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.
On their appropriately titled debut LP, Youth, Citizen unsurprisingly addresses coming-of-age angst – typical fodder for most young, earnest pop punk bands – yet somehow they accomplish it without sounding stale or cliche.
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.
While they have always been known as more of a pop band, rather than a rock band, this time around on Biography of Heartbreak, This Century strips away any rock or punk sensibilities they once had and go straight for the Top 40 pop sound.
The Wonder Years’ third full-length The Greatest Generation proves once and for all that the band’s significance goes far beyond their infectious sound and tattoo-ready lyrics. The third in a trilogy, the album is made up of thirteen of the strongest and most meaningful songs the band has ever written, cementing them as one of the most important acts of this decade.
With its catchy guitar riffs, fast and hard drum fills, and simple vocal harmonies, Count To Four’s Between Two Cities is a record that begs to be listened to on a hot summer night, with the windows down and the stereo loud.
Whether listeners vibe with the turn that A Rocket To The Moon have taken towards a pop impression on light country or prefer their youthful musings without a side of the South, the old sweetness of the band still sits evident just below the surface.
Despite the dark name and odd artwork, Devil is the cheeriest effort Lydia has released to date, and it will be a mainstay for those warm days and chilly nights by the fire this spring and summer.
Priming listeners with a small taste of Laura Stevenson’s newest music, the Runner EP sets a smooth and relaxed tone to catch attention and keep it.
Seasoned indie rockers Fake Problems and up-and-coming punk band You Blew It! have teamed up to prove make their home state proud with the aptly-titled split Florida Doesn’t Suck.
