Disillusion is one of the most versatile records of 2013. O’Brother blend a multitude of genres and experiment with creative instrumentals and arrangements to artfully execute their self-defining sophomore record.
With ten songs packed with heart and aggression, the band strays from the laidback pop of their previous albums in favor of a more heavy-yet-melodic sound to get the message across on Golden Record.
With Absent Light, Misery Signals are doing exactly what they know best: staying true to their heavy sound and delivering their most polished and refined record to date.
With Bangs, the two-man team behind Brick+Mortar has managed to make untraditional music that will still appeal to traditional ears.
Love You In The Dark, the first solo effort of Now, Now’s Brad Hale, slides seamlessly from repetitively somber to ecstatic within the span of a few songs and explores all manners of human strength and weakness. It manages to find the gaps in the armor of humankind in the most delicate way possible, which is often a considerable feat for seemingly innocuous pop or electronic music.
Although You’re Always On My Mind marks the second full-length release for A Great Big Pile Of Leaves, it’s the band’s first album with an outside producer (Ed Ackerson) and the musical advances shine through. The album feels like the first time you surpass the “small talk†level with someone and realize that they’re holding plenty of mixed feelings about this whole life thing within themselves, too.
Waiting For The Dawn can go one of two ways: shuffled in with your summer CD collection to be blasted while driving down the highway, or excavated for a vastly deeper meaning. The album is conscientious in its commentary; always offering nuggets of wisdom and fresh ways to revamp your worldview for the brighter.
Real Friends are one of those bands who, although their musical repertoire is far from extensive, have yet to put out a bad song. Their latest EP Put Yourself Back Together is no exception – but there’s no sign of the band pushing their limits or trying something new.
With Feel, Sleeping With Sirens achieve every band’s goal: releasing a new album that offers something fresh while still retaining the sound their fans fell in love with. Whether your preference is angst-driven metal or poignant pop, this album is sure to leave you feeling something.
Liferuiner have decided to abandon their ties with old tracks like “A Ticket To The Pussy Crusher†and are trying to write honest, optimistic, and influential songs using key ingredients of melodic metalcore and straightedge hardcore: detuned guitars, predictable breakdowns, and lyrics pertaining to life’s inevitable struggles, hardships, and misery.
