Top Tunes: October

Panic! At The Disco - This Is Halloween

"I am the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red"

All American Rejects - Jack's Lament

"Oh there's an empty place in my bones, that calls out for something unknown"

Anavae - Zombie (The Pretty Reckless)

"I'm not listening to you, I am wandering right through existence"

Mayday Parade - 12 Through 15

"Lucifer just might be your middle name, you're the only angel that got away"

Anavae - Invaesion

"Won't you come out from wherever you are? Oh you don't need to be afraid"

VersaEmerge - E.T

"You're so hypnotizing, could you be the devil? Could you be an angel?"  

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

Reminder: Jolt Magazine's First Issue

Album Review: Fall Out Boy- Save Rock And Roll

Album Review: Natives - Stand For Something

Live Review: Tonight Alive, Transit And Gavin Butler (The Fleece, Bristol)

Introducing: Cold Summer

Album Review: Cold Summer's Debut Self-Titled

Introducing: Undervienna Skies

Our first ever issue... (includes my Paramore review) 

The Most Anticipated Music (Part Two)

You Me At Six

It was no surprise to a lot of people when it was revealed the band were planning on ending their career after the most epic gig at Wembley Arena last December. I remember actually being at The Final Night Of Sin and waiting with dread for them to announce a hiatus but the news never came. They were fairly quiet for the majority of 2013 - apart from a tour in America - until the summer when they headed out to LA to record what will be their fourth studio album. A summer full of photo's followed for You Me At Six fans and on the 2nd of September they premiered  new song "Lived A Lie" which subsequently blew up the fandom. Now we all sit and wait for Cavalier Youth to make it's may to our eager ears.

We Are The In Crowd
Dual vocal bubblegum pop-punk outfit We Are The In Crowd teased with new song "Attention" over the summer which at the moment sounds as though it could be the bridge between their debut Best Intentions and their second album. Playing the song at gigs and festivals since has stirred up interest and the five recently finished recording that much awaited second album.

Taking Back Sunday
Recently signing to Hopeless Records long time favourites of mine Taking Back Sunday have been playing a couple of new tracks on their current tour. With line up changes a frequent thing in the bands' past each of their albums have sounded very different, but with the last couple releases it's definitely seemed as though they've found their own signature sound to come back to and experiment with. Spring 2014 is what we're being told in terms of their new album so Spring 2014... if you'd kindly hurry up please.

Arthur Walwin
The ever lovely Arthur Walwin has a voice so smooth it'd give Galaxy chocolate a run for it's money and when you combine this with his song writing skills he's a force to be reckoned with. We've heard his newest song "Someone Who Knows" and seen his chitchat about the new album and I for one cannot wait until he charms everyone's socks off all over again.

PART ONE 

Album Review: Panic! At The Disco - Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!

What astounds me the most when I read reactions to Panic! At The Disco's new album is the amount of people complaining that they've changed. I'm sorry... what? Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! is the bands' fourth album and every single one of them has been quite a bit different to the last. Frontman Brendon Urie is somewhat of a genius when it comes to music, combine this with his fearlessness and ta da you have a new Panic! album. And it is always different, Panic! are always changing.

This time around Urie's inspiration was Vegas and the not so lovely side of it. Opening with second single 'This Is Gospel' a bridge is made between previous album Vices & Virtues with a big chorus and dramatic vocals followed on by 'Miss Jackson' which really starts to show off their new direction. R+B influences are distinct with yet another big chorus and a well placed feature from Lolo. It's not until third track 'Vegas Lights' kicks in that the departure from Vices & Virtues is well and truly clear. The electronic, 80's disco vibe of the album starts here and Spencer Smith's pulsing drum beat carries the track through to the dark 'Girl That You Love.' Lyrically, it's quite simple - 'girl that you love, know you don't' - but here it's the moody synth line and again the drumming that picks it up.

