Recently I was able to connect with self-described “hyperpop” band, MOVIESTARZ, to discuss what went into their new single called “Invited.” The song comes from the duo of Alex Pombar and Tyler Nichols who channel their love for Blink-182-type pop-punk paired with club ready anthems similar to Charli XCX.
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I love the way it breaks the silence.
If you’ve never heard “Feeling a Moment” before, do yourself a favor and click play on that YouTube video down below, or go cue it up on your preferred streaming service. You’ll hear what I mean: a few seconds of something played backwards, and then a torrent of sound – an electric guitar strum and a wordless wail. For me, it is the sound of everything I was feeling at the start of my ninth-grade year: nerves, excitement, anticipation, self-belief and self-doubt in equal measure, and more than a little bit of fear.
Because what’s scarier than a totally new frontier? I’ve got the answer: being dropped into said new frontier in your early teens.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 8: “Feeling a Moment” by Feeder”
About two weeks ago, I was able to sit down with Elliott Douglas, better known as M.A.G.S., during his recent tour stop in Washington D.C. to discuss his recently announced plans to take a hiatus from the project. I asked him about the factors that led to this decision, his recent collaboration with American Football, and what the future looks like for him.
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Most bands wouldn’t survive the label turmoil that went on during the promotional period of Based On A True Story, the sophomore record from The Starting Line. Despite reaching as high as #18 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in May of 2005, the album was basically shelved once Geffen Records decided that they were not going to make the LP one of their priorities. It’s a shame that only one single (“Bedroom Talk”) was released from this album since there really are a lot of gems to be found in The Starting Line’s songwriting here. Tim O’Heir produced the majority of the songs on Based On A True Story, but the label wasn’t thrilled with the sound found on the songs they were hoping would take off on radio, so they recruited veteran hitmaker Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance) to provide some guidance on “The World” as well as “Bedroom Talk.” A third producer, Eric Rachel, was enlisted for “Making Love To The Camera”, which would explain some of the unbalanced production elements when played from front to back. The Starting Line battled with their label to the bitter end to ensure they could release the record that the band wanted to make, even if it led to them forfeiting the rights to the recordings themselves. Ultimately, this is what happened, leaving some uncertainty to the future of the album for vinyl represses and so forth. With so much drama going on behind the scenes, it’s truly a miracle that this record saw the light of day, yet fans have adored Based On a True Story for a reason: the songs are really great.
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The fifth LP from Out Of Service, called Devastation Awaits, finds the band expanding upon their unique sound while still finding ways to add new elements to their music. The set was produced, mixed and mastered by vocalist Mike Capuano, and the now-independent New Jersey band is self-releasing the record today. One of the first things that longtime fans of Out Of Service will notice on Devastation Awaits is the addition of more screamed vocals from Capuano, as evident on the aggressive opener of “Devastation” as well as the second track, “Secrets and Daggers and Mirrors.” After the more somber and acoustic-driven effort found on Reflections & Refractions Volume One, Devastation Awaits is the polar opposite to that previous record by providing a direct reaction to the world around us.
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The ska genre may have fizzled out a bit over the past few years, but Philadelphia’s own Catbite is injecting some serious new life into the genre with their latest EP called Doom Garden. Catbite manage to simultaneously break down the walls of what can be considered ska, while also furthering their own artistic development. When I last caught up with the band for an interview, I could tell that they were poised for breakout success on this record. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have an excellent cameo on “Tired of Talk” by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump to boost their own streaming algorithm and alert new fans to the magic that comes through the speakers when Catbite play their captivating music. Doom Garden is brimming with new possibilities for this band that continues to improve on their songwriting.
