Fuck Your Scenes Review: Sarchasm - We Interrupt This Broadcast
Recommended if you like: Mixtapes, The Naked Brothers Band
First listen: Song 101
Sarchasm is a young ska band from Berkeley, California. They are a four piece group, and play by the motto “we’re silly teenagers who like playing music and making people dance.” Their debut LP We Interrupt This Broadcast opens with “Sarchastic Radio 92.4”, which is a collection of hits recorded from the radio onto Garageband that transitions into the actual tracks on this record after hearing …this is Sarchasm Radio. This record rings true to their “making people dance” motto, because it definitely has some movability musically and the occasional catchy hook. These factors alone showcase that the band deserves some props. While they do have plenty of movability, it feels as if the band is struggling to find a sound of their own , tracks like “Song 101” feel reminiscent of the band Mixtapes and tracks like “Live On”, “Crimson Tears”, and “Graduation Day” sound a lot like The Naked Brothers Band with a bit of an edge.
All in all this band has potential, there is no denying that. I mean, if Mixtapes has a fanbase there is absolutely no reason that these guys don’t. With a little bit of maturing in both sound and lyrics, which hopefully will come as these guy age, they could easily make a name for themselves within their scene.
Best of luck to these boys.
Stream the EP below.
**/*****
done by Joel Funk
Fuck Your Scenes Review: Misser -Every Day I Tell Myself I’m Going To Be A Better Person.
DISCLAIMER: I do not have a physical copy of this album (obviously, it was a digital release) and therefore do not have a booklet with the 100% correct spot on lyrics. If any of the lyrics I claim to hear are wrong, you have my apology.
Rec’d first listens: Bridges, Just Say It, Stay Asleep, I’m Sick, The Waits.
1. Permanently - Permanently starts Every Day I Tell Myself I’m Going To Be A Better Person off with a gritty, honest, live approach. The grittiness becomes evident solely with the vocal performance, and the lines “I’m permanently hung over/I haven’t been sober for more than three days” are brutal, self deprecating, and honest. 51 seconds of raw introduction leads you right into the next track.
2. Time Capsules - Right from the opening riff this song grabs the listener by the ears and practically demands you give it a listen. Then the vocals start, and that back and forth exchange between Brad and Tim really makes this song a “Misser” song. Lyrically, it seems as if this song is a bitter look at moving forward, as made evident within “I’ve been reading too much, I’ve been thinking too much, I’ve been missing the way things were too much.”
3. Bridges - A single beat of the drum segways right into this little gem, which is arguably one of the best tracks on the record. This track is another brutally honest song pointing toward moving on. It could be me, but I’m almost positive that is the motif of this record. The song opens up with the lines “We’re burning bridges faster than paper/I’m the one that started the fire/I just don’t know how” followed up by a line that while cliche, fits in completely with this track and the motif, which is “I can’t wait to leave this town/and never come back.” The lyrics to this song are ridiculously catchy and the music is just infectious. Once you start this track, you aren’t going to want to stop.
4. Weightless - Just for the record, this is not an All Time Low cover. I had also heard this song last month when it was released on Rise Records’ Youtube Channel. Weightless is vocally my personal favorite track on this record. The introduction to the vocals starts out with a killer blend of both Brad and Tim’s voices which transitions right into Misser’s signature exchange. Altogether, this track is something completely different than I was used to and nothing I expected. More lines that point toward this motif are “I can’t keep holding my breath/I’ve got a few things to say/like how I wish you were the person that I met last May.” Hypnotizing is the word I would use when describing this song.
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Fuck Your Scenes Review: Daytrader - Twelve Years
It’s very rare for their to be an album that - upon first listen - blows your mind. Not necessarily blowing your mind in the “oh fuck, this is so original and technical,” but it comes out of nowhere; it’s unexpected. Daytrader released Last Days of Rome last year, and while it was good, there was plenty of room for improvement. Eventually they signed a deal with Rise Records, met Mike Sapone, found those flaws, and improved upon them drastically. The end result is, Twelve Years, which comes out tomorrow. Holy shit.