Back and ready to party 'Nicotine' and it's opening guitar riff is one of the best on the album. Musically it's up-beat and dancy but listen closer to the lyrics and you'll discover not only brilliant songwriting but something that's actually quite gloomy, 'cross my heart and hope to die, burn my lungs and curse my eyes.' The same goes for 'Girls/Girls/Boys' which made me go fucking yes Brendon when I heard perhaps the most important lyric i've heard in a long time, 'love is not a choice.' The only word I can think to describe the song is mellow but not even that is right. The opening is like something you'd hear on a Gameboy, the bass line thrums, the drums are steady and Urie's vocals are contained and put it like that it makes it sound terrible and boring but it's far from the truth - 'Girls/Girls/Boys' is a fantastic song. It's not upbeat and it doesn't make you want to dance but I think it's still one of the strongest on the album.

'Casual Affair' sounds like a song that's been plucked from space, fitting the lyrics that talk about, well, a casual affair that 'could go anywhere' and laying 'in the atmosphere.' Creepy and foreboding the synth line layered underneath Urie's faraway vocals extends the other-world vibe. 'Far Too Young To Die' wants to be a disco-esque song but actually remains in the corner with 'Nicotine' and co. And that's how it should be. Ominous keys open the song before poppy, but not too poppy, electrics join in. The chorus is faster but not too fast, the vocals are dark, but not too dark and the last thirty seconds sound like they're taking place underwater.

Second to last track 'Collar Full' is a fun, dancey song with no disguise. Despite a lot of the album having a cheery synth line the majority have been far from sunny, choosing actually to be more like three in the morning, but with this song it is sun through and through. Bouncy foot tapping music and a chorus of 'show me your love' makes this infectious. Last but not least 'The End Of All Things' is a ballad with weight and emotional ache. Distorted vocals, strings and a simple piano line is all it has and it's all it needs.

Overall, Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! is yet another solid effort from Panic! At The Disco. The influence and the theme works well for musicians so keen on the weird and wonderful. Experimenting with more synth on the album has laden it with disco dance vibes but with Urie's lyrics providing the darkened edge. The first listen might leave you questioning what just happened but I promise the second time around you'll see this album as the masterpiece it is.

The Most Anticipated Music (Part One)

So far 2013 has been an incredible year for music with a lot of big name bands releasing new albums that have blown their predecessors out of the water. However, there are always those bands that you are just dying to hear new material from or perhaps they've been teasing us for a few months now but there's still no definite release date. Here's just a few of those that are guilty of the accused...

VersaEmerge

The success of their debut full length Fixed At Zero saw the band touring their hearts out for a couple of years before starting the writing process for album number two. July 2012 brought us the much awaited 'Another Atmosphere' preview EP which had three fantastic synth-heavy tracks and a StageIt performance with a further two tracks from the album. Now, in October 2013, the news that the duo are no longer on Fueled By Ramen and the uncertainty of when exactly we can expect the second album is beginning to die down but for the fans the wait is one of pure torture. 

Anavae

The UK's much needed alternative rock outfit have blown everyone's expectations out of the water the last couple of years. With every release so carefully thought out and the level of attention put into all they do it's safe to say that the bands second EP 'Dimensions' will grow their already large aermy even more. Roll on November 10th. 

Natives

Unless I missed something i'm 100% sure the pop-rock quintet were supposed to release their debut album back in September, but for reasons unknown it hasn't made an appearance. Their last two EP's have been popular and made for great gigs but we're all getting pretty desperate to hear a full album of Natives goodness.

Brand New

To me, and to a lot of other people, this band are absolute legends. When I saw them live last year it was like a religious experience. They truly are incredible. The intensity, the angst, the talent and oh, yeah their really annoying habit of being inconsistent just keeps me coming back for more. Tour announcements - actually, ANY announcement - is hard to come by from these guys and yet all us die-hards sit and wait with tears in our eyes, our tattooists on the line and watercolours in hand just waiting for another new album. 

