Review: Underoath – Define The Great Line

It’s really hard to quantify just what Underoath accomplished on their career-defining album called Define The Great Line. Having already achieved breakthrough success with their previous record of They’re Only Chasing Safety, the bar was certainly raised for the band to deliver once again. And what a delivery it was. Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlain recently shared, “Define the Great Line was never just an album to me. It was a world I was building in my head through lyrics and sketches long before the songs were finished. I was dealing with a lot and didn’t always know how to put it into words.” From the thrilling opening notes of “In Regards To Myself” that has the sound of a film projector being turned on, to the final fadeout in the sprawling seven-minute album closer of “To Whom It May Concern,” Underoath were creating pure undeniable audio cinema.

Adam Grundy 2 days ago

For a band who have just released their eighth studio album, Sleeping With Sirens still seem extremely motivated and hungry for world domination on An Ending In Itself. Produced by veteran hit-maker Will Yip (Turnstile, Circa Survive), the songs that make up this LP are some of the strongest in the band’s catalog and showcase an artist whose dedication to their craft remains unlimited. Sonically, the record feels recharged, energetic, and vibrant as the music that comes through the speakers feels as urgent as Sleeping With Sirens have been in quite some time. While their last few albums were a bit of a mixed bag in terms of similar-sounding songs, An Ending In Itself firmly stands on its own two feet and I’d place the LP right there at the top of Sleeping With Sirens’ discography.

Adam Grundy 4 days ago

When I first heard that the son of late Bradley Nowell, Jakob, was going to be taking his rightful place in fronting Sublime, I was immediately intrigued and excited about the premise. How do you replace one of the most charismatic and endearing frontmen of the 90’s? Jakob Nowell really was the only logical choice, and hearing him sing on Until The Sun Explodes gives me chills in hearing just how similar he sounds to his father. 30 years after the classic Sublime record was released, Jakob Nowell, Bud Gaugh, and Eric Wilson had the near-impossible task of living up to anywhere near that type of legacy for one of the most cherished bands from my generation. Growing up, if you didn’t have a Sublime CD in your CaseLogic briefcase, you most certainly knew someone who did, as the self-titled album grew major traction during the height of the “CD boom”-era of the 90’s. Until The Sun Explodes has all of the elements of a Sublime record, with the original members too, but even if Jakob sounds as close to Bradley as humanly possible, it doesn’t always translate into the same type of polished songwriting. Instead, Sublime do their best to honor Bradley while providing a closing chapter to the legacy of the band as a “thank you” to the fans who are still playing their music today.

Adam Grundy 1 week ago

Today San Diego alternative grunge band, MojoPin, are releasing their latest EP called Out The Door, and I was able to catch up with this trio for an exclusive track-by-track feature. The band has steadily been gaining traction in the rock scene, and their viral cover of Pearl Jam’s “Black” has been viewed over 500k times. If you’re enjoying the feature, please consider streaming the EP here.

Adam Grundy 1 week ago

After having well-surpassed the dangers of a “sophomore slump” on her second album of Guts, Olivia Rodrigo must’ve felt mounting pressure to continue to deliver on her third major label record. You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love on its surface is a pretty depressing title for a pop artist, but Rodrigo weaves these 13 songs together with veteran ease, precision, and purpose. The LP features a “pinch me” moment for Rodrigo with a guest collaboration with Robert Smith of The Cure, who contributes vocals and harmonies on the record’s tenth song of “What’s Wrong With Me”. She continues her collaborative process with producer Dan Nigro (Chappell Roan, Kylie Minogue), and through this trusted relationship, Rodrigo takes some big creative risks on arguably her most experimental album to date. With so many stylistic choices being made here, the album faced the danger of being a disjointed listening experience, but You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love ends up being the polar opposite of that. Olivia Rodrigo continues to get better and better at her songwriting craft and her third album is arguably her strongest to date.

Adam Grundy 2 weeks ago

If there’s one thing you can say about the four-decade career of ska band Big D and the Kids Table, it’s that they have been a model of consistency. Consistently touring, putting out record after record to keep their fans happy and engaged, and honing in on their songwriting craft to make confident material. The band’s latest LP, The Good Ole American Saturday Night continues down the path of this “working man” approach by taking a look back at how far they’ve come as a band, while still accelerating their development as a unit by creating some truly great songs. Big D and the Kids Table continue to fine-tune their dynamic and punchy ska sound on this confident record that is sure to keep their adoring fans coming to the shows and singing back every word.

