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Review: Silverstein – When Broken Is Easily Fixed

Silverstein
Adam Grundy

Looking back 15 years from Silverstein’s debut album is an interesting experiment, now knowing all of the great work they have put forth since. When Broken is Easily Fixed was a compilation of the band’s early EPs, Summer’s Stellar Gaze (2000) and When the Shadows Beam (2002), that were re-recorded for Victory Records under the tutelage of producer Justin Koop. The LP itself went on to sell over 200,000 units, far surpassing any expectations.

I first discovered Silverstein when my college roommate told me I needed to check out this new band on Victory Records named after a children’s book author (Shel Silverstein). That first song he played for me was “Bleeds No More.” I was immediately drawn into the aggressiveness of the track, from the dual-guitar attack of Neil Boshart and Josh Bradford, to the carefully placed screams of Shane Told, the track just clicked. Then as I began to investigate the other songs on When Broken is Easily Fixed, I became drawn to songs such as “Red Light Pledge” and “Wish I Could Forget You,” each with their own personalities and intricate guitar work, precise drumming, and incredible hooks. I really appreciated what Silverstein was aiming for on this release, and I knew that this band in particular was going to do something great in their career.

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Review: Underoath – Survive, Kaleidoscope

Underoath - Survive, Kaleidoscope
AbsolutePunk

For a band that has gone through numerous member changes and only retained one original member, Underoath are doing pretty damn good. When the band lost their vocalist Dallas Taylor, it seemed like the end was near, but with continued fate, the group found a new vocalist named Spencer Chamberlain and they haven’t looked back since. The group has become one of the biggest bands not only in the post-hardcore scene, but the music scene in general. With every record, the band continues to push their songwriting abilities. After the highly successful album, Define The Great Line, the band went on lengthy tours and continued to work away at trying to topple their last effort. Knowing that this was going to take some time, they released the DVD 777. The DVD was mostly footage of the band on tour supporting the album, but it also included a short concert that was done for Myspace’s Secret Shows. 

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Review: Silverstein – Antibloom

Silverstein - Antibloom
Adam Grundy

2025 is a major year for Silverstein for a litany of reasons. The band is celebrating 25 years of existence, they are currently on a comprehensive tour in support of this band anniversary, and they are planning to release not one, but two LPs this year. First on the docket is the brief, but extremely hard-hitting album called Antibloom. Silverstein recorded both parts of their ambitious two-part album in the deserts of Joshua Tree, CA, and it appeared to have a big impact on the five musicians. Shane Told shared, “Antibloom is a reference to the desert, the empty vastness, the harshness, something we experienced while making the record. This is not a concept record, the concept was making a record in this space, and while the lyrics/songs are not directly connected in any shape or form, the concept of death or mortality does appear a lot”. While some fans may be turned off by the short run time of Antibloom, it’s hard to not admit that this record features eight great songs that play off of each other brilliantly and accelerate the artistic development of Silverstein.

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Review: Avril Lavigne – Love Sux

Adam Grundy

The first studio album in three years from the “Pop Punk Queen,” Avril Lavigne, delivers on all of its potential. Her seventh album in total, Love Sux was produced by veteran hit-maker John Feldman (among others including Mod Sun and Travis Barker) and has a ton of aggressive and hard-hitting songs that are sure to grab your attention. In a recent interview with NYLON Magazine, Lavigne shared this about the direction of the new record, “This is the first one that’s just rock all the way through. There was a point in music where the label was like, ‘Radio don’t want to hear guitars anymore.’ Live drums went away. Live electric guitars weren’t getting played. There’s always been that fine line that I’m going to make my music that I’m feeling but also you have a company behind you who influences what you’re doing.” This dedication to making the music she was driven to create makes for one of her most accessible and rewarding albums to date.

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Review: Hoobastank – Hoobastank

Adam Grundy

In a music landscape filled with some odd band names, Hoobastank may have taken the prize for strangest moniker. On their self-titled major label debut, the band came roaring out of the gate with a strong debut single in “Crawling in the Dark” that rose as high as the top three on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart. One thing that many people don’t know about the band is that this record is actually their second full-length record with the independently released They Sure Don’t Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To, that featured a horn section and not too much material within the same realm as Hoobastank. I discovered this band in a similar way as others, by seeing their first music video on MTV2 and then promptly buying my first concert ticket to see them at the 9:30 Club. Their live show was filled with pulse-pounding drums (courtesy of Chris Hesse), the brilliant riffing from guitarist Dan Estrin, and anthemic vocals from Doug Robb. During this concert, they played two tracks from their independent debut, “Earthsick” and the song closest to the sound they would go for on their Island Records’ debut on “Stuck Without a Voice.” This concert made me a life-long fan of the band, and they would go on to achieve remarkable success on their subsequent record called The Reason, where the title track made them a household name. This meteoric rise made the radio ready rock band Hoobastank something that ironically everyone would know exactly what you’re talking about.

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Review: Marcy Playground – Marcy Playground

Adam Grundy

I’ve never particularly liked the term “one hit wonder,” since it implies that the band or artist didn’t have any other good material that preceded or followed after a moment of success. Alas, Marcy Playground usually gets lumped into that “one hit wonder” moniker when discussing bands from the late 90’s Alternative Rock scene. The band found breakthrough success with their song “Sex and Candy,” and they steadily released three additional albums, with their last studio album coming in 2009 called Leaving Wonderland…In A Fit of Rage. Marcy Playground recently paired up with other 90’s bands like Everclear and Local H on 2018’s Summerland Tour, and I always felt like they didn’t get the true recognition they deserved for their unique brand of quirky rock. Marcy Playground in particular, their self-titled debut, was one of those records I discovered later in life and was kicking myself for not diving further into the material earlier. There’s never been a better time to dive back into this record that delivers all over the album.

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Streaming Is Changing the Sound of Music

Jason Tate

Wall Street Journal:

To keep the “skip rate” as low as possible, musical artists are increasingly moving a song’s hook or chorus to that initial 30-second sweet spot. Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, the hosts of the “Switched on Pop” podcast, have coined the term “Pop Overture” to describe a new trend in which a song “will play a hint of the chorus in the first five to 10 seconds so that the hook is in your ear, hoping that you’ll stick around till about 30 seconds in when the full chorus eventually comes in.”

Creators are modifying more than just the introductory sections of tracks for optimal performance on streaming. Every track that is listened to for more than 30 seconds counts as a play, but whether a listener makes it all the way through a song helps to determine whether a streaming service like Spotify will recommend similar songs in the future.

Favorite Software

Technology
Jason Tate

One of the more frequent questions I’m asked is what software do I use for insert a task here. This post hopes to keep a running list of my favorite apps, programs, and tools that I use on a regular basis. I’ve tried to break up the list into helpful sections and linked out to the app store when appropriate. Everything listed here I personally use and recommend. I’ll try and update this post on a semi-regular basis.

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