Recently I was able to catch up with lead vocalist, Angel Marshal, of the Latin-infused alternative rock band called Los Saints. In this interview, I asked him about the band’s core influences that they put into their new EP called Welcome To Confusion, how the band does the majority of their songwriting, as well as a fun question about the albums that shaped who Los Saints are as musicians.
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The creative circumstances surrounding Our Lady Peace and their fifth studio album, Gravity, were tumultuous to say the least. Longtime guitarist Mike Turner was having creative differences with lead singer and band leader Raine Maida, and although he appears on nearly half of the songs on this record, Turner would eventually be replaced by Steve Mazur by the time the album was released. Maida was quoted in interviews by saying, “I don’t know if Mike was born to be a guitar player. The studio was a tough place for him and we were working too hard to make up for it – we felt like we were cheating ourselves. Four albums is way too fucking long to put up with that. I’m sure he’ll do great things, just not with six-stringed instruments.” Out of this conflict, however, would come some of the band’s best material since their landmark Clumsy record. Gravity was front-loaded with superb singles like “Somewhere Out There,” where the lyrics in the chorus inspired the record title, and crowd favorite, “Innocent.” By the time the promotional cycle had ended, Gravity would go on to sell over half a million copies in the U.S. alone.
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In this industry, you only get so many chances to make an impact on the music community and leave your legacy. After being at the tip of every tongue of concert promoters and music publications this past year, is it really any surprise that Bartees Strange would live up to the hype on his sophomore effort, Farm To Table? Coming off of ultra-successful touring stints with the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Car Seat Headrest, Courtney Barnett, and Lucy Dacus, it became increasingly evident that he was ready for this moment. In fact, Bartees Strange called his own shot by making it his goal to be signed to the legendary indie label 4AD, and he would add that to his list of worthy accomplishments. He gave us a glimpse of his unique sound on his debut called Live Forever, but Farm To Table seems more fully realized, immediate, and artistically brilliant all over the record. Bartees Strange tackles worldly themes like the current political climate, relationships (both personally and professionally), and still leaves enough space to put his unique stamp on this period of time. The clear front-runner for album of the year has arrived, and it’s okay to be strange.
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Recently, I was able to catch up with AJ Perdomo and Matt Kennedy of The Dangerous Summer for a Zoom call to discuss everything that went into the band’s upcoming full-length record. I asked the band about their new partnership with Rude Records, including some insight on the type of deal they signed, and we also chatted about the band’s legacy and what they feel they can still contribute to the music scene at this stage in their careers. The Dangerous Summer are scheduled to release their second single from the new album on June 17th, with the LP scheduled to be released this August.
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At some point you just have to acknowledge true artists and musical geniuses for what they are. Twenty One Pilots have always been ones to break the mold of blurring genre lines by tinkering with emo, pop-punk, rap, and synth-based rock to make a sound that is ultimately unique to them. Their MTV Unplugged performance is another example of what Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are capable of creating on the fly, as they invited the audience to participate in the creation of these songs. To quote Joseph on his closing line from the show, “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you.” By incorporating audience participation into the final recordings from the show, this statement has never been more accurate.
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Recently I had the chance to catch up with the frontman of NY-based pop-punk band Bad Luck. As Dominick Fox and I chatted about the upcoming new music from his band, it became apparent that his confidence level in what his band is cooking up could take a lot of people by surprise. We discussed everything that went into the recording of the band’s last album, Summer of Pain, their difficulties with touring in a pandemic, as well as what the future holds for the direction of the band’s music.
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On the third full-length record from emo rockers Out of Service, they’ve clearly got a lot on their collective minds. The Ground Beneath Me takes on weighty topics like mortality, racial prejudice, and the loss of close relationships, yet it never gets too bogged down by the heaviness of the lyrical material. The set was produced and mixed by Nathan Hussey (All Get Out), who additionally lends his vocal talents to the track called “The Fall,” and was mastered by Emmy award winner Dave Marino. The album also features key guest vocal contributions from John Nolan (Straylight Run, Taking Back Sunday) and Emery, and it feels like Out of Service have earned these worthy collaborations through their steadfast dedication to perfecting their craft. Coming off of the worthy success of their sophomore effort Burden, and a teaser single called “Shelter,” Out of Service are becoming the best versions of themselves on The Ground Beneath Me.
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Today is the perfect day to share Berlin-based Alternative Rock band, TWINS, and their latest B-side single, a jazz-infused song called “Something About Alice Coltrane.” The song comes from the mind of TWINS band leader, Miro Denck, and Miro shared, “This recording is my humble tribute to one of my greatest sources of artistic and spiritual inspiration, the sublime music of the great jazz mystic Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. It would be presumptuous to think there’s even a way to get anywhere near the powerful talent unified on the original recording, ‘Something About John Coltrane’ of her 1971 album, Journey in Satchidananda, which includes Pharoah Sanders, Cecil McBee and Rashied Ali, let alone as a single musician. Rather than that, to me this is a very personal meditation on life, loss and the endless comfort I find in her music.”
If you’re enjoying this latest slab of experimental rock music from TWINS, their full-length record called The Human Jazz will be hitting music streaming services on June 29th via Earth Libraries. Additionally, I was able to catch up with Miro Denck for a brief interview about this new single.
