Top Tunes: June

Tonight Alive - The Ocean

"I've been praying for the day that my spirit is finally free, some days it feels like the ocean lies inside of me"

Brand New - Good To Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have To Do Is Die
"I will hold the past over your head. I will speak my mind whenever I feel slighted, I am hellbent on extracting all my revenge"

Blink-182 - Reckless Abandon
"We'll use this song to lead you on and break the truth with more bad news. We left a scar size extra large"

Becca Need-Menear (Anavae) - Strangers Bound
"Give me an emotion, I don't care which kind. I need something I can cling to, that occupies my mind"

Fall Out Boy - Miss Missing You
"Sometimes before it gets better the darkness gets bigger, the person that you'd take a bullet for is behind the trigger"

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Deja EnTENdu

To think that ten years ago today this album was released makes me feel really old despite only being 18. And then thinking about how much this album means to me and so many others out there makes me feel dizzy and oh so proud to call Brand New one of my all time favourite bands. No arguments allowed. For the Brand New listeners of my generation we grew up with this album. We went from kids who enjoyed the music but weren't necessarily able to fully get it. Some tracks were a total mind boggling concept to the eight year old version of myself and opener "Tautou" used to genuinely scare me. Then we got older and reached  preteen years and the dreaded age of being fourteen and finally we understood the album and wished, oh how we pretended, that we could relate. Until finally - and in a lot of ways, sadly - we actually get the album. We get the desperation and the panic of sudden adulthood that's wrapped itself around the album, and more than anything it's a comfort - the one thing that we can turn to when it feels like nothing else will work.  

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From pop-punk debut Your Favourite Weapon the band's progress was unbelievable. Leaving behind formulaic pop-punk and warm summer tracks they produced a dark, wistful record that picked apart and laid bare the very deepest thoughts of Jesse Lacey - who has more than earnt his place as my favourite lyricist - and lets face it, ourselves. He said exactly what we're all too scared to admit. Angry and poetic the lyrics are full of one-liners and yet are always part of some greater metaphor or ridiculously identifiable simile that can only be described as pure genius. Lines like "call me a safe bet, i'm betting i'm not" and... oh wait, sorry, every line on the album ooze perfection.

"If I could I would shrink myself,

sink through your skin to your blood cells, 

remove whatever makes you hurt

but I am too weak to be your cure"

Songwriters should just give up now.

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Aside from his lyrics, Jesse's vocals are just as fantastic. Whether he's softly whispering his way through melancholic acoustic tracks or adding a gritty yell he transcends emotion beautifully and sounds better than ever, doing his lyrics every bit of justice they deserve. Along with the angsty lyricism - now Jesse's identifier - he is accompanied by stunning musicianship that blends perfectly on the album with every different angle they try, be it on acoustic numbers like "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" or the many layered "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" featuring an ear melting bass line and one of their most iconic lines screamed out "die young and save yourself." 

Looking back through their discography it's apparent that sailing the same boat isn't something the band are comfortable with, as each release has been vastly different to it's predecessor with the angst being the only familiar thing to cling to. And yet with Deja the band managed to cram in as many styles as they can including punk, indie and of course emo, sometimes even on the same track. For some bands this might not work and leave the listener with a headache but for Brand New anything less just wouldn't seem right. It works flawlessly. "Good To Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have To Do Is Die" (can we talk about how fab their song titles are please?) quite simply rocks all the way to Timbuktu and then seamlessly melts into acoustic "Play Crack The Sky."  It's a roller coaster journey, with tracks that start out with a quiet guitar, simple drumming and crooning vocals. Give Brand New a couple of seconds more and they'll explode into clashing cymbals and electrifying guitars colliding with harsh vocals that instantly turn them into powerful rock tracks.

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Deja Entendu seems an incredibly ironic title - there was nothing "already heard" about this album.

Update: I'm Still Here!

Hey, hi, hello. I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth and hopefully this blog will be updated tomorrow. College is finished - hurrah! The past couple of weeks i've been writing over at Jolt Magazine. I reviewed Natives' EP "Stand For Something" and Tonight Alive's gig in Bristol so check those out as well as my Fall Out Boy "Save Rock And Roll" review. So, if it seems like i've vanished from this blog head on over there and you'll likely see me posting there.

Introducing: Harlot

Harlot are a Newcastle quartet exploding straight onto the melodic rock/metalcore scene with their new single "Saviour" from their soon to be released EP Wolves. Starting out in 2007 the band - James Mclackland (vocals/guitar), Adam Lathan (guitar), Daniel Johnson (bass/vocals), Cameron Brown (drums) - spent time reworking and refining their sound and emerged sounding stronger than ever. Rigorous touring led to a well deserved fan base and popularity amongst promoters allowing them to tour with the likes of Flood Of Red and Obsessive Compulsive. 

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"Saviour" could only be described as a monster of a song with ear shattering layers of drums and guitars complimenting the vocals at all times. Clocking in at 4 and half minutes, the fast paced track sets the standard high for the rest of the EP. Big choruses, with melodies and breakdowns in perfect harmony, their energy and passion is hard to miss proving that they have the potential to progress as far as possible in the industry. The UK's much needed answer to A Day To Remember perhaps.

