Frontman Sam Harris discusses the autobiographical concept behind X Ambassadors’ debut album VHS and its hit single “Renegades,” how a love of film influences his music, what it’s like co-writing for Rihanna, and why endurance is the key to success.
Vocalist Aaron Weiss unpacks the apocalyptic imagery inside mewithoutYou’s newest release Pale Horses, why he likes to explore each album from a different perspective, and how that left him at his most unguarded while trying to reconcile his love/hate relationship with religion.
Jon Foreman discusses his new solo undertaking The Wonderlands, the challenges of writing a song for each hour of the day and working with 24 different producers, why embracing the chaos in life is important, and what’s next on the horizon for Switchfoot.
Anti-Flag are now ten albums into their career, but there’s no shortage of ire from the current social and political climate to fuel the punk iconoclasts. This is made a evident by the first single, “Fabled World,” for which you can watch the new video in the replies. The aggressive political punk anthem appears on American Spring, which drops on May 26th via Spinefarm Records.
Read More “Anti-Flag – “Fabled World” (Single Premiere)”
Guitarist Eli Maiman discusses how Walk the Moon’s sophomore album, Talking Is Hard, differs from the band’s debut, what attracts them to the ‘80s, and why they pride themselves on their live show.
Cartel hit the studio with Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount to record some acoustic renditions of their favorite tracks off their classic album, Chroma. You can find a playlist featuring a special video performance of these five songs after the jump.
Last week, I got a chance to chat extensively with a personal hero of mine, Butch Walker. We talked about Butch’s new album, Afraid of Ghosts, including how the recent loss of his father inspired a new direction for his music, why he decided to have Ryan Adams produce the disc, and why his trademark sarcasm and upbeat songwriting is nowhere to be found. We also touched upon Walker’s back catalog, the woeful reasons why no one should be expecting to find Letters on vinyl anytime soon, whether or not The Black Widows will be making music again in the future, and why Butch’s protege Jake Sinclair took over most of the production duties on the new Fall Out Boy LP.
This best of list was put together by the AbsolutePunk.net staff in 2014. It used an old system for ranking albums, but has been brought over to Chorus.fm for posterity.
One thing Jason has always said he enjoys about our staff here at AbsolutePunk is that we are willing to let our opinions and biases shine through. No one here is trying to be a robot, solely evaluating music in an objective manner – if there even exists such a way to listen to these albums, the ones that have made us feel more emotion than all the other music released in 2014. Subjective opinion and bias is present as much as ever on any given publication’s albums of the year list, and ours is no exception. The following 30 albums were hand-chosen by our 21 active AP.net staffers, voted upon in only the most scientific of voting fashions. The best thing about these types of lists, though, is not seeing what we rank, but why we rank it; so each album is accompanied by a blurb from a staff member who loved it. We believe that there is no greater impetus behind listening to music than hearing someone tell you why they love it, so we hope you find something new here, or revisit something you enjoyed all year. – Thomas Nassiff
Read More “AbsolutePunk.net’s Top Albums of 2014”
On December 2nd, 2014, I had the chance to sit down and talk with Aaron Marsh of Copeland about their new album Ixora, the band’s future, and what it was like to get back together.
I love most genres of music, but I have a special place in my heart for hardcore music – Terror, Hatebreed, etc. You know who else loves hardcore music? Chad Gilbert from New Found Glory. I thought it would be cool to sit down and talk about one of his favorite hardcore bands, Madball. So we went to Starbucks in Portland, OR and talked about exactly that – Madball, and memories he’s had with them. If you’ve never listened/heard of Madball before, definitely give this a read and check them out.
Read More “Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory”
Frontman Nathan Willett talks about getting loose and chaotic again on Cold War Kids latest record Hold My Home, not overthinking during the writing process, what’s he’s learned from side project French Style Furs, and how a high work ethic has kept the band going strong for 10 years.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne talks about his No. 2 charting debut album, performing on Saturday Night Live, his Irish background, and reflecting on the human experience as honestly as possible.
Lead singer Jordan Pundik discusses New Found Glory’s transition to becoming a four-piece, the cathartic nature of latest album Resurrection, and what still excites him about making music after 17 years.
Andrew McMahon explains why his new Wilderness project is the most focused thing he’s done in years, touches on the themes of storytelling and fatherhood, and unpacks his lifelong obsessions with dreams and the sky.
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.