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There will be times in our life when we discover an undeniable talent in our music rotation. That type of artist who makes you say, “Well, of course this person was meant to do this for a living!” I’ve had that feeling with several key artists in my music discovery, and I think I’ve just found the next great one. Lyn Lapid is a 22 year old music sensation from Baltimore, Maryland who started to gain a loyal social media following with her ukulele and acoustic guitar-driven covers of popular songs. Her original song of “Producer Man” in 2020 was her first taste of fame, but given the breathtaking vocals and production found on her debut album, Buzzkill, it certainly won’t be her last brush of notoriety. Lapid’s sound is somewhere in the realm of the quieter moments of Billie Eilish, paired with a starry-eyed vision for her music like Olivia Rodrigo, and the vocal range of Amy Winehouse. Lyn Lapid shimmers all over Buzzkill and cements herself as a marquee artist to watch.
Read More “Lyn Lapid – Buzzkill” I don’t like endings or goodbyes, but I love songs about them. That’s something that will become abundantly clear as this series continues, if it’s not clear already. And there are very few songs about endings or goodbyes that matter more to me more than “Walk On,” an utterly splendid highlight from U2’s 2000 comeback album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind.
Up until 2004, almost all the music I loved had been made in my lifetime. I was drawn to the music of right now, often finding older songs or records to sound dated. I remember listening to Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. at some point and thinking it sounded positively ancient. (Sorry, Boss!) All those ‘80s synthesizers struck me as plasticky and passe, and I struggled to appreciate the songs underneath. It wasn’t just ‘80s synths that made my no-fly list either: I checked out The Beatles’ Rubber Soul around that same time, and found it to sound hopelessly old-fashioned.
In 2004, U2 became the first band to break through that barrier for me. It didn’t hurt, of course, that they were still a relevant band of the moment. They’d had massive hits in 2000 and 2001 with “Beautiful Day” and “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”; in 2002, they’d played a Super Bowl halftime show – for my money, the greatest one of all time, with apologies to Prince; and they were currently enjoying a new level of omnipresence thanks to a stylish iPod commercial, featuring their new single “Vertigo,” that got played on every single ad break of every single prime time television program for approximately 3-6 months.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 7: “Walk On” by U2″
The new single by The Ataris, called “Car Song”, is a touching tribute to Kristopher Roe’s late father (William Roe), who passed away in 2014 due to complications from alcoholism. “My dad was always the biggest supporter of The Ataris. He was a regular on our original website’s message board, sending out VHS bootlegs of live sets he would film and interacting with everyone—everyone knew him. He truly lived and breathed our music,” Roe shared. The song has a feeling of a band being re-energized and re-focused on unlocking the magic that the band captured on their earlier material. “Car Song” opens with the vivid lyrical imagery of “Now you rest amongst the rust of these roadside monuments / In all their former glories / The drive-in nights that came and went / You fought on hard through rain beaten nights / Past the shadows of state lines / Now this victory dance, it belongs to you and I,” as Roe’s vocals remain warm and passionate.
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There’s something very comforting about Samantha Crain and her warm vocal delivery found on Gumshoe, her seventh album to date, and first in nearly five years. Much like that sort of feeling of listening to an old friend recounting the best days of your lives together, Crain puts a delicate emphasis on her experiences that led to this record. As recounted in the press release, ”Gumshoe is a deconstruction of the false premonition that [Crain] was destined to always be an outsider. It’s all about curiosity for the things that shape you as a partner, a friend, a neighbor: a clarity Sam found in her experiences and challenges these last few years helping her partner navigate their addiction, immersing herself within her community in Oklahoma while working at a wildcare rescue and a liquor store, and discovering how to love and be loved.” They don’t make artists like Samantha Crain much anymore, but when they do come along, you treasure these musicians with a full and open heart.
Read More “Samantha Crain – Gumshoe” I don’t have any scientific way of proving this, but I’d wager that Coldplay’s “Fix You” is the most iconic and impactful stadium rock anthem of the 21st century.
Before it ever got played in a single stadium, though, “Fix You” was something else: my first-ever heartbreak song. And to get to that particular milestone in my life, we have to talk about a hilarious subject: romantic adolescent angst.
