Review: Cigarettes After Sex – Cigarettes After Sex

Zac Djamoos Jun 14, 2017

I was starting to get nervous about Cigarettes After Sex. Their debut EP, I., had picked up some steam when it was released – in 2012. Sure, they’d released a couple singles here and there, but without any word of an album, or even an EP, I got a little bit disheartened. Cut to present day and Cigarettes After Sex are releasing their self-titled debut and it’s everything I could have wanted out of a follow-up to I. The album picks up up exactly where the EP left off, offering up ten tracks of melancholic, languid indie rock.

Interview: Scott Ayotte of Born Without Bones

Zac Djamoos Apr 11, 2017

Born Without Bones will release their new album, Young at the Bend, on May 12th. I recently sat down with vocalist Scott Ayotte about the difficulties of writing music, starting his own label, and what it means to be young at the bend.

Benchmarks – “Our Undivided Attention” (Album Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Mar 22, 2017

Benchmarks will release their new album, Our Undivided Attention, on March 24th via SofaBurn Records. Today we’re premiering the full thing for your listening pleasure. Fans of The Menzingers or The Weakerthans won’t want to miss it. If you like the album, you can pre-order it through SofaBurn’s webstore.

Secret Space – “Butterfly” (Video Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Mar 7, 2017

Secret Space recently announced The Window Room Part 2: Lost in a Dream, a reimagining of their debut The Window Room with a few extra surprises thrown in. Today we’re excited to premiere one of those surprises: the first song the band ever recorded, a cover of Weezer’s “Butterfly.” If you like their take, be on the lookout for The Window Room Part 2 when it drops for free on their BandCamp on March 17th.

Review: Jake Clarke/Spur – Split

Zac Djamoos Feb 13, 2017

Like Semisonic sang on their classic 1994 single “Closing Time,” “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” Such is the case on both halves of Jake Clarke and Spur’s new split. Clarke was one of the vocalists of the grunge band Superheaven, and his half of the split sounds like the natural next step from his old band’s ‘90s-inspired rock. Spur, on the other hand, rose from the ashes of the emo band In Writing, and they play a blend of coarse punk and shoegaze.

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Reservoir – “Smoke Signals” (Song Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Feb 13, 2017

Reservoir’s long-awaited debut full-length album, Mirage Sower, comes out March 17th. Today we’re excited to bring you the album’s first single “Smoke Signals.” This track is the album’s heavy, sprawling, closer and it can be streamed below. Like what you hear? Make sure you pre-order the album via Glory Kids Records.

Review: Sinai Vessel – Brokenlegged

Zac Djamoos Jan 24, 2017

I remember the first time I heard Sinai Vessel. It was around four years ago and their sophomore EP profanity had just come out. I was immediately captivated the band’s raucous indie rock – sort of like a more upbeat and aggressive Pedro the Lion. Songs like “Cuckold” and “Flannery” carried the energy and raw emotion of songs by scene favorites like Taking Back Sunday or The Weakerthans. I knew the band had a phenomenal full-length in them, and I knew they going to blow up with its release. But that full-length didn’t come, and I found new bands who gave me similar feelings. I revisited profanity now and then, but mostly when I thought about Sinai Vessel it was to wonder what could’ve been. Then, all of a sudden, I didn’t have to wonder anymore – Sinai Vessel signed to Tiny Engines, one of my favorite active labels, and announced that long-awaited full-length.

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Review: Dryjacket – For Posterity

Zac Djamoos Jan 17, 2017

I’m sure there’s a joke to be made about Dryjacket’s debut album being titled For Posterity, given their throwback sound, but I’m neither clever nor unoriginal enough to make it. There would be truth to it though — from the pun song titles (“Spelling Era,” “Abe LinkedIn”), to the horns, to the dual vocals — everything about For Posterity feels familiar.

You can pull out hints of The Promise Ring and Piebald at every corner of the band’s pop-sensible emo, and the trumpet calls to mind American Football, of course. The band even pays tribute to their more eclectic, more technical forefathers on “Epi Pen Pals” and “Milo with an ‘H.’” This is all to say that, much like my sort of attempted joke, For Posterity isn’t all that original. It plays, generally, like a recap of the genre for anyone who might’ve missed it the first time around.

