Review: The Cab – Symphony Soldier

The Cab - Symphony Soldier
AbsolutePunk

sym·pho·ny sol·dier /ˈsimfənē ˈsōljər/
–noun
1. a person engaged in the service of fighting for music they believe in

It hasn’t been an easy journey for pop trio The Cab, a band that originally began as a quintet before signing to Fueled By Ramen in mid-2007. Their debut album, Whisper War, saw moderate success when it was touted to be the next big thing in the industry. However, as years passed, member departures further crippled the public’s view on the group. With the lack of new material to show due to various label disputes, some wondered if a second album would even see the light of day.

Perhaps all of these adversities were just a blessing in disguise. Although members were lost, the driving force behind The Cab still remained. Being relinquished from the clutches of their record label allowed them to finally create the album they wanted to create – and music at this point couldn’t be more grateful.

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Review: Alkaline Trio – Damnesia

Alkaline Trio - Damnesia
Drew Beringer

Alkaline Trio aren’t the first band to trade in the electric guitar for an acoustic one and release stripped down material – bands such as Against Me!, Moneen, and Saves The Day are a few that come to mind. But I can’t think of many bands who’ve released an entire album full of re-worked, semi-acoustic versions of fan favorites from albums past. That’s what makes Damnesia somewhat unique – this isn’t your normal “greatest hits” compilation. There are 15 tracks on Damnesia – 12 “classic” tracks, 2 new ones, and a cover – and on each one the Trio attempts to bring something new to the song through these re-imaginings. 

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Review: The Dangerous Summer – War Paint

The Dangerous Summer – War Paint
Blake Solomon

There’s certainly an obligation here to discuss songs and melodies and all that jazz (pun intended?). But you’ve – we’ve – done that a million times. There are hints of The Starting Line and The Graduate, there are intensely personal lyrics, there’s a certain world weariness that is both refreshing and depressing to hear from a band so young – War Paint has all these things. And it’s good! It’s a very good album. There is no debating that. But of course, there is debating that. That’s all there really is. Especially if you’re one of the listeners who found Reach for the Sun to be some sort of musical epiphany. For you, War Paint might challenge your previously held opinions on The Dangerous Summer. And me? I don’t know – I guess for a few reasons that are none of your business thank you very much, I view War Paint in a vacuum. Its merits are based only on the sounds I currently hear, not the nostalgic ones my 12-year old emo boy heart fondly remembers. Making a connection with War Paint could mean lots of things: but what I hope it means for you is that you’re not ready for this world to be the boss. Liking War Paint means it’s time to stand up, move on and improve.

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Review: Set Your Goals – Burning at Both Ends

Set Your Goals - Burning at Both Ends
Thomas Nassiff

Two years ago, Set Your Goals was riding a high. The group’s 2009 full-length, This Will Be The Death Of Us, was fairly well received on a large scale even though it disappointed some longtime fans of the group’s breakthrough record, Mutiny! That 2009 release catapulted the band to some fair heights and a position as a leader in the new-school pop-punk scene, for whatever that was worth.

Well, if I’m trying to go by Alternative Press’ line of thinking … it must really suck to be Set Your Goals right now. Burning At Both Ends isn’t just a step back from the group’s previous work, it’s a downright embarrassment considering we all already know how good this band can be. On a broad scale, if I was going to pin down one major problem with the record, it would be this: it is super boring.

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Review: Taking Back Sunday – Taking Back Sunday

Taking Back Sunday – Taking Back Sunday
Drew Beringer

No one ever thought the five guys who created the scene staple, Tell All Your Friends, would ever reunite. Too much gossip, too much pain, too many bridges burned. It just wasn’t going to happen, and it was just the world Taking Back Sunday fans learned to live in. After the band released the uninspired New Again in 2009, a lot of diehard fans took it as the last straw and started to jump ship for good. Never again would we be fooled into getting excited for a new TBS record – we’ve been burnt for the last time.

Then the (what we thought) impossible happened.

Bridges were rebuilt. Friendships were mended. John Nolan and Shaun Cooper decided to rejoin Adam Lazzara, Eddie Reyes, and Mark O’Connell in Taking Back Sunday, and just like that, we were back. At first it was hard to believe, but hey, if Jay-Z and Nas could bury the hatchet and collaborate on a song, then why not Taking Back Sunday (and more specifically Lazzara and Nolan)? And even though shows sold out quickly and recording updates teased, fans were still apprehensive. Could they recapture that Tell All Your Friends magic? Or would the hype and expectations crush them?

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Review: Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Drew Beringer

Oh the places you will go, Justin Vernon.  

What started as a small project – under the moniker Bon Iver – in a isolated cabin located in the north woods of Wisconsin has led to Vernon selling thousands of albums, headlining festivals, and smoking the stickiest of the icky with hip-hop goliaths Rick Ross and Kanye West in Hawaii.  Add in various musical endeavors with Volcano Choir and Gayngs, and you’d have to suspect Vernon has accomplished more than he ever envisioned when he was heartbroken in Wisconsin.  

His second full-length album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver is the result of these experiences.  A more confident and trusting Vernon is present here, as he is armed with a remarkably talented full band instead of the minimalist approach he used on the debut. Together they have composed the most remarkable album of 2011.  

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Review: City and Colour – Little Hell

City and Colour - Little Hell
Ryan Gardner

Dallas Green is easily one of the most sophisticated musicians in the scene today. His main project, Alexisonfire, has proved to be one of the best aggressive bands around throughout the past decade. His acoustic side-project, City and Colour, proves he can create beauty on the other end of the spectrum, as well. 

