Review: The Slang – Divide

Adam Grundy Sep 27, 2021

The funny thing about debut albums is that they’re filled with so much promise, blissful ignorance, and a full beating heart filled with the utmost purpose. Washington, DC’s The Slang are able to capture that early magic that bands would kill for at this stage of their career. Divide, in a lot of ways, investigates where we are as a society today, but it’s vibrant guitar tones and uplifting choruses keep the material from sinking into the abyss. When I last caught up with the band for an interview, the band appeared to be completely flattered by my early praise of their album that I got an advance copy of. After explaining to The Slang (comprised of John Bobo and Felix Nieto) just how great their debut is, I hope I was able to instill some new-found confidence in this band that I feel everyone should turn their immediate focus onto.

Adam Grundy Sep 23, 2021

The word that most closely comes to mind when talking about Thrice is consistency. The second word that I most closely associate with this legendary band on their 11th studio album, Horizons/East, is variety. They simply do not make the same record twice; a true marking of an artist that is uncomfortable with the comfort that comes with creating similar sounding material. On Horizons/East, Thrice are able to embrace the change that comes with pushing themselves to their artistic limits, and much like that famous Lindsay Lohan meme; the limit does not exist.

This picturesque record opens with the sprawling “The Color of the Sky,” as Dustin Kensrue sets the stage with, “My first and foremost memory / Is staring up in wonder at the wall / It circumscribed the city / They said beyond it nothing dwelt at all / But I came to wonder if the stories all were true / So one night I made my mind up / I resolved that I would find a passage through” before drummer Riley Breckenridge explodes into one of my favorite drum fills in recent memory. Kensrue’s closing lyrics of “I don’t know the way, but I know that I belong out here / On this journey that I never thought I’d make / Setting out across a new frontier / A new horizon with each eager step I take,” seems to encapsulate everything that I love about his top-notch storytelling on my favorite opening tracks in their discography since Vheissu’s “Image of the Invisible.”

Adam Grundy Sep 20, 2021

If you’re looking for solid pop-punk with a heartbeat, you’ve come to the right place. Right On, Kid are a five-member band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and have crafted an album worthy of early recognition and praise. Their first EP called When Words Are Enough announced their arrival to the scene, whereas Life Is A Movie welcomes them into the fold with open arms. This album is filled with everything we all love about the genre: great sounding hooks, uplifting vocals, well thought out lyrics, and plenty of excellent drumming. With a sound similar to Hit the Lights, Mayday Parade, and All Time Low, you may need to thank us later for introducing you to your latest pop-punk obsession.

Adam Grundy Sep 17, 2021

The circumstances that led to New York City’s-own January Jane being signed to a major label record deal, and also getting the stamp of approval from veteran music guru Matt Pinfield are quite unique. In the interview I conducted with vocalist Pat Via, guitarist Mitch Mitchell, and Pinfield, they described the path that led them to each other, and their bond continues to be a major success story to this day. Their debut EP, Your Drug, is a solid blast of energetic pop rock built for instant radio success. The lead single, “Versions of You,” has already charted on the Adult Top 40 National Airplay Billboard barometer of popular music. Rounded out by keyboardist Peter Scalia, January Jane might just be the band that we need to get us through this dark period in history.

Adam Grundy Sep 15, 2021

Recently I was able to connect with Ben Liebsch of You, Me and Everyone We Know for an interview discussing his band’s great new album called Something Heavy. The album hits the streets this Friday, and Ben and I discussed his unique writing process for this record, the choice to bring in outside collaborators, as well as his advice for others struggling with their mental health during this ultra-tough period of time.

Adam Grundy Sep 9, 2021

This past week, I was able to connect on Zoom with lead vocalist and guitarist of Middle Kids, Hannah Joy, before her band got set to leave for a comprehensive headlining tour of the United States. In this interview, we talked a lot about each of the songs from Today We’re The Greatest, the songs that she felt will most connect with fans on this tour, and the cool story behind playing with right-handed guitars even though she is left-handed. Middle Kids will be starting their headlining tour this month.

Craig Manning Sep 7, 2021

Brian Fallon didn’t NEED to make Elsie. By the time this album arrived – the one and only record Fallon made with the side project he dubbed The Horrible Crowes – Fallon was already well on his way to rock star status…or, at least, it seemed that way at the time. His full-time band, The Gaslight Anthem, had released three albums and an EP in the space of three years and about two weeks – a remarkable run that saw the band gaining ground with each release. By the time Elsie arrived in September 2011, there was already buzz brewing about Gaslight Anthem LP4, and about how that album had the potential to launch Fallon and company into a whole new stratosphere. Just about anyone else would have taken a well-deserved break. Based on the exhaustion that would eventually crash The Gaslight Anthem, maybe Fallon should have. Instead, he teamed up with his guitar tech, Ian Perkins, and made one of the great left-turn albums in 21st century rock ‘n’ roll. Some days, I think it might just be his masterpiece.

Adam Grundy Sep 6, 2021

It’s commonplace for me to be pitched new bands looking for my thoughts on their music, and I can’t help but feel flattered by the number of submissions I’ve received since I started writing for this site. It makes my job that much easier when being presented with music that immediately shimmers through the speakers as it does on Longsleeves debut EP, entitled Joyrider. The band is comprised of vocalist/bassist Austin Fontenot, guitarist Curtis Allison, guitarist Kyle Bauer, and drummer Matt Francis, and their charming debut is somewhere between a mix of early-Hawthorne Heights emo mixed with the polished grunge of 90’s rock acts like Smashing Pumpkins all blended with the radio-ready hooks of Gin Blossoms. The Norfolk, Virginia band has plenty to like on Joyrider, and Longsleeves are one of my “bands to watch” as their career in music seem poised for future success.

