Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down

This year Fall Out Boy released the gold selling album ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ and seem to be going from strength to strength, widening their fan base by the day with their awesome Pop Punk/Emo crossover music. This single should take the UK by storm on release and will no doubt do extremely well – it is a magnificent song and is definitely something that a UK audience will enjoy.

Fall Out Boy, with ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down’ combine Pop Punks powerful guitar hooks with Emo’s heartfelt melodies and in doing so have created an anthemic song which will no doubt become a classic. This song really is the epitome of Pop Punk, Emo crossover, and with it Fall Out Boy truly are verging on perfection. Rolling Stone magazine naked them in their “10 Artists to Watch” list and I think that they’ve really got a good point there – you better watch out for Fall Out Boy because sooner or later this band are really going to explode.

Label: Mercury
Release Date: September 5th 2005

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The Early November – The Acoustic EP

I’ve never been a particularly big fan of The Early November so was never expecting to get much out of listening to this CD. This Acoustic EP was apparently released in 2002 originally, however was only available at the bands live performances and from the Drive Thru Records website, so for the first time this EP has now been made more readily available for public consumption.

There are seven tracks on display here, and for me this CD really doesn’t help the bands case for my approval. Vocally, the band sound really out of tune on this effort and although musically it doesn’t sound bad, it’s just too bland to really maintain my imagination. While listening to this CD I found myself drifting off and not really paying attention to the music a lot of the time – I found it far better to switch myself off from the music than force myself to listen to it.

I really don’t see what people see in this band – they’ve always seemed rather mediocre to me, and this EP does nothing to change my mind about them. To me, The Early November come across as a band who have a few good ideas but just don’t know how to make the most of the ideas that they do have so end up writing songs that are just rather dull and not too pleasant to listen to. I think the out of tune vocals here do hinder the band somewhat, had the vocals been slightly more tuneful; then maybe I would have had a slightly more pleasant listening experience – sadly however this was not the case.

Label: Drive Thru Records
Release Date: June 27th 2005

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McQueen – Running Out Of Things to Say

This is the second single to be released by the voluptuous McQueen and follows on from last year’s debut single of ‘Like I Care/You Leave Me Dead.’ The band follow on from this debut single in style and have once again recorded another stormer of a single. This single is sure to please many with its incredible bite and general in your face style. There’s some incredible guitar work on display here, some awesome drum beats, and some great bass lines. Vocally this band just seem to be going from strength to strength – main woman Leah Duors sounds better than ever here and in this single her voice really comes through strong.

McQueen are a great band and once again have been able to find form in creating a truly stunning single. It is often argued that all girl bands just don’t cut it in this industry which is for the most part male dominated, and a lot of the time it can be seen to be true as most girl bands are awful. In the case of McQueen, this is definitely not true as they are a driving force in Rock ‘n’ Roll with their fast ands frantic music. McQueen are definitely a band to watch out for in the future – I swear that before long this band will go far.

Label: Furry Tongue Records
Release Date: September 19th 2005

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Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot

‘I Predict A Riot’ was originally released last Autumn, however it was only given a very limited release so wasn’t the commercial success that proceeding singles ‘Oh My God’ and ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ were. Thus, the band has re-released this single and I am sure that this time round the single will do just as well as the others as it is a great song and certainly one of their best efforts from debut album ‘Employment.’ This is another stormer of a track which has brilliantly formed verses and an ever catchy chorus which is sure to help it take the charts by storm next Sunday. This single is being released as a double A-side with the prestigious live favourite ‘Sink That Ship’ aiming to accompany ‘I Predict A Riot’ to chart success.

Label: B-Unique Recordings
Release Date: August 22nd 2005

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