Adam Grundy 2 weeks ago

Over the course of her career in Evanescence, Amy Lee has stood apart from the pack of female-fronted metal bands that have appeared in the music scene since the band’s debut (Fallen) was released in 2003. An icon in the goth rock community, Lee mentioned that her band’s sixth studio album, Sanctuary, got its title from finding comfort and connection through the power of music, all while being written during the rise of fascism in the country. Lee shared, “Turn on the news, and you can get inspired to write a heavy rock song with plenty of rage, especially as a woman. It’s just really hard, because I’m not political. I don’t want this. This was put upon us all. How we react and respond to this moment has nothing to do with if we want to be a ‘political voice’. I absolutely do not, but I do want to rise to the moment. We don’t have a choice. We’ve been forced into this situation where if we don’t speak up and fight back against tyranny, against human rights violations, against blowing people up, we’re next.” This sense of urgency comes through the speakers on Sanctuary, Evanescence’s most thrilling and powerful album since Fallen.

Adam Grundy 2 weeks ago

Violet Grohl might have the biggest “leg up” in the start of her solo career by being the daughter of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, but she proved that she belonged on the biggest of stages during a recent Washington, DC stop on her Be Sweet To Me solo tour. Donned in black clothing, Violet Grohl looked every part of a rockstar, while her tight backing band blazed through a 14-song set that included nearly every song from her thrilling debut LP, Be Sweet To Me, a Ween cover and three new songs that have not officially been released. The concert was held at The Atlantis (a venue directly next door the legendary 9:30 Club), which coincidentally hosted its first official concert in May 30, 2023 with Foo Fighters headlining, will likely be known as “the house that Grohl built” after two legendary shows in just three short years featuring a Grohl.

Adam Grundy 3 weeks ago

”Warn your warmth to turn away / Here it’s December, every day”. These haunting lyrics from the second single (“Love Like Winter”) from the seventh studio album from AFI still resonate to this day. DECEMBERUNDERGROUND was released in the early summer of 2006 and came off of the band’s mainstream breakthrough success of Sing The Sorrow. The LP found the band once again working with producer Jerry Finn and solidified AFI as a marquee act in the rock scene. DECEMBERUNDERGROUND features more of an EDM, gothic rock, and synthwave type of sound to it throughout, with heavy electronic elements found in several instances on the album. AFI invited listeners into the world of their new album with lead single, “Miss Murder”, that featured a stomping bass line, heavy guitars, and a great vocal performance from Davey Havok to set the song apart from what was on the radio at that time. What stood out to me the most on DECEMBERUNDERGROUND was AFI’s ability to continue to reinvent themselves while still staying true to the sound that The Despair Faction faithful would approve of. A bit of a bold choice to release a winter-themed record in the heart of summer, AFI proved that they didn’t need to conform to industry norms in order to make an impact that connected with audiences far and wide.

Adam Grundy 3 weeks ago

While most fans of Daryl Palumbo’s power pop project, Head Automatica, point to the band’s debut of Decadence as their best work, I am firmly in the camp that Popaganda is the better album. Heavily inspired by the infectious melodies of The Beatles and the upbeat nature of Elvis Costello, Popaganda came storming out of the gate with the bulletproof single of “Graduation Day” that ignited the limitless possibilities of the band. The record was produced by veteran hit-maker Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Saosin), and it has an undeniable sheen to its vibrant sound. The promotional cycle of the record got a bit derailed due to Palumbo’s struggles with Crohn’s disease and the inability to stay on the road as much as he and his bandmates may have wanted. However, giving a fresh listen to this record today is a warm and inviting experience that brought back a flood of positive memories for me during the summer of 2006. It was a CD that spent more time in my car’s player than it did on the shelf, and it stills sounds as urgent and refreshing to this day.

Adam Grundy 3 weeks ago

For an album that is called Be Sweet To Me, this record has a lot of grit to it. Violet Grohl makes a significant mark on the rock scene with her debut album released today, and the daughter of arguably the biggest rockstar today in Foo Fighters frontman, Dave Grohl, Violet takes her bravest step into the spotlight so far here. The album was produced by Joe Kennedy, Brad Lauchert, Anthony Paul Lopez, and Justin Raisen, and it has a sound fully entrenched in 90’s Alt Rock. On it’s heaviest moments, Be Sweet To Me resembles bands like Hole and The Pixies, while on its more reflective moments Grohl channels artists like Fiona Apple and PJ Harvey. A solid mix of grunge, alternative rock, shoegaze, and dream pop, Violet Grohl’s star shines brightly on her debut LP.

