Reviews

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

August 25, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

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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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

The Early November – The Acoustic EP

August 22, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

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

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

McQueen – Running Out Of Things to Say

August 22, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

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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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot

August 22, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘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

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Fall Out Boy – From Under The Cork Tree

May 22, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

Fall Out Boy’s last full length release was ‘Take This To Your Grave,’ and although a lot of people liked this album – I was definitely not one to be considered a fan. This album sees the band develop and mature into something far greater than they were back then, and in developing and maturing their sound, Fall Out Boy have produced a truly incredible album. The other day I reviewed a 5 track sampler of the album, in which I said that if that was anything to judge by then their album was to be truly something special. It really is something special and I am glad to have gotten hold of a copy before its release this coming Monday.

There are 13 tracks on display on this new album and not a single one of them disappoints. I had a feeling that the label may have put all the good material on the sampler and then the album was going to have 5 good tracks, with a load of average ones. This is definitely not the case and in ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ the band have produced a truly fine album worthy of being in anyone’s CD collection. Seriously, whatever type of music you’re predominantly into – I swear that you will find enjoyment in this Fall Out Boy album, it really it a fine piece of work.

My favourites on this CD are probably ‘Dance, Dance,’ ‘7 Minutes In heaven,’ ‘Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner,’ and the almighty ‘Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying.’ These are all great tracks and show off perfectly the fine skills that Fall Out Boy have to offer. There is never a dull moment on this album, but I just feel that these 4 tracks in particular really do convey the fun and enthusiasm that Fall Out Boy ooze seemingly with ease. The tracks have awesome vocals with great lyrics, strong guitar riffs, quality bass lines, and some superb drum work. Fall Out Boy, on this album have written some of the catchiest songs that I have ever heard in my life and I for one love it.

If you are into your Pop Punk or your Post-Hardcore, and haven’t yet checked this band out (god forbid) then make sure you check these guys out as they fuse the two perfectly and in doing so have created a truly immense album. I can see Fall Out Boy being around for some time to come yet with their fun, upbeat and frantic Pop Punk anthems.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

The Departure – All Mapped Out

May 22, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

I was expecting to dislike this track, having seen the band play with Feeder the other month and finding them distinctively average. This single however is fairly solid and to an extent does enough to please me. It doesn’t entirely change my opinion of the band as I still feel that they are fairly average, however alongside most of the stuff out there at the minute, this song is fairly good. It has some funky bass lines, and I think that this is what I liked most about this single.

The track is only 3 minutes long, however seems to drag on after about 2 minutes because of it’s slow pace and little in the way of keeping you amused. Don’t get me wrong – the first few minutes of listening to this song are great; it just gets a bit tiresome after that. With every listen I seem to think less and less of this track, so have done the track a favour and listened to it a fairly minimal amount of times (4 or 5.)

This is a track only really suitable for die hard Departure fans. I feel that anyone not too keen on the band will probably not have their opinion changed by this one. I feel that they sound a lot better on CD than they did at Brixton Academy, but then again when they played at Brixton the almighty Thee Unstrung had just played a blinder, so it was going to take a lot to live up to what they had come up with I guess.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Days of Worth – The Western Mechanism

May 21, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

It’s funny that a band this great can be from a place as dull as Surrey. Days of Worth burst onto the scene with this album, and it is a truly fine piece of musical excellence. What with the angst ridden lyrics, powerful guitar riffs, demon drum beats, and immensely powerful vocals – this band will have you hooked. From start to finish this album really is a masterpiece, reminding me very much so of Hell Is For Heroes at their peak, with the strong elements of bands such as Jane’s Addiction and Soundgarden.

Days of Worth are a band on the almighty Visible Noise label – the same label as multi-million selling commercial giants Lost Prophets. They certainly rival this band in terms of there powerful transfusion of songs, highly powered vocals and all around commercially viable, truly brilliant tracks. This band possess a lot of power in their music, and on this album show signs of remarkable display with their powering, always interesting and exciting music.

There are many slabs of musical brilliance on display on this record, with many of the tracks shining through and sounding amazing. Tracks such as ‘Standard Suburban Anthem,’ ‘Ladies and Gentlemen,’ and title track ‘The Western Mechanism’ really do go down a treat with their energetic, emotional display of rocking excellence. Days of Worth really are a fine British rock band and are definitely a band that the UK should be proud to have. These tracks in particular show off the band’s musical expertise, especially ‘Ladies and Gentlemen.’ The band released this one as a single and it really is a stormer with awesome guitar work, booming bass lines, and vocal superiority over most bands out there. Days of Worth are vocally and lyrically spot on, and the instrumental backing really does compliment their sound and works really well. Days of Worth aren’t just a collection of musicians doing their own thing – they are a group in every sense of the word and work well as a band and team.

This is definitely a band that you want to be checking out if you are a fan of contemporary Rock music and enjoy a band that does things just a bit different and sounds great for it. Recently there has been a large wave of bands coming through and holding the flag high for British rock band – I think that Days of Worth are another of these bands with their tremendous ‘The Western Mechanism’ album. With this CD, Days of Worth should begin to make their assault on the mainstream, attacking at full force. Hopefully before long this band will be as big, if not bigger than their label mates Lost Prophets.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Pixelface – Quarter-Life Crisis

May 21, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

Pixelface have been gigging regularly around Norwich for about a year, going on their first UK tour in September 2004. They are a melodic skate punk band, occasionally adding a twinge of Ska into the mix. The band have played with many bands such as the amazing, sadly now gone Solabeat Alliance, as well as other great bands such as Phinius gage, Sonic Boom Six, Fireapple Red, Catch-It Kebabs, Vanilla Pod, and Route215. This is the bands latest CD and sees them pull off 6 tracks with a large degree of style, and a huge serving of talent and excitement.