Look, I’m sure there are some people who meet their soulmates as kids or preteens and have super cute love stories from their “awkward years.” For the rest of us, though, that stretch from whenever you discover your hormones to whenever you get mature enough to handle them is an absolute cringefest. I say all this as someone who definitely thought he was “in love” in eighth grade, and who definitely made an absolute mockery out of himself in pursuit of this supposed “love story.” Better yet, it was a “love triangle,” with the girl who I had a crush on and another classmate who also swore their “love” for her.
The entire silly affair ultimately came to a conclusion on our eighth-grade class field trip, when she chose…well, not me. At the time, it felt like a massive blow: like my first real heartbreak. But as someone who’d spent that entire school year listening to songs about heartbreak, it also felt like I was joining some exclusive club. I now had the honor of knowing what all my favorite songs were talking about, and that felt important.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 6: “Fix You” by Coldplay”
The third full-length record from Chicago Alt Rock band, Beach Bunny, is a breezy set of songs that play out well from front to back. Tunnel Vision is the band’s first release since the departure of guitarist Matt Henkels, and sees Beach Bunny getting into a comfortable groove as a three-piece band. The band’s primary songwriter, Lili Trifilio (vocals/guitar), remains as captivating as she’s ever been, and Beach Bunny re-establish themselves as a key artist to watch in the Alternative Rock scene. Over the course of the ten songs found on Tunnel Vision, Beach Bunny firmly showcase why they have such a strong and loyal following of fans with their slick songwriting, paired with memorable and plentiful hooks.
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The debut solo album from The Struts frontman, Luke Spiller, is a vulnerable collection of songs about falling in and out of love, and documents his experiences about when he first moved to Los Angeles. Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes and Wine is filled with great string arrangements, slick production, and a 70’s flair that mirrors early James Bond scores. Luke Spiller’s star shines ever so brightly on his first venture away from The Struts to create a record that is both a departure from the sound that he established with his bandmates, and a welcomed throwback to an era of smoke-filled jazz clubs that featured captivating singers.
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The debut album from Acceptance will be turning 20 over the weekend, so it’s only fitting for us to take another look at the cult favorite record known as Phantoms. The band’s strength came from the great partnership between lead guitarist Kaylan Cloud and dynamic vocalist Jason Vena, and their ability to convey a wide range of emotions through their unique brand of rock. The set was produced by veteran hit-maker Aaron Sprinkle, who leaves his great blueprint all over this shimmering album. The promotion cycle Phantoms included only two singles, “Different” was the lead single, while the more upbeat “Take Cover” followed up on the modest success of the debut single. The band would follow the release of Phantoms with tours with bands like Vendetta Red, Head Automatica, Anberlin, Saosin, and more to work on their live show that had steadily improved since Acceptance formed in 1998. Acceptance would take a lengthy hiatus in 2006, only to reunite and re-capture their spark in 2017’s equally great Colliding By Design. Phantoms signaled a key moment in Acceptance’s rise in the crowded emo scene, and it’s a shame that the record didn’t take off as much as it clearly should have.
Read More “Acceptance – Phantoms” You can’t make me leave. You can’t, you can’t, you can’t.
In October of 2004, for two weeks that felt like a lifetime, my parents briefly entertained the notion of uprooting our family and moving us somewhere new. I know that’s something that a lot of kids have to deal with growing up, but it had never even been on my radar before that fall. I’d lived in the same town since I was three years old, and I’d been with the same group of classmates since first grade. I’d also watched my older siblings go through the local high school, and I already had a lot of ideas for how I wanted to follow (or diverge from) their footsteps when I got there. It never occurred to me that my immediate future might be spent anywhere other than this town.
There was also a girl – the first girl from school I’d ever developed a real, yearning, aching kind of crush for. I probably thought I was in love with her, because what else do you do with those kinds of feelings when you’re 13 years old and you’ve never experienced anything like them before? What’s love if not those fluttering butterflies you feel in your stomach every time you see that other person? I definitely wondered whether there could be some big, grand future in store for me and her, somewhere down the road.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 5: “Kill” by Jimmy Eat World”