Back in 2008, Bring Me Your Love was a soft, ambient, and ultimately poignant release, perfect for a fall evening or cold winter night. Now three years later, Little Hell expands the sound of BMYL, mixing a few bells and whistles with a handful of upbeat tracks to craft the best record City and Colour effort to date, a record now fitting for summer nights. 

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Review: The Wonder Years – Suburbia, I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing

Thomas Nassiff

If you’ve ever seen The Wonder Years play a live set, you can probably agree with me when I say the Philadelphia-based sextet puts on quite an enjoyable performance. But as good as their live shows are, those only last one night.

Frontman Daniel “Soupy” Campbell, along with bassist Joshua Martin, guitarists Casey Cavaliere and Matthew Brasch, drummer Michael Kennedy and guitarist/keyboardist Nick Steinborn, are also well-known for giving their fans tons of attention, from hanging out before and after shows to posting on this website. But those interactions only last a little while.

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Review: Bruce Springsteen – Human Touch/Lucky Town

Bruce Springsteen - Lucky Town
Thomas Nassiff

The decision to release Human Touch and Lucky Town was probably the worst decision ever made in the Bruce Springsteen camp. Springsteen hadn’t been wrong about many things up to this point in his career, but whoever okay-ed the decision to release one really mediocre record and one really good record on the same day clearly didn’t know much about marketing and the forever-lasting stain one would leave on the other.

It is with the synthy, glossy, overproduced and underwhelming memory of Human Touch that Lucky Town will forever be dragged down. Many people (definitely including me, until as recently as about three weeks ago) dismissed the latter of the two records because of how misguided the former is. Even in 1991, when Springsteen’s management decided it was okay to release the two separate records on the same day (Springsteen was the first artist to ever do this), fans appreciated the singles on Human Touch and little else. 

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Review: Frank Turner – England, Keep My Bones

Frank Turner - England, Keep My Bones
Thomas Nassiff

There is nothing new I can say about Frank Turner that I didn’t say when I reviewed his Rock & Roll EP last year. In that review I laid out my thoughts about Turner, heavily praising him for his too-punk-for-punk-music brand of acoustic-ish folk rock. Even though I praised that EP for what it was, I can’t say it really revealed what listeners would be getting with Turner’s next record. England, Keep My Bones is Turner’s fourth full-length, and it is with no doubt or hesitation whatsoever that I gladly report this is his best record. England, Keep My Bones is 12 songs of Turner’s best lyricism, musicianship and energy all compiled into what will go down as his defining effort.

Turner’s lyrics have always been up-front and real, and opener “Eulogy” delivers on an ultra-personal level. It’s basically a short poem that lets him get something off his chest while serving as a disclaimer that England, Keep My Bones is the best he can offer: “Not everyone grows up to be an astronaut / Not everyone was born to be a king / Not everyone can be Freddy Mercury / Everyone can raise a glass and sing / Well I haven’t always been a perfect person / No, I haven’t done what mom and dad had dreamed / But on the day I die I’ll say, “Well at least I fucking tried” / That’s the only eulogy I need.”

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Review: All Time Low – Dirty Work

All Time Low - Dirty Work
AbsolutePunk

Time is the essence of life, and with time comes changes and phases. With time we grow, develop and mature as beings; some things we have come to love and admire fall by the wayside and we discover new entities to fill the voids. This is what a lot of All Time Low fans have witnessed – a band that that has grown over time into the monstrous band they are today. After two albums and a classic EP, the band decided to take a different route with their last album, Nothing Personal, which was frowned upon by the overwhelming majority for its glossed over pop sound. Now, it’s no secret that the guys have been aiming for a wider audience after taking the scene by storm. Nothing Personal was the first step in that direction but failed to reach the ultimate goal. Two years later and the band’s back to try again with Dirty Work.

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Review: Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys

Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys
Ryan Gardner

It has been just over three years since the release Death Cab For Cutie’s highly experimental Narrow Stairs. Differing from the groundbreaking Transatlanticism and haunting Plans, Narrow Stairs had a more raw feel to it – more electric guitars, distortion, and heavier instrumentation. That is not to say that it did not feature the intricate nature of Death Cab’s previous efforts, as tracks such as “Talking Bird” and “The Ice Is Getting Thinner” were poignant and mysterious cuts. In this way, the experimentation of Narrow Stairs made it a record that took time to resonate and fully appreciate – it was a record that got better with time.

However, while recording the highly anticipated follow-up record, the perfectly titled Codes and Keys, Death Cab explained that the record would be a departure from Narrow Stairs, equipped with more keyboards and less guitars. Sure enough, that’s exactly the case. What results from this different approach is a record of true beauty, encompassing every aspect of Death Cab For Cutie’s discography into one definitive record. It’s the haunting keyboards, meek vocals, and eerie fuzzy distortion echoed throughout Codes and Keysthat generate a record that pushes the limits of their sound to the peak.

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Review: Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Thomas Nassiff

Following up Born To Run is something that seems like a monumental task, but given the pressure Bruce Springsteen experienced in earlier parts of his career, it probably didn’t seem like such a tall mountain to climb. When Springsteen released Born To Run, Columbia Records basically treated it as the 25-year-old’s last chance to write something that could make them some money. Luckily, Springsteen churned out one of the most fantastic records of all time, launching himself into stardom as a household name and a worldwide presence. Need further evidence as to his importance other than his extensive world touring after the record? On Oct. 27, 1975, both Time and Newsweek put Springsteen on their respective covers, with Time calling him “Rock’s New Sensation.”

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