“Deadfriends” is the introducing song on the album, and it does precisely what an opener should: it sets the tone/mood/perfection. As you read this, I understand that you’re probably thinking “already?!” but I’ve had this album for five days and cannot keep track of how many times I’ve listened to it. The verses are slow and melodic, before building up with an eerie “kill all my, kill all my friends” line and then the chorus hits - which is easily one of the best choruses on the entire album. “If You Need It” and “Firebreather” are the same set-up, in that they both have slower-paced verses with heavy-hitting choruses, and possibly most importantly: the hooks. If the hooks in these first three songs don’t pull you into the album, then you might as well not try listening to the rest, because these are some of the best you’ll hear throughout, and some of the best I’ve heard in a very, very long time.
It’s already clear at this point to see where the band gets comparisons to Taking Back Sunday and Brand New. Not only did they work with Mike Sapone, but the songs just bring back this early-2000’s emo/pop-punk feel to them that has been missed entirely too much.
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Fuck Your Scenes Review: Our Lady Peace - Curve
On April 3rd Our Lady Peace released a new album called Curve, which hit number 9 on the Canadian charts, and it’s truly worthy of any and all praise it’s received. It’s a brand new experience to older fans, and a brilliant album for new fans as well. It takes the Clumsy, the Spiritual Machines, and the Gravity and adds a new sound entirely. Working with a new producer, they were able to get passed the ‘is this what we want, or what a company wants?’ and go straight to ‘this is brand new sound, but it’s us.’
It starts off with a song called “Allowance” with an instrumental, but truly interesting beginning. And when Raine’s voice starts in, you can tell it’s going to be one hell of an album. Despite the repetitive lyrics, it’s a song with a bold sound. During times, Raine sings in a high pitch, underlying lyrics and adding a fresh sound to the words. With just the first song, it’s one to keep you going at least to hear the next song.
“Heavyweight,” the single that was released earlier in the year, adds to the fresh, rather hip style. It’s a song about perseverance, about fighting for what you believe, but not in an obvious way. The lyrics are masterfully written, and despite there being a lot going on with this song, instrumentally and vocally, it’s just enough to set this song apart from the 90’s Our Lady Peace, to the present. But it connects with how they were back then as well, and it goes to show that change can be good.
The last track on Curves is “Mettle,” a slower song with a soft intro and far off Raine Maida. It brings a dramatic end to the CD in a way that makes the album memorable and is able to tie up all of the songs. Whether they meant to or not, this song is more or less a component of “Allowance,” while it begins with an upbeat song about fighting for what you think is right, it ends off with ‘life is what you make it, even if you have to fight for it’ song. It doesn’t have much actual singing, but someone speaking about being loved. (“If it wasn’t for love I wouldn’t be here today.”)
Throughout the album there’s a sense of a new air, that after a long time of being so cluttered, there’s room to breathe again. From track to track, each song will leave you stunned, weather with Raine’s unique voice, or each band member giving in a bit of their two cents, each song is individual and will leave the listener wanting more.
Our Lady Peace has, as most bands do, matured in a way that has changed their sound; they bounced it around with Healthy in Paranoid Times and Burn Burn, but throughout it all, they’ve been a band with style and life, and they certainly have not ran out of it. This album is highly recommended for people that prefer an alternative sound, or anyone just looking for something new.
*****/*****
Done by Mindy Wiegand
Fuck Your Scenes Review: The Used - Vulnerable
Genre: Post-hardcore, Alternative-rock
Disclaimer: This is not your 15 year old self’s version of The Used.
The guys are back with their fifth studio album “Vulnerable,” 10 years past their first self-titled release back in 2002.
If you’re one to hate when bands take chances with their sound and switch things up a bit, you might as well get back to your collection of eight Green Day albums that all sound the exact same and stop reading now, this release just isn’t for you.
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Fuck Your Scenes Review: Iamdynamite - Supermegafantastic
Iamdynamite is a rock and rhythm duo from Detroit, Mich. who arm themselves with merely a guitar and a drum kit. They are advertised as perfect for any fan of The Black Keys and The White Stripes, and that description could not be more dead-on. Other bands that come to mind in regards to similarity in sound are early OK Go, and just a touch of Portugal. The Man.
Supermegafantastic starts off with a track called “Where Will We Go,” one in which jumps right into it — the guys didn’t bother fussing with an intro track of any sort. This track sets a standard for the rest of the album.
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Fuck Your Scenes Review: fun. - Some Nights
Genre: Indie-pop
A quiet piano welcomes Some Nights into fruition, comforted seconds later by very familiar voice of front man Nate Ruess. But the first track doesn’t stay pristine forever, as the other strings and back-up vocals gain momentum while Nate expresses his bitterness in a grandiose fashion. The song is a rollercoaster ride in itself, climaxed with Nate belting out the album title. As the listener, you may be exhausted at this point, but fun. is just getting started.
