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Review: All Systems Go – “The Lowdown”

Adam Grundy

The latest single from NJ pop-punk band All Systems Go called “The Lowdown” revisits the glory days of the genre and makes for a memorable statement. Imagine the Drive-Thru Records-era bands being put into a blender with their various styles and voices, and you’d likely end up with something similar to All Systems Go. Produced by Gary Cioni (Hot Mulligan, Crime in Stereo) and mastered by Mike Kalajian (New Found Glory, Senses Fail), this professional-sounding track is sure to be the perfect addition to that end-of-summer playlist you’ve been crafting.

The song opens with some somber vocals that quickly accelerate over the great guitar riffs, before exploding into an anthemic chorus. It reminds me a bit of early-New Found Glory paired with the crunchy, start/stop riffing of Fenix TX. The chorus of, “And I just hate how I get it now / It doesn’t matter if we talk it out / You make me wary of everything / That might just seem like the right move / To bringing me down / And I get it now / And I’m still wishing that you’ll come around / And now there’s nothing left that I can do / You just have to get through to you,” is well-constructed and thought out fully, as it tackles the theme of navigating a troublesome relationship. All Systems Go are showing a lot of promise on songs like this one.

Review: STMNTS – Tendencies

Adam Grundy

The music business is a very unforgiving place. The window of opportunity to make a mark in the music world appears to be getting slimmer by the day, so it’s of the utmost importance to deliver your best material as consistently as possible. Easier said than done, right? The new Baltimore punk band, STMNTS, are well up to the task of delivering the goods on their vibrant new EP called Tendencies. The slick five-song record is filled with anthemic moments, crisp guitar tones, and well-timed vocals/harmonies to make the EP remain memorable. With a sound that fits well within the realm of the crunchy guitar riffing of Four Year Strong, to the sensitive side of The Wonder Years, paired with the great emo production of Bayside, STMNTS are taking full advantage of their time. This band makes emo/punk music look effortless, and it’s quite a fun listening experience.

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Review: American Television – Scars

Adam Grundy

Does the world really need another politically-charged punk band? When the tunes that come through the speakers are as slick, fine-tuned, and as hard-hitting as what DC-punk band American Television put forth on Scars, the answer is a resounding “yes!” American Television is comprised of lead vocalist/guitarist Steve Rovery, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Jerred Lazar, bassist Edwin Wikfors, and drummer Bryan Flowers, and their band chemistry continues to improve on their sophomore record here. Having shared stages with veteran punk bands like Spanish Love Songs, The Copyrights, and Piebald, American Television are armed with a packed repertoire of feel-good anthems about fighting the status quo. At a time when democracy seems to be teetering on the brink of collapse, this band have added their powerful voices to the good fight.

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Review: Counting Crows – August & Everything After

Craig Manning

What’s the first song you ever loved? If we’re being really honest, the answer for most of us is probably something like “Happy Birthday,” or “Jingle Bells,” or a lullaby our parents sang us when we were young. Maybe it’s something we heard in our favorite childhood TV show or Disney movie, or a nursery rhyme song, or some silly novelty ditty we learned from the other kids at daycare. Me, though? I can’t really remember ever caring about music in any fashion until I heard “Mr. Jones.”

Counting Crows are the closest I can come to saying I’ve loved a band for my entire life. Their debut album, 1993’s August & Everything After, came out 30 years ago today, a few months before my third birthday. At some point, a copy of it came into my family’s possession – and more importantly, into our Ford Expedition. In the backseat, headed home from some family day trip, I watched as my brother slid the album into the CD player and skipped to track 3.

In retrospect, “Mr. Jones” doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would appeal to a young child’s brain. It’s verbose and meandering and takes forever to get to the chorus. Adam Duritz sings a lot of words that didn’t register any meaning to me at the time: things like “New Amsterdam” and “flamenco dancer” and “Bob Dylan.” And boy, I remember being baffled – truly baffled – by this man’s claim that grey was his favorite color. Surely, he was a liar, or maybe even crazy.

But for as bewildering and strange as I found “Mr. Jones” to be, when the song finally wound around to the hook, it enraptured me. “Mr. Jones and me/Tell each other fairytales/And we stare at the beautiful women/She’s looking at you/Oh, no no, she’s looking at me.” The melody was warm and golden and welcoming, and I fell in love with it right away. Soon, every time I was in that car, I wanted nothing more than to get the CD with the yellow cover out of the center console, skip to track 3, and take that ride again.

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Interview: Powfu

Powfu
Adam Grundy

This past week I was able to connect with Canadian rapper/artist, Powfu, to discuss his newly announced LP Gathered By The Lantern. I also asked him about his breakthrough single, “Deathbed (Coffee for your head)” that featured Beabadoobee, his upcoming touring plans and what keeps him motivated as an artist. Powfu will be embarking on a European tour soon.

