All Time Low New Single and Unsigned

Recently a mega buzz has been circulating throughout All Time Low's hustler community about a new single to be released in approximately two days.  If you're a loyal and avid All Time Low fan, you would have clicked on the band's website tweeted a couple times by the band's Twitter page and found this:

It's been nearly a year since the band released their last album, Dirty Work, so of course fans, including myself, are excited to hear this news.  On different days, the band directed fans to their website with an image of the title of the next single, "The Reckless and the Brave," with a countdown of about four days. Two days later, they redirected fans to another image with lyrics - these guys do well in teasing fans but it definitely gets them excited for a new song!

However, recently All Time Low announced that they will be releasing their new album unsigned, thus departing ways with Interscope Records.  They released this statement:

"A good chunk of this record deals with our signing, and eventual split with Interscope. It was the usual story that we promised ourselves we’d never let happen: Band signs with label, label throws everything into the making of band’s new album, team working the record gets fired or moved to another office, record gets delayed, record loses steam, band leaves label. I don’t fault the folks at Interscope for any of this. The people we worked with were amazing, and really believed in us. Even the people who eventually came in to try and pick up the pieces left in the wake of massive restructuring, were genuinely trying to help. Unfortunately we got lost in the mess of big business and higher-ups making deals. Lesson learned. No hard feelings. It’s not for us. We asked to be released from our contract, and they understood why. The other, and more important theme of this record, is self discovery and confidence. It’s about being sure that you’re not sure, and being OK with that— realizing that life is an adventure, and to face it boldly and unabashedly. I think this theme even plays into the former quite a bit; Don’t let anyone mess with you aspirations."

It's always disheartening to hear that a band or artist leaves a label, but as mentioned, it's a pretty normal story.  I feel as if more bands than artists part ways with multiple labels.  I wonder what they'll do next after releasing this single, this album, and play Warped Tour.  All I know is that they're definitely not done with the music industry, and I'm sure they'll be around for a long time with or without a label!

Serianna

Band number nine on Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Serianna.  I found these guys when their guitarist, James Milbrandt (pictured left) started following me on Twitter, so I was curious to check out his band.  For those who keep up with my blog, you probably remember my post about Serianna's cover music video of Eminem's "Lose Yourself," and how I fell in love with it.

The three songs I listened to were two "new" tracks on their Facebook page, "Guilty Spark" and "Fragments," and the most played song, "Inheritors."  Overall I love their sound.  At times it reminds me of current I See Stars and at other times, We Stitch These Wounds Black Veil Brides.  I'm not sure if anyone will find the BVB comment as an insult (cause apparently they're not very well liked?) but I say it as a compliment.  But for sure, they'd definitely fit in well with the Houston We Have a Problem festival line up.

In comparison to "Lose Yourself," their muic sounds darker, which I am perfectly okay with.  I still find it very impressive that the singer, Chris, does both clean and screaming vocals, and in my opinion, I think they have a good balance between the two.  I also think that the guitar really shines in most of the songs.  I don't know what it is, but I hear the guitar the most.  One interesting aspect is when they incorporate a chant at the end of some of their songs because I can see them chanting on stage and getting the audience to chant with them.

Unfortunately, Saturday (May 26th 2012) was their last tour date, and no new ones have been added.  I cannot emphasize enough how sad I was that I couldn't see them when they played in San Antonio (stupid finals!), so whenever they come back to Texas, I'm definitely going - I really want to see them live!

Austin Nivarel

Band number eight on Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Austin Nivarel.  This cute fella started following me on Twitter during the SXSW craze, and I added him to the list!  Whenever I saw this guy's name, I thought it sounded familiar.  Then Vicci reminded me that she had written about him back in November on her blog!

She wrote a nice post about him, and we both basically agree on one thing about this Wisconsin artist: hearing his music will make you feel happy.  Even if the song isn't particularly about something happy, the music makes you feel that way anyway.  I listened to "Capable Love" and "Stuck Around," his two most played songs, and he definitely fits into the pop rock genre.  He's currently unsigned, but I think he should be!

He looks and sounds like the boy next door with that nice voice of his, and I'd say his sound is A Rocket to the Moon meets Stereo Skyline - more on the A Rocket to the Moon side because of the guitar.  When a song is more mellow, he sounds like ARTTM, but if the song is more upbeat, he sounds like Stereo Skyline.

Right now his Facebook page lets you listen to one song and one cover, and then after that you have to "like" his page to hear the rest.  If you're not convinced from those two songs, you can go to his Pure Volume page to hear the rest of his songs.  No tour dates are posted, but I hope he comes to Texas one day because I would not mind seeing him live!  Go check out his stuff!

