsessed with No Devotion and their debut record entitled Permanence. It ended up being my favorite album to come out that year, if not one of my favorites for that entire decade. Catching up with lead singer Geoff Rickly was surreal in many ways. Hearing first-hand how his band in No Devotion crafted their follow-up, entitled No Oblivion, as well as some of the background behind Permanence was too cool for me to even begin to describe. So how could No Devotion, which is also comprised of Lee Gaze and Stu Richardson, possibly top what they were able to accomplish on their debut. No Devotion would answer that question in a thunderous encapsulation of everything they did well on Permanence paired with even more artistic brilliance found on No Oblivion.

Adam Grundy Sep 15, 2022

Change can be one of the most difficult things we ever go through. Changing jobs/careers, changing relationships, or even changing the way we go about our daily routines can lead to stress and several pitfalls. New Found Glory certainly changed the approach to their songwriting and trademark pop-punk sound in favor a sleek pop-based sound on Coming Home. While some argued this change was not for the better, there is still a large number of fans who point to this record marking a turning point in the band’s career that showcased that NFG was not a one-trick pony. The band was just coming off a grueling, nearly two-year long promotional cycle of their last album, Catalyst, before wanting to unwind and breathe a little bit. The set was co-produced by the band and Thom Panunzio, and the main songwriting and demoing was completed in Malibu, California in a large house known as the Morning View Mansion. While this isolation could have led to darker-toned material, the band instead embraced this freedom with some of their best songwriting to date, filled with lush vocal takes and vibrant guitar parts. Coming Home was nearly buried by Geffen Records right out of the gate, and the band only had the backing of one radio single in “It’s Not Your Fault” to show for their efforts. This album seemed to divide many fans. While some, including myself, pointed to this record as the best version of New Found Glory, others couldn’t get past how different the sound was from their previous records to fully embrace it. The new-found interest in Coming Home sparked recently with the first-ever vinyl release of the album, and it led to more continued conversations around this true gem of a record.

Adam Grundy Sep 12, 2022

When I last caught up with Slade Echeverria (lead vocalist/bassist) of Anarbor, I could tell that the music he was about to release with his band felt fully-realized and matched his bandmates’ ultimate vision for where they could take their sound. Love & Drugs is a great collection of eleven songs that work well off of each other, and move the needle forward in the band’s storied discography that so many fans adore. This album hits somewhere between the pop polished rock of Walk the Moon, paired with the intricate focus on production like Bad Suns, while still maintaining the heart of the music that sounds like Anarbor.

The album starts off with the chill-sounding song of “Slow Distraction” that gradually invites the listener to be pulled into Echeverria’s vocal croon, while guitarist Danny Stravers keeps the riffs incredibly interesting. The layered vocals in the chorus make for a cool production element, and sound like a million bucks. “Letter In A Suitcase” brings the tempo up significantly in its delivery and allows for the band to shout above their instruments in the chorus before slowly exiting the aggressive tones as each hook unfolds. Lead single, “Drugs” reminded a bit of the quirky, synth-based pop of Smallpools, with equally-pleasing results. On the second verse, Echeverria explains, “A week away, I know my head should be straight / You got me strung out, I’m strung out / I need a fix / So would you pick up the phone, no one’s home / Is this the comedown, the comedown / That I heard about?” The way he describes the feeling of falling in and out of love is captivating, and really pulls the listener into the mix.

Adam Grundy Sep 8, 2022

The nu-metal era was a crazy time for the music scene. CD sales were exploding, rap-rock was dominating the airwaves, and bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, and many others were packing the clubs nightly for their brand of music. Incubus, to me, always seemed the ones most likely to break free of the nomenclature of the nu-metal genre, as they had a more polished sound, an ultra-talented vocalist in Brandon Boyd, and a rock sound that with the right help of a producer would launch them into the stratosphere of notoriety. Fast forward to 2022, and Incubus’ second album has turned 25 years old. Much like how Boyd laments on the penultimate track on S.C.I.E.N.C.E., I feel like shouting, “I know exactly where we are…where the fuck are we?” How did a band as talented as Incubus break free of the chains of nu-metal and still leave a lasting legacy of this record that so many longtime fans adore, yet the band feels shy to talk about? The answers can be found in looking to the future that seemed to be a little uncertain for these California-based rockers searching for their own footing and identity.

Adam Grundy Sep 7, 2022

The debut album from Katy Guillen & The Drive is blast of bluesy, guitar-driven rock that hits all the right chords on Another One Gained. The set was masterfully produced by Kevin Ratterman (Heartless Bastards, Ray LaMontagne), and Guillen really steps into the forefront of the mix with a bold swagger in her vocal takes and guitar instrumentation. The band is rounded out by Stephanie Williams (bass, percussion/drums) and Ratterman (who does some occasional keys and programming), and their band chemistry is felt widely in this warm set of songs that wraps the listener in a unique sense of comfort.

Review: The Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good

Review: The Wonder Years – The Hum Goes On Forever

Review: Band of Silver – Something Stronger

Review: Drowning Pool – Strike A Nerve

Review: Petal Crush – “Of Course Of Course” (Single Review)

Review: Catbite – Nice One

Review: Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Review: Good Charlotte – The Young and the Hopeless

Review: Alice In Chains – Dirt

Review: PHNTMS – “Rather Be Lonely”

Review: No Devotion – No Oblivion

Review: New Found Glory – Coming Home

Review: Anarbor – Love and Drugs

Review: Incubus – S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

Review: Katy Guillen and The Drive – Another One Gained