If It Burns Too Bright: Anavae - Anti-Faith

Finally, finally months after I first heard this song - letting bands crash at your house has it's perks - Anavae's single 'Anti-Faith' is available for everyone to hear and download over on iTunes and along with it is a fantastic music video i've been dying to see. So much effort goes into everything they do - I don't think I know anyone else who has quite the level of perfectionism as Jamie and Becca - but it pays off as everything they release is truly stunning. The song itself is a brilliant demonstration of vision, creativity and growth. Everything about 'Anti-Faith' is better than anything else they've ever released. The music, the lyrics even the vocals show diversity, with my personal highlight being the slight growl to the bridge,"if it burns too bright it'll burn too fast," which gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it - and every time since. 'Anti-Faith' is another reason on the long list of mine why everyone needs to hurry up and jump on the Anavae train, they're about to explode and I for one cannot wait until their second EP Dimensions is unleashed on the world on November 10th. They're a constant source of inspiration to me - heck, my blog is named after one of their songs - and i've said it before and i'll say it again: the day they stop making music is the day I stop believing in music.

Album Review: A Day To Remember - Common Courtesy

Long time favourites of mine, A Day To Remember, have been through the wars of a long court case with their (former?) label Victory Records or more specifically the owner Tony Brummel. Unsure as to whether they were going to be allowed to release the long awaited album Common Courtesy, it feels as though the world has been holding their breath, but finally the band won their case - for the time being anyway - and the album was put up on their website for download yesterday. I sat listening to the album over and over and watched the internet explode only second to the way it did when Fall Out Boy came back. Many have called the album their best yet and it's really not hard to see why.

Opening with a defiant "fuck yeah" on 'City Of Ocala' could have come across unnecessary and horribly cliche but with all the utter crap that they've been dragged through we're all right there with them, fists in the air yelling in unison. A Day To Remember have their very own sound - which a long time ago no one believed in - and this album is plastered with signature ADTR traits. Mosh calls on tracks like 'Right Back At It Again' will no doubt have Jeremy McKinnon unleash hell at live shows with "BRACE FOR IMPACT," or the "NO FUCKING RESPECT" on the best titled track of the album 'The Document Speaks For Itself." The first ten minutes of the album are all go, go, go pop-punk with the heavier breakdown worthy riffs and catchy as hell choruses that make ADTR songs. One of the best examples of this is "You wanna take, take, take, take, take it away from me" on 'Sometimes You're The Hammer, Sometimes You're The Nail' which also includes a shiver inducing bridge, "I reserve my right to feel uncomfortable, reserve my right to be afraid. I make mistakes and I am humbled every step of the way. I want to be a better person, I wanna know the master plan," that ends in an all out breakdown.

Surprisingly, what makes this album so different from previous releases is that it is broken up with softer acoustic numbers that are uncommon in ADTR's repertoire. We've had 'If It Means A Lot To You' and 'You Had Me At Hello' but now we've got 'I'm Already Gone' which gave me goosebumps and also made me double check i'm still listening to Common Courtesy. For some it may be too different, too acoustic for them and they'll write it off and whinge about how they've changed but in all honesty it is a truly gorgeous song and the same goes for 'I Surrender'  and 'End Of Me' which isn't strictly all acoustic but rather builds like Paramore's 'Future' into something altogether epic. 

Common Courtesy isn't groundbreaking musicianship or anything crazily different - albeit the acoustic tracks spread throughout the album. It's taken the formulaic outline of typical ADTR and perfected it. The pop is poppier, the heaviness is heavier and that seems to be the general theme throughout. What the band do, they have honed in on and are geniuses at it now. 'Best Of Me' demonstrates this with total head-banging, sing-a-long brilliance whilst tracks like 'Life Lessons Learned The Hard Way' will show you by blasting you onto another continent.

Closing with three minutes of tour stories on 'I Remember' almost felt like the band were saying goodbye to everything but with one look back on the album it's clear that they're saying goodbye to the old ADTR. The one where people doubted them and took the piss. The one where Tony Brummel thought he could control them. Hell no not anymore. A Day To Remember are far from over and Common Courtesy with all it's fight is going to catapult them even further into easycore - if that's even a thing - stardom.