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Review: Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS

Adam Grundy

So much has been written and talked about in regards to Olivia Rodrigo, from her pop prowess in her songwriting style, to the music discourse around what artists she sounds similar to, it’s all gotten a bit…tired. The last time I sat down to write about Rodrigo’s debut, SOUR, it was to evaluate what makes this artist so endearing, talented, and remarkable. GUTS picks right up where she left off on her bulletproof debut record that captivated fans near and wide, and moves the needle that much further up in her atmospheric trajectory towards superstardom. From the opening bars of the lead single, “Vampire,” to the post-teenage brashness of current single “Bad Idea Right?” Rodrigo has created a monster on her sophomore record that has already garnered tons of critical praise. While SOUR introduced the world to Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS is a beautifully messy coming-of-age album that highlights the bets parts of a pop artist willing to take the right steps in her musical journey.

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Review: Safari Room – “Broken Things”

Adam Grundy

On the latest single from Safari Room, called “Broken Things,” he tackles the difficult theme of navigating through a relationship on the brink of collapse. Songwriter Alec Koukol shared, “Quite plainly, ‘Broken Things’ is about the declination of a relationship. The song is an amalgamation of relationships I’ve had crumble over the last few years. This song is a catharsis and outburst of emotions kept in for too long. It’s a whole journey of self-discovery through loss of a relationship, confined in one tune.” The song is brimming with vibrant guitar riffs, soothing vocals, all paired with vivid storytelling from Koukol. The sound of Safari Room is similar to the style of The National, The War on Drugs, and Mae.

The song opens with the verse of “This is the end, no longer lovers/ “Maybe we can be friends” / What a lie / Emphatically sad ‘cause the good has been undone” as Koukol paints the picture of a once fruitful relationship turning sour. The song gradually picks up tempo and features a great bass line before building to the crescendo of, “You’re out of my mind /You’re out of my mind (Get out of my mind) / You’re out of my mind / Get out of my mind /You’re out of my mind (Get out of my mind) / You’re out of mind / You don’t live here anymore (You don’t live there anymore),” that provides a glimpse of the conflict going on within the songwriter’s headspace. Safari Room have reignited the flame of purpose on this electric single that is hauntingly beautiful.

Review: MS MR – “Saturn Return”

Adam Grundy

Goodbyes are hard to do. Whether it’s saying goodbye to a close friend moving to a different part of the country, or losing someone permanently due to death, it’s always a tough process to go through. MS MR have returned with their stunning final single, called “Saturn Return,” that is a fitting tribute to all of the work that vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow have accomplished over the tenure of this project. Having first stormed onto the indie rock scene with the fittingly titled “Hurricane” in 2012, MS MR captured lightning in a bottle with their first two albums Secondhand Rapture and How Does It Feel. This latest dual-sided single features the atmospheric “Saturn Return” and a beautiful cover of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta.”

”Saturn Return” opens with a soft, keyboard-laced sound that eventually breaks the spacey feel to it with Plapinger’s breathy vocals to allow the single to reach its heavenly intentions. The chorus of, “Two souls / So close again / And again, and again,” marks the connection that Plapinger and Hershenow have with each other in this band in such a majestic way. The only flaw of the song is that I wish it would’ve been longer, as it wraps up just after the two-minute mark before it could fully take off. The cover of “Flagpole Sitta” is a worthy tribute to the Alt-Rock classic track, and fits well within the realm of MS MR’s discography. They really make the track their own, and leave a memorable final artistic statement with this final release. Saying goodbye to MS MR isn’t easy, but the music that they have left behind will stand the test of time.

Review: Yawn Mower – “Stagnant Lake”

Adam Grundy

The latest single from NJ indie rock/punk band, Yawn Mower, is a tasty slab of guitar-heavy rock that showcases the band’s ability to mix in hip-hop elements, paired with crisp pop sensibilities to make themselves stand out from the pack. The band’s core lineup is comprised of Mike Chick and Biff Swenson, while they have some key contributions from others on their debut LP, called To Each Their Own Coat, and their unique style of fuzzy, doom pop plays off pretty well on songs like this. Yawn Mower will be performing at this year’s Sea.Hear.Now. festival in their hometown of Asbury Park, NJ with other marquee bands like Foo Fighters, The Killers, Weezer, and more.

The single, called “Stagnant Lake” features fuzzed-out guitars that embrace the hip-hop elements in the verses, while still leaving room for creativity in their musical delivery. The second verse of, “Ideas in the cannon for years / Got bullets that are ready to shoot / Went fishing in a stagnant lake / Found a tire, a bike and a boot,” explore lyrical wordplay to tie in to the track’s title. What the band does best on this particular single is to hone in on their musical chemistry while allowing the song to breathe a bit in the closing moments with an extended guitar solo. This is just a small taste of the possibilities Yawn Mower can take their music to in the future.