Read More “TWINS – “Something About Alice Coltrane” (Song Premiere)”
The latest single from electronica band Beautiful Machines comes from their upcoming full-length record Singularity and is called “Baum Baum.” The word “baum” translates to tree and symbolizes finding new life/purpose in this crazy world we live in. The band mentioned, “During WWII, German military transmitted encoded messages with a device called an Enigma machine, which was said to have a code impossible to break. At the same time, the story of Babel explains the origins of the multiplicity of languages. Today, people live in these thought bubbles, finding digital tribes that support and reinforce whatever we think and believe, creating information silos. So, dialogue, in some sense, between people with differing opinions is becoming scarcer, which can ultimately lead to complete breakdown in communication, disinformation and programmed behavior – perhaps even war if we aren’t careful.” With a sound that strays somewhere between the heavy synths of NIN and the pop sensibilities of Tokio Hotel, Beautiful Machines could very well be your next favorite band in the electronica genre.
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It is my utmost pleasure to introduce the world to Eliza and the Delusionals, the four-piece alternative rock band from Australia that fits well in the same vein as Beabadoobee, Soccer Mommy, and Wolf Alice. The band is comprised of Eliza Klatt (singer and sometimes guitar), Kurt Skuse (guitarist), Ashley “Tex” Martin (guitarist), and Ruby Lee (bassist). The band has previously released two EPs (most recently 2020’s A State of Living in an Objective Reality), but this latest record called Now and Then sets the clear path forward of where these musicians can take their sound next. The band mentioned that the record is a direct reflection of the world we’re living in currently, and the relatable struggles we all have with maintaining our mental health while dealing with COVID restrictions. The future looks incredibly bright for this talented band.
Read More “Eliza and The Delusionals – Now and Then”
Fireworks, drums that sound like bomb blasts, lightning bolts of electric guitar, and a rhetorical question: “Long lit up tonight and still drinking/Don’t we have anything to live for?”
So begins one of the greatest rock records of the 21st century. It’s also one of the most aptly named. Celebration Rock. Rarely has an album title ever doubled so effectively as a perfect description of what’s inside. In 2012, with their second LP, Canadian rockers Japandroids served up music perfect for…well, for celebrating to.
What were we celebrating, you may ask? Frankly, if you had Celebration Rock blasting out of a stereo back in 2012, it didn’t matter what you were celebrating, or whether you were celebrating at all. The songs made it feel like a celebration. They made any moment feel like a goddamn, out-of-hand, my-car-is-in-the-swimming-pool rager.
I’ll forever be thankful that I was the age I was when Celebration Rock landed on May 29, 2012. As a recently-minted 21-year-old, I was old enough to get into bars and legally consume alcohol. But I was also still a college student, still sharing an apartment with my college buddies, and still another year or so shy of when real-life responsibility would start to set in. In other words, I was old enough to celebrate the way the characters in Celebration Rock celebrate, and young enough to do it with all the reckless abandon of youth. Even thinking about some of the shit I did while playing these songs very loud on my apartment stereo makes my head hurt with the ghosts of shitty mixed drinks and dreadful hangovers.
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The greatest thing about music is it’s ability to outlive us, for better or worse. The memories our favorite artists and bands leave behind in their recordings speak to the beauty behind the longevity of music, in general. Today, The Cranberries have reissued their Stars: The Best of 1992-2002 on a beautiful, double vinyl set that speaks directly to the legacy this band has left behind. Presented in chronological order from the band’s singles from 1992-2002, some of the greatest alternative rock songs of my generation like “Dreams,” “Linger,” and “Zombie” front-load this set of songs that sound as refreshing as the first time I heard them. The collection also includes two previously unreleased tracks in “New New York” and “Stars” that bookend this chapter of the band’s rich history.
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A couple of days ago, I was able to catch up with the lead vocalist of alternative rock band, Yours Truly, to discuss everything that went into the writing of their upcoming EP. Mikaila and I also chatted about her and the band’s core influences, their touring plans, as well as the message the band hopes will resonate with their fans both new and old.
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The debut EP from multi-instrumentalist Cal Stamp (Spirit Animal, Record Heat) finds him brilliantly stepping into his own sound while giving subtle nods to the great music that he’s inspired by. The tracks that make up the initial batch of songs found on NYLON come from a larger sample of music from Cal Stamp’s planned trio of EPs. Stamp described the direction of the material by stating, “All these songs could easily coexist on the same record. They’re essentially my take on 1980s guitar pop, but within that you’ve got the more synth-driven yacht rock of NYLON, the sun-soaked SoCal jangle of DENIM, and the straight-ahead rock ’n’ roll of LEATHER – each representing a different strand of my own musical DNA.” With a breezy, 80’s new wave sound paired with breathy vocals and excellent production, Cal Stamp is setting off on the right foot.
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A lot of times when you’re going through tough times, experiencing anxiety, or battling a stint of depression, it can feel like the fight is done mostly on your own. That weight can bog you down pretty badly until it’s all you feel. In a lot of ways it’s like breathing: you don’t need to think about it until you can’t find air, and then it’s all you can think about. Brian McTernan and his bandmates honed in on these feelings deeply on the band’s debut, The Weight and The Cost, and as McTernan describes, “I was caught in the center of a storm. I really couldn’t see anything except the destruction, and I had no perspective on what was happening.” On Be Well’s latest EP, the lyrical material pave the way for coming out of the toughest times fairly unscathed, or at the very least being able to see through the heavy fog that surrounded them before. On the opener, McTernan describes this feeling through a series of self-reflection, or as he explains, “On ‘Treadless,’ it’s me finally being able to question myself, like, ‘How did I let it get this far? How did I live my whole life hiding something that was so integral to whom I am from the people who love me the most?’” No longer being bogged down by the weight of the world on their shoulders, Be Well have every right to say Hello Sun to the better days that lay ahead of them.
Read More “Be Well – Hello Sun”