Taking a page out of the book of pop-punk veterans such as Saves the Day and fellow Philadelphia natives The Starting Line, The Wonder Years released its second full-length album aptly titled The Upsides January 26 through No Sleep Records.
Get out your flat iron, your headband and your neon t-shirt, it’s time to party — Texas power-pop style.
Think about if someone approached you in a record store asking for something that blends the unique vocal sound of Hit the Lights, the emo power of The Early November and the homegrown pop-punk sound that The Starting Line have perfected. If that person were savvy enough they would hand you a copy of Think Fast from Just Left, the band’s second album and debut for Victory imprint Standby Records.
“You made your point when you said we fell apart / I had my words all chosen carefully / I broke your heart so gracefully†are merely a sampling of the lyrics that not so subtly transmit the angry barbs that populate Every You’s debut EP, A Change of Scene.
Motion City Soundtrack is at it again with its fourth studio full-length album, My Dinosaur Life, the first released under its contract with Columbia Records. The band is set to embark on tour in support of the album with Set Your Goals, This Providence and The Swellers.
The history of rock is full of “Eureka!” flashes of brilliance. Chuck Berry had the idea to fuse country with the blues. Bob Dylan took folk music electric. Nikki Sixx realized that the line “I’d say we’ve kicked some ass” could rhyme with “I’d say we’re still kickin’ ass.” For the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, the big light bulb idea came in 2005: Get huge by thinking small. Write scrappy little Brit-punk tunes about the humdrum town you’re stuck in, the pissy little pubs you can’t get into, the local girls who aren’t desperate enough to dance with you. Give… Read more »