There are many average bands out there, but Pixelface are most certainly a cut above the rest with their impeccable rhythm, and finely executed tracks. ‘Victim/Bully’ is definitely one of my favourites on this EP – it is one of the aforementioned Ska infested tracks and really does go down a treat. It is fun, fast, energetic and frantic, and will almost certainly start off a huge pit at the bands live gigs – it really is an immense track and the band deserve a lot of credit for it. With its fine guitar work, awesome bass lines, incredible drum beats, and amazing vocals it is sure to become one of your new favourite songs. ‘The Hypocritical Oath’ is another one of my favourites from this EP – it really has got everything you could possibly wish for in a track. It is fast, exciting, and full of fun – you’re sure not to tire of it for months to come.

Pixelface really are quite a great band and I will definitely be looking out for them in the future. This Norwich based band have a lot to offer and I would strongly advise you to check them out if you’re up for a good bit of melodic skate punk with the odd hint of Ska here and there for good measure. If they carry on like this, then there should be many a fine release to come from this young band.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Audioslave – Out Of Exile

May 21, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

When a band consists of 75% of the members of Rage Against The Machine, and their final member and singer is the ex singer of the late, great Soundgarden – they’re never likely to release anything bad are they? As expected, this release is a great display of fine rocking, with Chris Cornell’s vocals sounding as amazing as ever. As much as I love Rage Against The Machine – the idea of them with a singer rather than a rapper never fails to put a smile on my face. I love Zack De La Rocha and have been looking out for his material ever since Rage Against The Machine split up, however the idea of a Rage Against The Machine with a singer always excites me greatly, especially when that singer happens to be the amazing Chris Cornell. You can’t better Audioslave really – they are an almost perfect rock band with incredible style and impeccable judgement over what tracks to include on their albums.

This album kicks off with the amazing ‘Your Time Has Come’ and throughout its duration never fails to impress with its fast, exciting and truly infectious sound. This album is uplifting, strong and is verging on perfection – seriously this album has it all, awesome guitar solos, super drum beats, some of the best vocals you will ever hear, and some truly cracking bass work. Every track is a blinder on this album – not a single track disappoints, with the band never failing to put a smile on my face throughout the entire album. Generally I can not listen to albums in their entirety – I will find myself skipping parts of tracks, or skipping them in their entirety but that just doesn’t happen with this album. I can listen to it from start to finish, feeling truly exasperated and happy as hell at the end of it.

The first single to be released from this album will be the awesome ‘Be Yourself.’ This really is a fine single, and although it’s a lot softer than 2002’s Self Titled debut album debut single ‘Cochise,’ however it is just as amazing and rivals it in terms of quality and all round general finesse. It is a strong effort and sees the band have a good crack at melodic, heartfelt rock music. It should go down well with the rock world when it is released on June 6th and will be hopefully getting frequent radio airplay before then.

There is never a dull moment on this release – Audioslave are frequently pressing the right buttons and doing all the right things to get me literally jumping around the room with excitement. This album fills me with energy and makes me glad to be alive; there is just so much to be gained from listening to this album. It really is a fine CD and I can see it being one of my favourite releases of the year. Audioslave are a fine bunch of musicians and in ‘Out Of Exile’ have created a truly amazing album.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

The Aquabats! – Charge!!

May 20, 2005 by Rich Leave a Comment

When I saw that the band had donned exclamation marks on the end of their band name, CD title, and every single track – I thought that this album may consist of some forced ‘wacky’ antics by the band. Luckily I was wrong and once again The Aquabats have come up trumps in producing a CD if true greatness. Some say that they don’t like this CD because it sees the band drop their horns and in doing so drop the ‘Ska.’ The thing is, The Aquabats never really have been a Ska band – they are just a fun band singing about issues such as being a nerd. ‘Nerd Alert’ is testament to this and is a cracking track that will put a huge smile on your face as soon as it begins to play.

There are many great tracks on display on this album such as the tremendous ‘Fashion Zombies!’ the incredible ‘Stuck in a Movie!’ and other such classics as ‘Hot Summer Nights (Wont Last Forever) and ‘Awesome Forces.’ Although the horns are now long gone, the band have replaced them with some awesome synthesizers and as a result their sound does not lose out at all from them losing the horns. On display on this album are some fine bass lines, awesomely tuned guitar riffs, some superb drum work, and as ever the obligatory amazing vocals with even better lyrics. A fine example of the bands greatly amusing lyrics can be seen in track ‘Look At Me, I’m A Winner!’ If you are a fan of the band then its tracks such as this and ‘Fashion Zombies!’ that you will want to be checking out as they are definite Aquabats classics that will be remembered for some years to come.

I have always been a great fan of this band and this album merely furthers my love of the band. After listening to this incredible album my fandom of the band does not at all diminish, with the album leaving me with a huge grin on my face. The use of synthesizer on this album gives the band a really retro Nintendo style feel and this is by no means a bad thing. This is a fun and upbeat album and will surely be the soundtrack of the summer with its fast, exciting tempo and general happy, summery feel. This album has a gloss of furious upbeat fun, and although it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste – those it does appeal to should be truly amazed by this brand new Aquabats album.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.