Memphis May Fire - "Prove Me Right"

On Thursday, May 24th 2012, Memphis May Fire released a new lyric video for "Prove Me Right" (below).  You all probably remember Memphis May Fire as band number one on my list of "Bands to Listen to."

I'm not gonna lie, I really like the song a lot.  It's a good song to rock out to, and I absolutely love the drums in this song.  It gets me bopping my head, which could easily turn into me head banging at a live show.  One of my favorite things about Memphis May Fire is the good balance between of clean and screaming vocals.  The verses overall are screamed with a heavier sound then the choruses tone it down with just a rock sound and clean vocals.  It gives you the best of both worlds.


I think the best part of this song is the lyrics.  I absolutely love them.  The song basically says "Fuck you" to people who promised to be there but weren't, and that's really relatable to anyone who has ever had someone they thought they could count on but end up being let down.  "Prove Me Right" is very intense with its words, and it makes me think that there's a story behind it - perhaps an issue with a previous label?  I only say this because of my favorite lyric from the song, "Money hungry cowards sucking the blood out of the artists and killing the art."  Who knows?

After hearing this song, I am stoked to see these guys live at Warped Tour.  They have an album coming out June 26th titled Challenger, and you can pre-order it!  I would take advantage of this becase you won't regret it!

Breathe Carolina - "Hit And Run"

I still feel like Hell is What You Make It just came out recently, but I wanna say it's been almost a year now?!  Is that right?  That's insane.  But here's Breathe Carolina with a new single to share with the world, "Hit and Run."

The first thing I want to point out is that Kyle does not scream in this song, however, I do believe he does more vocal singing.  If these guys are working on a new album, I wonder if they're going to subtract Kyle's scream vocals and keep it all clean...if that's the case, I might be a little disappointed, but I don't think they would do that.  Secondly, I have to say that I really enjoy listening to David's deep and husky voice during the verses because I'm used to hearing his higher toned vocals, but he sounds sexy in the lower register.  Dare I say this, but I think "Hit and Run" could be a potential radio hit to follow up "Blackout."  It's catchy, it's got a good beat, it's very dance worthy, and I already wanna see this song live.

"Hit and Run" hits iTunes tomorrow, so be sure to get it, and if you're going to Warped Tour, you definitely have to see these guys live because it's like a mass dance party.  I know I'm stoked to see them again!

Internal Reason

Band number seven on Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Internal Reason, another band that followed me on Twitter during the SXSW craze.

I wanna say the band is fairly new?  I only say this because their Facebook page is sorta bare - I couldn't find a picture with their faces!  That being said, they have one song on the interwebs titled "Last Minute of a Dead Man."

These guys are straight up deathcore, which usually isn't my cup of tea but I gave it a listen.  They warned me that it would be a rough demo and in a sense it was - the vocals were kind of hard to hear but I think the guitar sounded great though.  When I was listening to this song, I instantly thought about the Houston We  Have a Problem festival from March, and I think that Internal Reason could easily fit into that line up because I can see the crowd getting crazy and rowdy to this song.  "Last Minute of a Dead Man" was posted about a month ago, so we'll have to see what else these guys have in store for their fans!  Check it out!

Starship Romance

Band number six on Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Starship Romance; another band that followed me on Twitter during the craze of SXSW!

Starship Romance is a one man band from Colorado, and this fella is Chase Martinez who is formerly from The Summer Soundtrack.  Martinez's sound for Starship Romance straight up exudes pop and electronic, which I can't help but love.  Right now he doesn't have any tracks up on Facebook because he's in the process of making new music, but you can check out his music on his YouTube page!  He has covers and a full live set broken into different parts, so check those out!

His debut single, "One For Me," is among the videos posted on the YouTube page, and it's up for FREE download, which I will take advantage of!  From the first few seconds of the song, it sounded sort of like a video game to me, so of course I was instantly hooked.  Overall, I feel a little Stereo Skyline pop rock vibe but with more electronic elements.  The melody and lyrics remind me of Stereo Skyline because they're cute words sung in a cute tune.  The lyrics basically talk about a boy chasing after the girl for him, but at the same time she doesn't know what she's doing to him - my favorite line is, "You keep your heart locked and I can't find the combination."  I'm a sucker for cute and clever lyrical metaphors.  The song's got a dance potential so I say YAY!

I would definitely go see Starship Romance live if he ever came to Texas because his music sounds better live (as many other bands' and artists' music does also), and it'll make you want to jump and dance to it. In my honest opinion, he has the same aesthetics as Bobby Mares's My Genuine Find because he's also a one man band who makes pop/electronic music, and when both of these guys perform live, they have a colorful light show.  No current tours are on the radar right now, but I bet we will see more of Starship Romance in the future!  If he ever stops by your town, I'd recommend going to see him!

Mina Murray

Band number five on Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Mina Murray.  These guys from Ohio also followed me on Twitter, so they were added to the list.

