Review: Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues

About one minute into the lead track, front-woman Laura Jane Grace snarls, “you want them to notice the ragged ends of your summer dress, you want them to see you like they see every other girl, they just see a faggot, they’ll hold their breath not to catch the sick” … and the gauntlet is thrown down. What Against Me!’s new album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, offers is a mixture of attitude and bravado that pulls together an emotion, weight, and gravitas that I’ve felt missing from music for a while. The lyrics contain something actually worth saying and while the sing-a-long choruses may get stuck in your head, there’s an underlying message that expels itself in a way unique to music — one that travels from head to heart and leads to rumination long after the guitars and drums dissipate.

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Review: The Lawrence Arms – Metropole

The Lawrence Arms - Metropole

In a recently aired episode of the AP.net podcast I go on a (way-to-long) rant about genres and the labels we put on bands. The heart of the argument is ‘fuck labels and fuck genres’ because it’s all a mess. We waste time sitting around saying, “Is this pop-punk, or pop-punk, or pop-punk?” The whole thing is a classification system that no one agrees on, no one abides by, and it becomes a cluster-fuck when trying to talk about bands or describe a sound to someone. In fact, sometimes I think we spend more time arguing about genres than the music itself. Some genres have turned into four-letter words and used as a means to demean and dismiss bands almost as a personal affront. I hate it and I’m unsure if there’s a bigger offender than “pop-punk.”

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Review: Copeland – Ixora

Copeland - Ixora

I think my biggest draw to music is the emotion it pulls from me when listening to a great song. That feeling where you experience the song with the entirety of your being. Everything fades away and all that matters in that moment is the space between notes, ears, and heart. Copeland’s upcoming album, Ixora, embodies everything I search for in music.

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Jason Tate’s Top Albums of 2014

The Best of 2014

2014 ended up being one of my favorite years for music in a long while. It just seemed like every few weeks there was a new album to dive into and experience. There were times where it felt overwhelming, as if there was so much to listen to I felt ashamed I couldn’t give each album the time it deserved. But, here we are at the end of the year, and here we are tasked with trying to put numbers to the madness. I’ve done my best to put my favorite albums of the year in some kind of order … I hope you find as much to enjoy here as I have.

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Interview: Ryan Key of Yellowcard

Yellowcard

My relationship with Yellowcard begins over a decade ago and the musical connection and ensuing friendship now runs deeper and longer than many of my “in real life” relationships. On October 7th, 2014 the band will be releasing their most ambitious album to date, Lift a Sail. I had the chance to sit down and talk with lead singer Ryan Key about everything that went into crafting this album, the stories and inspiration behind the musical direction, and so much more.

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

A Day to Remember

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.

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Review: The 1975 – The 1975

The 1975 - The 1975

I feel as though every year or so a new band hits my ears that forces a sharp reflection and virtually recalibrates my tastes. It’s that band that defines the year for me. That band that I look back on as the crack that splintered my tastes and musical habits into a spider-web of new directions. I think of artists like Blink 182, The Format, Brand New, Thrice, The Gaslight Anthem, Bon Iver, and P.O.S. Bands that have become pillars of my musical collection and ones I would point to as defining my “taste matrix.” These bonds have lasted for years and each listen to their catalog transports me back in time. These are the bands that I take possession of and metaphorically hang my hat on. That I say: “this is the band that defines this part of me; this is the band that I believe in.”

In 2013, that band is The 1975.

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Review: Fall Out Boy – Save Rock and Roll

Fall Out Boy - Save Rock and Roll

I believe that each time we select an album out of the ether and push play, it says something not just to us, but about us. It becomes a reflection of that instant and transcends into both a personal and social entity simultaneously. It is this duality of frozen moments, between headphones and shared experiences, that helps define why we listen. We listen to be touched. We find comfort in intimate moments alone with songs, and we tie memories with the best of friends to the soundtracks of our nights. The songs that have stayed with me the longest are the ones that exist forever between these two realities: the ones that I suffer with and the ones that I share.

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Interview: Chris Holmes

Chris Holmes

We teamed up with PropertyOfZack to sit down with Chris Holmes, the co-producer and engineer behind Blink-182’s new EP, Dogs Eating Dogs.

What was it like going from working on Neighborhoods on and off for two years to doing Dogs Eatings Dogs in just over a month in terms of your role and it’s shift?

A very wild, yet familiar ride. 

On Neighborhoods, while you could say we were on and off for two years, the crunch time “on” part was the last month or so. What I’ve found with most things with a deadline with bands, is you figure out the deadline, and you pack as much in as possible…and even more up until the last moment..It is the nature of the beast. There is no finishing early. There is always a need for more time. I call it End-of Record-itis.

With Dogs Eating Dogs, we were initially kind of casually starting to work on songs for the new LP for next year, and the next thing you know, we have one month to write, record, mix, and master for a Christmas release. 

It ramped up quick as far as picking which ideas to focus on and really planning out how to make it happen within that time frame. My role essentially was the same as far as co-producer and engineer for the songs. What I’m trying to do as a co-producer is voice what I think the listener would want to hear, while also serving the song and balancing the artistic desires of the band. At the end of the day, the three guys decide what to do, but I can chime in and say my peace and hopefully offer a different perspective on things.

What I’m doing as engineer is trying to honor the legacy of the sounds from previous records and add my own touch to it. For example, if you listen to TOYPAJ Travis’s toms sound HUGE. I made a point to do the same treatment on them with this recording. The vocal sound on the “Untitled” record I really like, so I made sure to use the same vocal mic and recording chain from that record. To get even more micro, we had a different drum setup for almost every section of every song. For example on “Pretty Little Girl” ‘s pre-choruses we used these Zildjian 13″ hi-hats that were tight so you can hear every hit Travis is doing, and then when the chorus hits we put up this super-cracking OCDP Bell Brass Snare drum.

The only role change I had was being a little more hands-on with the delivery of the album and making sure it made it to iTunes, and to the bundles.

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