Mary Varvaris Aug 31, 2021

The most insufferable discourse awards of the year go to: “Solar Power sucks because Jack Antonoff produced it,” and “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is only good because Halsey worked with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from Nine Inch Nails.” Not only are these statements over the top, but there’s also a level of sexism, albeit most of the time unconscious and these comments rob artists of their agency. I’ve seen various conversations like this, but never to this point where people everywhere undermine a songwriter’s prowess due to their relationship with a producer’s work. Let’s not forget, Lorde demonstrated storytelling beyond her years from her beginnings with The Love Club EP in 2013. Halsey, who uses she/they pronouns, hasn’t found the same critical acclaim thus far, but fans who have followed their career recognize their growth since they released the Room 93 EP in 2014.

Adam Grundy Aug 30, 2021

It’s been written several times over the course of music history that an artist’s most important album is their current one, since it has the potential to make or break their career depending on the commercial and fan reaction to their product. In a lot of ways, a band usually makes their next album as a reaction to the one that came before it, and that rings very true on Screen Violence. CHVRCHES released their third record, Love is Dead, to a mixed bag of reviews with some reviewers claiming it was a step back from their early magic found. I personally didn’t see Love Is Dead as a step back, but after hearing the major step forward on Screen Violence, I can at least see where some of those reviewers were coming from. Screen Violence is a direct reaction to society’s obsession with others reactions to social media posts, how the media portrays major news events, as well as keeping our own mental health balanced through all of the distractions that exist in our world. With so much “noise” in today’s world, it was only a matter of time before this band made one of their boldest artistic statements to date on their fourth full-length record that shatters even the highest of expectations for where they could take their sound.

Adam Grundy Aug 25, 2021

On the debut record from the power-pop band Lovebreakers, they channel summer vibes and great guitar hooks into a crowd pleasing package. Primary Colours was produced/engineered by veteran Davey Warsop (Green Day, Foo Fighters, Weezer), and he gets a great performance on each of the ten tracks from this four-piece unit. The band plans to hit the road next year in support of punk rock legends Social Distortion. With such a tight-knit group of songs found on this debut, it should only be a matter of time before many others catch on to Lovebreakers’ greatness.

Adam Grundy Aug 24, 2021

Today, I’m pleased to share the latest video from New England’s finest, Kitner, with their single “Junebug.” In this Dawson’s Creek-stylized summery video, the band wanted to capture the essence of the song taken from their October 1st release Shake The Spins. The band shared this about the video:

”Kitner Creek” came together over the course of a week in the best and brightest parts of New England. The warm and fuzzy “before times” gig was filmed at Big Nice Studios in Rhode Island on a 100+ degree day (thanks to owner Brad Krieger for the use of the space and the ice pops!) The meta “music video brainstorm Zoom” scene, and James going into the TV, were filmed at Brianne and James’s house in Merrimack Valley. The scenes of the band frolicking in and around the beach were filmed on Old Orchard Beach in Maine, which gave us the Dawson’s Creek-style vibes we were aiming for with director Cait Brown and DP Chris Tremblay. We hope the video gives you the same sense of nostalgia, friendship, and fun that the song “Junebug” evokes, and that the fun we had making this video with new friends and old shines through your screen.

If you enjoy the single as much as I do, be sure to pre-order it here.

Adam Grundy Aug 19, 2021

The last time I sat down to write about one of my favorite and newest emo bands called Out of Service, I fell head over heels with being enamored by their debut Burden. Fast forward to 2021, and I am given a massive clue of new music on the horizon when I tagged the band in a post about new and exciting emo bands that pack plenty of musicianship, and none of that nasty controversy. Once I had this single for “Shelter” fall into my lap, I must’ve played the track at least three of four times to appreciate its slow-building beauty and great song structure. Now that the single has been released into the world as of yesterday, I can only imagine how everyone will be receiving the news of this band’s triumphant return. Out of Service are back, and sound as focused and as poised as they’ve ever been.

Craig Manning Aug 18, 2021

“I never really gave up on breaking out of this two-star town.”

When Brandon Flowers sang those words back in 2006, he completed a rock ‘n’ roll rite of passage: that of penning a great escapist anthem. The album he was working on at the time, the sophomore Killers LP Sam’s Town, was in part an homage to Bruce Springsteen, so it made sense for there to be a song like “Read My Mind” that channeled some of the pulling-out-of-here-to-win energy of Born to Run. When Flowers sang that song, you could hear in his voice the yearning to get out and find something better. You didn’t know where he was going, but you felt like he was probably never coming back.

Adam Grundy Aug 17, 2021

Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom interview with DC rockers, The Slang (John Bobo and Felix Nieto) before they release their debut LP called Divide. In this interview, I asked them about the songwriting process for their debut record, the comparisons some have made to their slick pop-rock sound, how genre lines continue to blend, and also what went into their music video shoot for “Nothing Lasts Forever.” Pre-orders are now up for Divide.

Review: The Slang – Divide

Review: Thrice – Horizons/East

Review: Right On, Kid – Life Is A Movie

Review: January Jane – Your Drug

Interview: Ben Liebsch of You, Me, and Everyone We Know

Interview: Hannah Joy of Middle Kids

Review: The Horrible Crowes – Elsie

Review: Longsleeves – Joyrider

Lorde, Halsey, and the Infuriating Discussion Around Their Producers

Review: Chvrches – Screen Violence

Review: Lovebreakers – Primary Colours

Kitner – “Junebug” (Video Premiere)

Review: Out of Service – Shelter

Review: The Killers – Pressure Machine

Interview: The Slang