First thing I'd like to note, is that the music has a We Came As Romans feel with vocals similar to Kyle Pavone, but the screaming vocals resemble more Zach from I See Stars.  (Side note: I apologize for the constant comparisons to WCAR and ISS but that's what I think of when I listen to the music, and it should be taken as a compliment!)  I'm not sure if many bands do this often, but Mina Murray has both clean and screaming vocals singing at the same time, which is interesting and I like it.  We Came As Romans does that in their music sometimes, but it's more focused on the screaming - Mina Murray present both equally.

The songs aren't super upbeat but it's still got that rocking element going. As I'm listening to "Nixon and the Tree People" I'm doing a slow headbang to it. If you want to hear a more upbeat and rock out song, listen to "Kelsey" because the drums will get you going.  I'm curious to see how these guys perform live, but right now there aren't any tours planned or anything.  BUT!  They do have a new song coming out, so follow them on Twitter to get the updates on that!

Evelynn





Band number four on Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Evelynn.  I found these guys when they followed me on Twitter, so of course I added them on my list of bands I needed to listen to.

Right now, there isn't any music on their Facebook page, so go to their YouTube page to check out their tunes. From what I heard and saw from their live music video, Evelynn seems like they can rock out. Their music has moments that the crowd could get crazy to. I say moments because not every song is 100% rock out - there are slower parts. That's not a bad thing though because I like to remember that hardcore music isn't just about getting crazy.

These Chicago guys sort of have the same aesthetics as I See Stars with the balance of clean and screaming vocals.  Usually some bands showcase more of either clean or screaming vocals, but I think Evelynn keeps it pretty equal.  However, I'm more into the sceaming vocals because the clean vocals are a little too whiny for my taste, but overall the vocal work is good.

The Pioneer Tour

This post is long overdue, but awhile back in April, Vicci and I went to La Zona Rosa for the North American Pioneer tour.  We interviewed Pat Kirch and Kennedy Brock from The Maine and Leighton Antelman from Lydia.  Be sure to check those out at the Rock Edition website!

The Pioneer tour consisted of three bands: The Arkells, Lydia, and The Maine.  Because it's been almost a month, I'll try my best to remember what their performances were like by recreating the concert in my mind.

What's refreshing about The Arkells is that they sort of have a beach boys meets boy-next-door pop rock kind of sound.  It's not the hardcore sound that I've been listening to lately.  It's just a happy sound that gets you snapping your fingers and tapping your toes.  One of the most impressive things from this band is the awesome set of vocal pipes from the lead singer - he rocked the collaborative Beatles cover (video below).

The music took a slow turn with Lydia's set.  Their sound is very tranquil feeling.  I feel like I can lay out in the sun in a hammock drifting.  With the combination of their colorful blue, purple, and pink lighting from the show, it felt really mellow.  What's interesting is that when you hear the music, it sounds all serene and whatnot but when you actually listen to the lyrics, he has some vulgar lyrics that contrast with the softer sound (I'm specifically listening to "Best Nights").

The Maine closed the night with a rocking set.  Austin was the first stop on the North American portion of The Pioneer tour - they had arrived back from Australia.  This was probably the second maybe third time I've seen them live, and the experience was different from the previous times I'd seen them.  For some reason, I danced more to this set and I don't know why.  They know how to put on a good performance.  The guys, of course, combined old songs and new songs in their set and pleased the crowd with no problem.  My favorite song from the set that I distinctly remember was "Some Days" because it had an edge to it.  The chorus got me hooked, and I suggest taking a listen to that song.  As The Maine continues to make music, their sound gets better and more mature with each album, so check out their stuff and their lastest album Pioneer.


The  Maine, Lydia, and The Arkells join forces to perform"With a Little Help From My Friends" by the Beatles.Footage by Vicci Patneaude (whose video appeared on Alternative Press's website!)



Serianna's Cover Music Video of Eminem's "Lose Yourself"

Serianna is on my list of "Bands to Listen to."  I haven't gotten to them yet, but they're on there and I'll get to them as quickly as possible!  For right now, here is their rendition of "Lose  Yourself" by Eminem, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  However, after watching this video, I realized I don't have many old school Slim Shady songs in my iTunes, and that saddens me.

One definite thing I wanna say about the cover is that I can totally picture this being on a Punk Goes Hip Hop album.  I'm currently at the Communications building slightly head banging and dancing in my chair - people are probably staring but whatevs!  The sound and the video are both rocking with the right balance of clean and screaming vocals, and I'm always impressed when it's the same guy doing both.  If these guys rock out as much as they do in this video which I believe they do...I'm going to be an unhappy camper when I have to miss them in San Antonio at the White Rabbit on Monday (May 7th 2012).  I guess there's always be next time, so they better come back!