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Interview: Nathan Hussey of All Get Out

Zac Djamoos Nov 16, 2016

All Get Out’s new album, Nobody Likes a Quitter, is now in stores. I recently had the chance to talk with frontman Nathan Hussey a little about the release. This interview is a little on the shorter side, as he and the band were readying themselves for their nationwide tour, but we talked about the writing of the album, some of the recurring themes, and the possibility of a solo album.

Review: John K. Samson – Winter Wheat

Zac Djamoos Oct 26, 2016

“Word is getting out that The Weakerthans are done.”

This tweet from The Weakerthans’ drummer, Jason Tait, last July didn’t surprise many fans – their last album had been in 2007 and they hadn’t played a show in two years – but it was confirmation, and it still stung to read. So when it was announced that Weakerthans vocalist/guitarist/lyricist John K. Samson would be releasing his second solo album this year featuring collaborations from Tait and Weakerthans bassist Greg Smith (among others), it almost felt like that hiatus was over. Many fans probably expected Winter Wheat to sound, somewhat, like a Weakerthans album. Given the members involved, it didn’t seem like a stretch, especially consider Samson’s last solo outing, 2012’s Provincial, was stylistically similar to his old band’s brand of indie rock. Those people were wrong.

Review: Kevin Devine – Instigator

Zac Djamoos Oct 20, 2016

“I can’t say I’m underrated,” Kevin Devine sings at the beginning of a new Bright Eyes-like folk song called “No One Says You Have To.” Although in the context of the song, it serves as a reminder to Devine to appreciate the success he’s found, I’ll have to disagree with him there. The 39-year-old Brookyln singer/songwriter is now nine albums deep and still hasn’t put out a bad album. He was able to release two albums in the same year – on the same day – with nearly two completely different sounds and both were rightfully acclaimed. But for all that, he crowdfunded his last two albums and he was dropped from Capitol after only one release — he can say he’s not underrated all he wants, but I’m going to disagree every time.

Instigator is my argument as to why.

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Review: Ceres – Drag It Down on You

Zac Djamoos Oct 5, 2016

Throughout most of the new Ceres album, Drag It Down on You, vocalist Tom Lanyon sounds pissed. Not pissed in the way that The Story So Far’s Parker Cannon sounds pissed, not the kind of pissed that makes you want to punch your bedroom wall, but the kind of pissed that makes you want to punch yourself. See, Lanyon and the rest of Ceres have done a lot of growing up since 2014’s remarkable debut, I Don’t Want to Be Anywhere But Here, and the result of that growth is the band’s sophomore album, which will go down as one of the best albums in an absolutely stacked year.

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Review: Taking Back Sunday – Tidal Wave

Zac Djamoos Sep 20, 2016

Taking Back Sunday have long been a divisive band. From swaths of fans who only ever loved the band’s classic debut, to those who swear by the middle and most commercial era of the band, to those who’ve just hopped on and prefer the band’s newest material — there just doesn’t seem a way to please every group of Taking Back Sunday fans.

Review: Sianvar – Stay Lost

Zac Djamoos Aug 24, 2016

Knowing the members of Sianvar, the quality of their work should never have been up for debate. Featuring members of Dance Gavin Dance, A Lot Like Birds, Hail the Sun, and Stolas, the lineup is a veritable who’s-who of modern progressive rock. It was never a secret that Sianvar was made up of talented members, but I don’t know if anyone expected the group’s debut full-length to sound as good as it does. Stay Lost almost makes the members’ previous outings look like warm ups.

Interview: The Hotelier

Zac Djamoos Jul 22, 2016

Two months ago, The Hotelier released their third album, Goodness. It touches on themes of Taoism and acceptance and it’s been something I’ve connected with a good deal during the end of my senior year of high school. Last week, on the tour to celebrate the release of the album, I had the opportunity to speak with the group’s lead singer/bassist/lyricist, Christian Holden. We discussed the writing process of Goodness, the band’s first music video(s), and anarchist theory.