On Friday, May 13th, JANK performed at Everybody Hits in Philadelphia for a special vinyl release show for their new album, Awkward Pop Songs. Today we’ve got the professionally shot video footage from this incredible show to share with you. You’ll be able to find that below. Enjoy!
Read More “JANK – ‘Awkward Pop Songs’ Vinyl Release Show (Video Premiere)”
This week’s episode of Encore looks at a lot of the music that’s come out in the past few weeks, specifically: The Hotelier, PUP, Thrice, and Saosin. We also look at the new music from Descendents, Sum 41, Yellowcard, and A Day to Remember. Plus, there’s a nice tangent all about Less Than Jake, because those guys are still somehow not given enough credit for how awesome they are. This is a fun one! We hope you like it.
If you’ve ever told someone they’re a fucking moron for liking band X more than band Y, or for otherwise disagreeing with your obviously superior musical opinion, then Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me is the book for you. Written by Steven Hyden, a former contributor for Pitchfork, the AV Club, and Grantland (RIP), Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me is a thoroughly entertaining excavation of artist-versus-artist pissing contests. The subtitle says the book will teach us What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life. Hyden’s thesis is that, depending on which side you take in any given pop music war, your choice says something about you. Something like Oasis vs. Blur might seem pretty trivial for anyone who wasn’t actively paying attention to Britpop in the 1990s, but in the pages of Hyden’s book, these battles mean everything.
Read More “Steven Hyden’s ‘Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me’”
In case you haven’t heard, it’s been an interesting week for Brand New. The band just kicked off their Canadian headlining tour as the start of a packed schedule of summer concerts. And in typical Brand New fashion, the start of that tour was overshadowed by their cryptic messaging of t-shirts and stage banter and upside down flower crosses. I’m glad I was given two years notice that Brand New were hanging it up, because it’s going to take me at least that long to prepare my tear ducts for that final tour. Because they’ve been on our minds this week, I decided I should probably devote one of our ultimate setlist playlists to the band.
A few weekends ago, I was able to attend Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to being held in one of the best cities I have visited on the East Coast thus far, Shaky Knees also had the added benefit of putting on the most killer festival lineup this side of Riot Fest. With fantastic sets across all of the days and stages from the earliest Sunday doldrums (more on that later) to the main stage headlining acts. Below you’ll find my 10 favorite things from the festival along with some photos I took over the weekend.
Bassist Joseph Karnes talks about feeling more confident and at ease on Fitz and the Tantrums’ self-titled third album, always keeping the live show in the back of the mind, and building success inch-by-inch.
Over the past 12 months, as one of its primary proponents, I have spent a lot of time thinking about call-out culture. Or, as some industry heavyweights have phrased it, the trend of “witch hunts” that has been plaguing our scene as of late. I have spent a lot of time frustrated by the perpetuation of the idea that says the call-outs are the problem, instead of the abuses that said call-outs address. I’ve been upset because we know that statistically when an accusation is finally made, they are are overwhelmingly true; however, the opposite manages to live on in the minds of so many. It’s a problem, because as long as the focus is on whether or not call-out culture ought to exist, the real problems and abuses plaguing our scene fail to get properly addressed. As such, it’s a problem I want to solve.
A few weeks back, I was lucky enough to attend the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a high-energy weekend filled with great bands (both up-and-coming and established). One of the best bands I saw was Polyenso, who played an early Saturday set on the Buford Highway stage. Afterward, I got to sit down for a bit and chat with the band about their new record The Pure In The Plastic, what they’re anticipating most from their upcoming tour with PVRIS, and how their songs change in a live setting.
Today I’m excited to feature the latest in the “member compilation” series that has been taking shape in our music forum — a tribute to summer. Below you’ll find a stream and free download of cover songs by our forum members that remind them most of summer.
A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to attend Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. While there, I got a chance to catch The Front Bottoms on Friday afternoon. Their set was one of the best I saw all weekend, and after, we got a chance to sit down and chat with them about a variety of topics (including a possible The Front Bottoms craft beer).
For this week’s playlist I’m honored to be continuing the recent trend of “Ultimate Setlists” with one of my favorite bands: Bayside. Last year Bayside celebrated their 15th anniversary and this year they’re bringing us a brand new album titled Vacancy — due out August 19th. To commemorate the release the band is heading out with The Menzingers and Sorority Noise on what promises to be one of the best tours of the summer. So what better time to really dive into Bayside’s expansive catalog?
The obvious topic this week is a look at Brand New’s new single “I Am a Nightmare.” Do we like it? Where does it fit in the band’s discography? Has Thomas finally come around on Daisy? It’s Brand New, so of course we’re talking about it for a while. We also spend some time talking about the new Chorus logo, the (great) Riot Fest lineup, and how Bandcamp has figured out a sustainable business model. We end by talking a little about what defunct pop-punk band we think we’d most like to come back for the summer. As always, thank you for listening!
Zealyn worked with producer Aaron Marsh (Copeland) on her upcoming EP, Limbic System, and today I’m excited to debut the track from it that also features Aaron on vocals. The song is called “Overwhelmed” and can be streamed below. Speaking about working on with Aaron on the song and tying their voices together, Zealyn says:
Having Aaron Marsh produce the EP was already incredible enough, but when the idea was brought up to have him featured on a song, I couldn’t believe it. His voice/songwriting is brilliant and so inspiring. It’s an honor to share a song with him! “Overwhelmed” directly sums up how the past six months have felt for me, and I believe everyone can relate to what I’m singing about. It’s about almost breaking under pressure and coming so close to giving up on everything you’ve worked towards.
Read More “Zealyn – “Overwhelmed” (feat. Aaron Marsh) (Song Premiere)”
Drummer Riley Breckenridge breaks down Thrice’s first album in five years, To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere, and how being present in the moment has reinvigorated the band to come back as strong as ever.
When I drew the AbsolutePunk.net logo all those years ago, I never imagined how many places it would end up. I can’t tell you how many times we needed to shrink it down, or blow it up, or put it on a colored background, and I’d end up laughing at the little red splatters while having no real idea what to do with them. When I started building Chorus I had a color scheme I loved, but I was never able to settle on a logo that felt right. I tried a few different things before deciding to punt and launch with the word mark while using a blue and white “C.FM” placeholder. I wanted to make sure that this time I thought through everything. That if we had a logo, it was something I felt could stand the test of time and was a true representation of this new website.
I had a few goals in mind: I wanted something that represented the website, was easy to recognize, could be used in very large or very small sizes and still be distinguishable, could be used in virtually any color, or even monochrome if needed, and I was looking for something that had a familiar relationship with both our word mark and the Encore podcast logo. And more than anything, I was looking for that feeling of joy when I saw it — that feeling of, “yep, that’s it.” After working with the same designer that helped birth the Encore logo, I know that we found exactly what I was looking for.