Adam Grundy 4 weeks ago

Things appear to be looking up for Jack Antonoff, the band leader/frontman of Bleachers. He got married to actress Margaret Qualley in 2023 and his personal outlook on life is leaning towards the optimistic side on the latest effort found here. The fifth studio album from Bleachers, called Everyone For Ten Minutes, was produced by Antonoff, and was recorded during the period of 2024-2026. The record is reflective, as much as it is an observation of a band growing more comfortable in their own skin, and it benefits from the cohesive nature of the songs playing off of each other. Coming off of the success of their self-titled record, Bleachers sound as focused as they’ve ever been on Everyone For Ten Minutes. While the new album doesn’t have the “highs” of the singles found on the self-titled effort, it’s a record that is meant to absorbed as a whole rather than the sum of its parts, and it continues to show commendable growth in Antonoff as a songwriter.

Adam Grundy 1 month ago

The build-up to Angels & Airwaves debut LP, We Don’t Need To Whisper, was a contentious combination of hurt feelings (due to the sudden break up of Blink-182), excessive hype (mostly from Tom DeLonge about this new band he was starting), and mystery. The record was produced by Tom DeLonge in his home studio in San Diego, California, and the hype train surrounding the spacey rock found on We Don’t Need To Whisper made almost everyone curious about this new band. The band was rounded out by Box Car Racer guitarist David Kennedy, drummer Atom Willard, and bassist Ryan Sinn. I can vividly remember my anticipation of wanting to wrap my ears around this LP for the first time at midnight of May 23rd, 2006, and be transported into a world that DeLonge was describing as “life-changing.” With the lights out in my room, I started the process of listening to this album from front to back, the way it was intended, but I couldn’t help but think that as good as the album was, my expectations of hearing something life-altering were way overblown. We Don’t Need To Whisper still holds up to this day as a solid album, it features some truly incredible songs, and yet I can also see why most critics didn’t quite “get” what DeLonge was going for here.

Adam Grundy 1 month ago

For a band that’s been fairly quiet for the past decade and a half, The All-American Rejects stormed back onto the scene pretty significantly with a DIY approach to the music business, and their viral pop-up house party concerts put them squarely back in the spotlight. Sandbox is the fifth studio album from the band, and their first new album in 14 years, that was capped off with 2012’s Kids In The Street. This record was produced by AAR band members Tyson Ritter & Nick Wheeler, with additional production credits from Scott Chesak. If you’re expecting big hooks and loud guitars, much like was found on Move Along and When The World Comes Down, you might be a little disappointed in the music found on Sandbox. For fans who have stuck around with AAR for this long, Sandbox isn’t as jarring of a listening experience as one would think. Instead, the band’s independent approach comes across as an artist comfortable in their own skin, and one who are still willing to take some risks to further their development.

Adam Grundy 1 month ago

It’s hard to find a new band who knows exactly what type of music they’re great at, sticks to a solid approach to their songwriting, and simultaneously adds a new element to the genre. Welcome to the scene, Super Sometimes. Show the World What’s Underneath is an energetic ten-song set that features two vocalists/guitarists in Gabriel Munoz and Dylan Guzman, and drummer Matthew Ludwig in a tight, three-piece band from San Diego, California. “Show the World What’s Underneath is us staking our flag in the ground as one of the torchbearers of pop-punk,” the band says. “There’s a little bit of something for everybody, and our take on the genre will definitely be a breath of fresh air for those who have been looking for something a little different in the scene. We hope it inspires more people to fall in love with pop-punk the same way we did growing up.” With a confident approach to their sound that recalls the best days of the pop-punk genre with a blending of styles between New Found Glory, The Starting Line, and Blink-182, Super Sometimes is sure to be your next scene obsession.

Review: Underoath – Define The Great Line

Review: Sleeping With Sirens – An Ending In Itself

Review: Sublime – Until The Sun Explodes

MojoPin – “Out The Door” EP Track By Track

Review: Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love

Review: Big D and the Kids Table – The Good Ole American Saturday Night

Review: Evanescence – Sanctuary

Violet Grohl in Washington DC

Review: AFI – Decemberunderground

Review: Head Automatica – Popaganda

Review: Violet Grohl – Be Sweet To Me

Review: Bleachers – Everyone For Ten Minutes

Review: Angels & Airwaves – We Don’t Need To Whisper

Review: The All-American Rejects – Sandbox

Review: Super Sometimes – Show The World What’s Underneath