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LATEST ARTICLES - PAGE 171

Review: Lovelytheband – Finding It Hard To Smile

Lovelytheband
Adam Grundy

On Lovelytheband’s debut album, Finding It Hard To Smile, the group grows upon the sound from their debut EP and stretches out the good vibes over the expansive 16-track LP. The new group is led by former Oh Honey lead-singer, Mitchy Collins, guitarist Jordan Greenwold and drummer Sam Price. The group has had over three million streams of their debut single, “Broken,” and has toured extensively since their debut EP dropped in 2017.

The album opens up with the instrumental/atmospheric synth-laden title track, that flows directly into the second track “Pity Party.” The synths and guitars mesh well and play off of each other nicely on this track, as drummer Sam Price sets the pacing brilliantly. The following track, “Make You Feel Pretty,” finds Lovelytheband at the utter-catchiest, with a bouncy verse and upbeat sing-a-long chorus. In the second verse, Collins paints a picture of a relationship that appears to be very one-sided, when he sings, “Oh, I could use a Xanax, maybe that’ll fix this/She’s like an addiction, something I ain’t kickin’ easy/Am I wasting my time?” These catchy, yet relatable lyrics, paint the band as group willing to wear their heart on their sleeves and showcase their vulnerabilities.

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A Quick Pitch for Becoming a Supporting Member

Jason Tate

If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your account and becoming a supporting member of this website, I’d love to encourage you to do so during the month of August. As we start moving toward fall, and the end of the year (holy-shit-time-goes-fast), it’s that time where I start thinking about finances and the sustainability of the website. I’ve run some of the math, and basically, if everyone reading this signed up for just one year, this website would be sustainable basically immediately for multiple years. If only a small fraction of the people reading this right now signed up, this website is viable for me to keep running as my full-time job for another year. And, that’s the ultimate goal.

When you upgrade your forum account you gain access to exclusive content, Dark Mode, an ad-free browsing experience, and the supporter forum.

Even if you don’t have a forum account but want access to Dark Mode and an ad-free experience on the main website, you can become a patron for only $3 per month (or $25 annually) and you’ll get the perks while also helping us maintain our independence as a publisher.

I’m making plans for next year right now and the goal is to re-launch Encore, continue improving and adding new features to the forums, and start writing even more long-form reviews/pieces here on the website. Thank you to everyone that’s continued to help make this dream a reality every single day.

Review: Mayday Parade – Sunnyland

Mayday Parade
Adam Grundy

I’ll be the first to admit that I am very, very late to the Mayday Parade bandwagon.  Mayday Parade are a band that I would recognize on Warped Tour and the Punk Goes-compilations, tour announcements with other pop-punk bands that I enjoy, and now the new excitement of being inked to a label that truly is passionate about the artists they sign. Rise Records are getting a great piece of music to market from the Tallahassee, Florida quintet.

Before the release of Sunnyland, the group released the well-received Black Lines. As a casual fan of the group, I found the change in styles refreshing, rather than hindering what I always felt the group was capable of making: a solid rock album with killer hooks from start to finish.

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Review: G Herbo / Southside – Swervo

G Herbo - Swervo
Tommy Monroe

Swervo is G Herbo’s sophomore album with one of the elite trap music producers, Southside. In a world where gangster rap is noted for its lyrical bankruptcy, G Herbo’s lyrical finesse makes him standout from the crowd of other rappers. This is probably one of the reasons he was described as “The Future” by Drake. Southside can only be described as the godfather of trap producers. He has worked with top rappers and trap artists with his producer tag, “Southside,” as a symbol of his presence on several tracks.

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Review: Birds In Row – We Already Lost The World

Birds In Row - We Already Lost The World
Drew Beringer

Yes, it’s been six years since Birds In Row unleashed their devastating Deathwish debut You, Me, & the Violence. Listeners were given a taste of what the band was up to with 2016’s frenzied EP, Personal War, which only left us salivating for more. But in an industry currently dominated by quantity over quality, it’s refreshing that the French trio (operating as single entity under a veil of anonymity just as before), took their time in releasing We Already Lost The World, one of the most punishing hardcore records in recent memory.

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