If “Some Nights,” the title track, had been released 2 years earlier, it could have easily been the anthem for the World Cup. The catchy, triplet drum beats are persistent throughout the song, making this the go-to track after the obvious favorite “We Are Young.”
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Fuck Your Scenes Review: The Skies Revolt - Some Kind of Cosmonaut
Genre: Indie-rock, Dance-punk
Every now and then I will stumble upon a band that leaves me slightly confused, with the question of “what am I listening to?” ringing throughout. Let it be on the record that this is not always a bad thing, because sometimes it’s just a wonder of how will I explain this to my friends? Because, to be honest, I’m the kind of guy that finds a new band, shoves it in everyone’s face, then gets pissed when said band gets popular. Alas, I give you The Skies Revolt.
Dance-punk has roots that go back to the 70’s with David Bowie and Iggy Pop (yes, the crazy guy without a shirt most of the time), and has since abandoned most of the 70’s meaning for “punk,” and blossoming into synth-driven upbeat songs. Whether or not the Skies Revolt are into David Bowie I have no idea, nor do I have any idea how they feel about being classified as “dance-punk,” but with that former sentence, I don’t see how else to classify Some Kind of Cosmonaut. And as the album opens up with “Fight Lose Stand,” they instantly make their mark with plenty of catchy hooks and “la la la’s” to go around.
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Fuck Your Scenes Review: Signals Midwest - Latitudes and Longitudes
Genre:Pop Punk
The first thing I noticed about Signals Midwest’s CD was the cover art. Unlike the songs, the cover art is simplistic, and rather plain. Never listening to their first album, I was kind of worried I wouldn’t like them; I was wrong. As a band that started out in 2008 as a trio, and added in 2010 another guitarist, the sound is fresh and adds to the instrumental emphasis. Interestingly enough, most of the album was recorded live, so there’s no or little sugar coating in the 10-track album.
Described as having an advanced pop punk genre, the young band pushes past expectations and all the bullshit and goes right to the point in each track. Latitudes and Longitudes deals with the living and the dead, distance between loved ones, how people spend their days instead of doing what they truly want to, and what’s said against what’s meant. It’s all about human connections and relationships between family members, lovers, or even strangers.
The album starts off with a song called In Tensions, with a very long instrumental introduction that includes a slight breakdown, the song in its entirety gives most to the instruments, mainly bass and drums instead of focusing fully on the vocals. It has a fast pace to it, except for an attention grabbing part were the vocals are more distant, which fits in with the lyrics – losing someone close to you. The first track blends into the second track, Monarchs.
The CD ends of with The Weight & The Waiting, which starts off with an acoustic sound. It’s about disagreements and fights with people we love. Mixed in the instruments is horns; resembling a ska sound for just a few seconds. From start to finish, this album with grab you and hold you as it changes from fast paced to slower, the unique of the lyrics and instruments mixed will make you want to hear it again and again, and will hold your interest.
Trying to pinpoint the direction you’re sailing.
-In Tensions
****.5/*****
Done by Mindy Wiegand
Fuck Your Scenes Review: My Ticket Home - To Create a Cure
Genre: Metalcore
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, the five piece metalcore outfit, My Ticket Home, have been quite busy within the last few years. Signing onto Rise Records back in 2010, they gained a significant amount of fans (and their fair share of critics) that were already dedicated to RR’s old tendencies of signing that specific genre. Now, with a full US tour alongside That’s Outrageous and Casino Madrid, plus a brand new full length, My Ticket Home are evidently trying to break apart from the scene stereotype they have been given. Whether or not they’re successful really depends on which track is being listened to.
To Create A Cure starts off with their first single off the record, “A New Breed,” and it is a great beginning that sets the mood for the rest of the album. Although the lyrics aren’t incredibly impressive, the track does have a few significant qualities. My Ticket Home have obviously perfected their breakdown transitions, which appear to flow seamlessly throughout the verses. MTH also seem to have been influenced by The Devil Wears Prada’s ‘Dead Throne’ which came out in the middle of last year when writing the music, and perhaps even some of the lyrics. I couldn’t help but feel extremely nostalgic of TDWP’s “Untidaled” when listening to the heaviest breakdown in “A New Breed.” Although this doesn’t help My Ticket Home’s progressing sound, they are obviously doing something right in this opener.
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