Review: The All-American Rejects – The All-American Rejects

Adam Grundy

My first impressions of The All-American Rejects, and their pop-centered rock, were generally favorable. The band stormed onto the scene with their charming first single, “Swing, Swing,” that carefully swayed from swooning falsetto vocals, from frontman Tyson Ritter, to a more lush tenor sound with ease. The single seemed to be played everywhere from baseball games, to grocery stores, and it was undeniably catchy. Their self-titled LP was produced by Tim O’Heir (The Starting Line, Say Anything) and he does a nice job of accentuating the best parts of the band on this fairly straight-forward collection of songs. A little know fact about the debut is that when the album was recorded, Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler were the only two band members, and it was until the band would shoot their video for their debut single that they would add Mike Kennerty on rhythm guitar and Chris Gaylor on drums. This lineup is still intact to this day, and The All-American Rejects would see even greater success with their sophomore album, Move Along. The All-American Rejects would go on to sell a million copies in the United States, and solidify the band as a marquee name in the pop-rock realm for the foreseeable future. The album was recently reissued on a “Ghostly Green” vinyl that includes a bonus 7″ vinyl on “Coke Bottle Green” to further celebrate the 20+ years that have passed since this record came out.

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Review: Don’t Panic – Setting Up To Fail

Adam Grundy

Pennsylvania rock band, Don’t Panic, have returned to the music scene with their third full-length record called Setting Up To Fail. The band is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Ted Felicetti, Keith Slader (bass), Anthony Paesano (drums) and AJ Larsen (guitar), and their sound is a vibrant mix of good vibes in the style of Bayside, Sugarcult and No Use For A Name. When speaking on the new album, Felicetti says, “We have been at it for four years now. Powered through a worldwide pandemic and wrote and released two albums in that time. But, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, this new record is this band finally stepping into its own. The songs are the most matured versions of our writing abilities and I have never been more proud to release something with my name on it. It’s the perfect mix of the rock and roll bands I grew up on like the Foo Fighters, and my punk rock roots listening to bands like Face to Face and No Use for a Name. “Newer” bands like Bayside and the Menzingers also played a major role in shaping the songwriting here, and I am more than happy to lean into that when the time calls for it– but all while shaping and creating our own sound and feel In our own lives we have never belonged, but with this record I finally feel like we have a place.” With this positive momentum going in the band’s favor, it’s no wonder why Setting Up To Fail is such a rewarding listening experience.

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Review: Ratboys – The Window

Adam Grundy

On the fifth studio album by the charming indie-rock band, Ratboys, called The Window, the band expand up on the ideas that they tinkered with on the preceding record, Happy Birthday, Ratboy, with a matured sound. The band chose to work with Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, Snarls) on The Window and it would mark the first time they would record directly onto tape. Ratboys had first met Walla on a tour stop in Montreal, and he agreed to produce the album in 2021, while they sent voice memos of early demos of the songs that would end up on this record. Through the advice that Walla gave the band, Ratboys would record these songs in Walla’s Seattle studio that really jump off the speakers with veteran ease. The stylistic choices on The Window range from straight-forward indie rock, punk, grunge, to a more alt-country sound that fit well within the vocal range and capabilities of lead vocalist/guitarist Julia Steiner. The band appears to be gaining confidence at just the right moment in their trajectory, which makes it a fun time to be a fan of Ratboys.

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Review: Blessthefall – Hollow Bodies

Adam Grundy

The fourth studio album from metalcore band, Blessthefall, called Hollow Bodies was produced by Joey Sturgis (The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria) and showcased a band moving their sound closer to a blend between metal and electronica. Having listened to it again with fresh ears, albeit ten years later, the record still holds up. The sound is reminiscent of the electronica found on early Underoath albums, paired with the slick guitar hooks of Escape the Fate, and the metal-tinged leanings of Bullet For My Valentine. It all works out surprisingly well, and features the same lineup as their third album, Awakening, for the first time in consecutive records for the band. The set was released via Fearless Records and would spawn two singles, “You Wear A Crown But You’re No King” and “Deja Vu,” and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums charts. While Blessthefall wear their influences clearly on their sleeves, the product that comes out of it still feels unique and ambitious.

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Interview: 13th Law

13th Law
Adam Grundy

Recently I was able to catch up with Evan Lawrence, better known as 13th Law, to ask him the details behind his great new summer single “It’s Alright.” In the interview, this talented artist opened up about his music upbringing, he explained the differences in writing for Babyfang versus his solo project, as well as what fans can be on the lookout for as the year unfolds. 13th Law’s latest single, “LightRun” is out now wherever you stream your music.

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