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Take Me Back: Slam Dunk Wales

My dad's atrocious timekeeping and typical British weather (a hella lot of rain) meant my brother and I arrived at Slam Dunk really, really late.  We were wandering around the front of the university in pouring rain trying to work out where we were meant to go when Dan from Four Year Strong let us through a door. After 10 minutes and all we'd seen are band members and a back door that takes you to the buses we eventually worked out that we were backstage. Oops. So there we were - 2 hours late, soaking wet and still no closer to finding the actual entrance. Before security noticed we high tailed it out of there and crossed the bridge to the smaller room and hurrah we're in the right place. Wristbands on and ID checked we looked at the stage times and at that point my dad was very lucky he skipped out on this gig. We had missed Man Overboard. Unimpressed doesn't even cover it. With an hour to wait before The Wonder Years we went to the bar and got seriously overpriced drinks and caught the first 15 minutes of The Early November's set. 

Since we were at the main stage in the small room of the uni venue we were confused as to where the second stage was going to be, and so in fear of missing yet another band we came for, we went in search of stage number two. Following the signs we were led to a queue in part of the uni neither of us had ever been and when we were let through it turns out we were in a room not much bigger than my bedroom full of guys twice my size. And let me tell you at this point in time there wasn't even anyone playing and the heat was insane. 

For nearly seven years we had both been dying to see The Wonder Years live but there was always something preventing it but finally there they were. Well, I couldn't actually see them since there was about 200 bodies packed into a space big enough for 50. The moment they stepped out on the tiny stage playing "Passing Through a Screen Door" the crowd went wild and didn't calm down - this was going to be a show like no other, that much was already apparent. Their set was crammed with their very best anthemic songs like "Logan Circle" and "Came Out Swinging" causing the most passionate fist thrusting, lyric screaming crowd I have ever been a part of. It was madness, a desperate scramble to reach the band and shout as loud as we can the words that define our lives. 

Somewhere in the craziness I lost my brother and ended up at the front, right in the firing line of all the crowd surfers - and there must have been about 100. Halfway through the set the band stopped and Soupy said if they have to stop playing because it's getting too hot and dangerous for us out there then they won't be upset they want us to have a good time but not at our expense. A ruckus of yells were fed back to him. Stop? No way. Carrying on with "Don't Let Me Cave In" they stopped once more to check we were all okay. We all yelled back before Soupy realised it was better to tell us all to shh and yell if you're not okay. One guy decided to yell jokingly and was swiftly told to shut up by Soupy. We were the craziest crowd they've ever played to and the hottest. Dozens of water bottles were handed out and the security poured jugs of water over us and then 10 minutes later, satisfied we were all alright, they finished their set with everyone just as enthusiastic as before - just not near passing out. 

I bit through my lip, trapped muscles in my neck and had more than enough feet kick me in the head but it was more than worth it to see these pop-punk gods destroy every expectation I had of them and raise the bar unreachably high for bands in the future. 

Reunited with my brother - who had somehow managed to keep hold of his glasses in the frenzy - we bought merch (which I lost) and headed back to the main stage and saw the last 20 minutes of our little sisters favourite band Pierce The Veil who also said we were the best crowd they had ever played to. With 4 minutes left to play the choice was ours - "Bulls In The Bronx" or "King For A Day" and with equally matched yells it was a good job they were allowed to play both. 

Securing us a spot at the front for Four Year Strong we waited and waited and waited until they eventually came out nearly half an hour late. Last time I saw Four Year Strong I had just turned 14 so now being not far from 19 I was more than ready to hear songs like "Tonight We Feel Alive" and "Wasting Time" live. With more room I managed to avoid most of the crowd surfers apart from a couple of girls who were failing miserably at it and nearly broke my neck but with Four Year Strong blasting out classics such as "Bada Bing! Wit' A Pipe" and "Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die" it was more than worth it. The air conditioning was appreciated more than anyone will ever know and so was the slowing (kind of) down of the set with "One Step At A Time" as by this point exhaustion was hitting me hard. Unsure as to if they were going to be able to play their encore, as it was past the venues curfew, everyone was buzzing from having seen their incredible performance but gutted we wouldn't see "It Must Really Suck..." or "Wasting Time" when out they came and closed Slam Dunk 2013 for good with two intense tracks from Enemy of the World that we were all ecstatic to get to hear. Curfew? What curfew. 

Top Tunes: May

The Wonder Years - Dismantling Summer

"I've been acting like i'm strong, but the truth is i'm losing ground"

Four Year Strong - Wasting Time

"Draw the line, all this time you were just drawing mine. Only problem is I see no end in sight of any kind"

Transit - Long Lost Friends

"Because lately you've been looking at me like you've seen a ghost, and isn't it obvious who's been missing who the most"

Tonight Alive - What Are You So Scared Of?

"And you can't go on thinking that you're so hard done by, and don't pretend you've worked so hard just scraping by"

Gavin Butler - Sunshine

"Think to the start and come from the dark"

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