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Review: Arm’s Length – There’s A Whole World Out There

Adam Grundy

There’s A Whole World Out There is the sophomore effort from Ontario’s own Arm’s Length and it takes the listener on a thrilling journey of self-discovery, while still honing in on relatable themes like self-doubt, anxiety, and more. Anton DeLost is once again at the helm as the band’s producer, and he lets the band expand upon what made them so charming on their earlier releases. After having extensive touring experience under their belts from their solid debut, Never Before Seen, Never Again Found, Arm’s Length continue to impress with a unique repertoire here of slick hooks, improved musicianship, and a knack for descriptive songwriting.

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Review: Safari Room – “Cut Out”

Adam Grundy

”Would it be better just to cut you out, become a ghost and never speak to you again?” are the haunting words in the chorus of the latest single from Safari Room called “Cut Out.” The song is largely about falling head over heels in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same way. Safari Room is the solo project of Alec Koukol and he quickly showcases his songwriting improvements on this acoustic single. The song comes from Safari Room’s new forthcoming EP, Kindling, and the campfire-esque delivery of the track hits its intended target in its delivery.

The song reaches its crescendo on the pointed-bridge of “You’re like a never ending siren / You are famine and you are feast / You’re the monster underneath my bed, a mosquito on a leash / A bad penny always turning up / I will never shake you loose / I’m a ticking bomb when you’re around / You’re the match, and I’m your fuse / You’re like a tattoo on my mind,
you are the one that I can’t have / Every time I think I’m healing, you’ll find me picking at the scab.” It’s really hard to not be impressed by the songwriting found here, and it reminded me a lot of Thrice front-man Dustin Kensrue’s solo work, with equally-pleasing results. Safari Room is developing his sound in such a majestic way, and I’m really excited about the direction this solos project took here.

Review: Cellar Dwellar – “Digital_Drive_By”

Adam Grundy

The latest single from experimental/prog-rock band Cellar Dwellar scratches that itch for fans of bands like The Mars Volta, NIN, and Stabbing Westward. “Digital_Drive_By” takes the listener on an epic journey over its plus six-minute running time that the Columbus, Ohio based band expand upon the possibilities of their unique music. The band shared, “The lyrics of the song come from the current political climate of queer people being targeted by the state along with my heavy interest in the Act Up movement during the AIDs crisis of the 80s and my personal connection to family who were impacted during that time.”

Cellar Dwellar have started to gain a loyal following in the Ohio area, and have opened for bands like The Jesus Lizard, among others. “Digital_Drive_By” is a cool mix of styles that demands be listened to on a good pair of headphones to fully wrap your head around all of the sounds being pulled into the mix.

Review: Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface

Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface
Adam Grundy

The game-changing fourth studio album by rock band Twenty One Pilots is turning ten years old over the weekend, so it’s only fitting for us to take another look at what made Blurryface so special. The Fueled By Ramen release was an immediate success. The record debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 in its first week of release, it was the first album in Billboard history for every song on the record to be at least Gold certified, and it has since been certified as 4x Platinum by the RIAA. Putting a fresh pair of ears on Blurryface in 2025 brings back a flood of good memories for me. I had become a fan of the band from a friend sharing the band’s third record, Vessel, with me, but I was floored by the artistic development found on Blurryface. Tyler Joseph had a hand in co-producing each of these tracks with a handful of other producers gently adding some insight and their experiences to make sure the songs really shined. From the frenetic opening drum sequence by Josh Dun on “Heavydirtysoul” all the way to the somber reflection of “Goner” that slow-builds to a dramatic crescendo, Blurryface has a little bit of everything in it for fans of all genres to enjoy. Fueled By Ramen would happily release six singles from the 14-track effort, and each of these infectious songs are as immediately gripping as the first time I heard them.

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My Life In 35 Songs, Track 8: “Feeling a Moment” by Feeder

My Life in 35 Songs
Craig Manning

Turning to face what you’ve become, bury the ashes of someone…

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.

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Interview: M.A.G.S.

MAGS
Adam Grundy

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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Review: The Starting Line – Based On A True Story

The Starting Line - Based on a True Story
Adam Grundy

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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Review: Out Of Service – Devastation Awaits

Adam Grundy

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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Review: Catbite – Doom Garden

Catbite - Doom Garden
Adam Grundy

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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Review: Lyn Lapid – Buzzkill

Lyn Lapid - Buzzkill
Adam Grundy

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.

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My Life In 35 Songs, Track 7: “Walk On” by U2

My Life in 35 Songs
Craig Manning

You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been.

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.

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Review: The Ataris – “Car Song”

Adam Grundy

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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Review: Samantha Crain – Gumshoe

Samantha Crain - Gumshoe
Adam Grundy

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.

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My Life In 35 Songs, Track 6: “Fix You” by Coldplay

My Life in 35 Songs
Craig Manning

When you try your best, but you don’t succeed…

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.

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