Take Me Back: Reading Festival (Part Four)

Alas, at last I have arrived at what was one of the best days of my life. Sunday was Fall Out Boy day. Not on until about half six we had the day to fill with music, so first up was We Are The In Crowd. I've lost count the amount of times i've seen them live and although they aren't necessarily ground breaking stuff what they do, they do well. Their Reading debut last year in the Festival Republic tent was packed out with a crowd so enthusiastic it surprised me and their performance was truly amazing. Clearly the organizers agreed as this year the five piece were moved up the ranks to play the main stage. Being Sunday morning everyone's hangovers were at their worst and the days of festival camping made the crowd a tough one to crack, but with perseverance and catchy - sometimes cheesy, "Kiss Me Again," for example - pop-punk, we were soon won over. The newly released single "Attention" was chosen as their opener and although I liked the studio version I loved it live.

Wanting to beat the traffic the next day - and Elly being the most un-morning person I'd ever met - we decided we were going to leave that night so we headed back to our tent, took it all down and loaded up the car. Filling up the next few hours with food and alcohol we headed back down to the main arena to secure a spot for Fall Out Boy during The Lumineers' set. The Editors were a couple songs short of the end of their set so we parked ourselves by a gap on the barrier with ice lollies to keep us cool. The Lumineers were pleasant to watch albeit it got a bit boring but just as I was falling asleep an onslaught of people came surging towards us. Unsure as to what was happening, but seeing a perfect opportunity to get near the front for Fall Out Boy, we stood up and made our way to the now large gap near the barrier to find that frontman Wesley Schultz was stood, guitar in hand, directly in front of us to play their next song.

Now we were stood a couple rows back from the barrier and the fear that it's all a joke that Fall Out Boy were playing started to set in. Literally counting down the minutes and trying not to freak out, the cheers when their backdrop was put up were near enough deafening.

Then the opening of "Thriller" started to play and choked back what was about to be an all out sob-fest. This time the cheers were deafening, I had no idea how many people were behind me at the time as i'm short and I was barricaded in by wild giants. For a good ten/eleven years this is what I had been waiting for. It seemed only yesterday I was wishing and joking for them to come back from their hiatus and play Reading and now there they actually were. The dizzying mixture of emotions running through myself were no doubt matched by every other person stood there, so the outlet for us was to go crazy. We yelled back every line, jumped, screamed and cried. Playing crowd favourites meant not even the die-hard fans (how non-diehards even exist I don't know) were able to contain their enthusiasm. The beautiful Foxes came on and joined them for "Just One Yesterday" and simultaneously destroyed the self esteem of every single person stood there. As for Fall Out Boy themselves they played like there was no tomorrow - and if they kept up there wouldn't be for me, I swear I was going to explode - and proved to everybody exactly why they broke the internet when they came back, wedging themselves deeper into our hearts.
Since February, sat in the Costa Coffee on my college campus, crying over a laptop listening to "My Songs Know..." I said I need to hear it at Reading with the crowd doing the 'oh-ohhs,' at the time still only hoping they'd be playing the festival. Later that night Pete announced they'd be there, I cried some more (heck, I hadn't really stopped) and my countdown began. Then the song started and the crowd did it's part, raising goosebumps and making every hair on my body stand on end.

Sadly, it all had to end eventually so we made our way back to Elly by the barrier in a state of shock and briefly met a woman who had come all the way from America to see Biffy Clyro play a headline set.

 Pre-Fall Out Boy faces 

Fall Out Boy 

Post-Fall Out Boy faces 

We were hot, gasping for a drink, bruised all over and with Fall Out Boy gone the fact I missed City And Colour started to sink in. Sad, sad, sad. The NME stage filled up quickly for Disclosure and we sat outside and watched the synth stars' set. For ten minutes it's all good fun, but after a while it does become samey and the same goes for Azealia Banks. 

Back to main stage for Biffy Clyro, their pyrotechnics and Scottish rock Reading Festival 2013 was once again coming to an end. Another week of fantastic music, dodgy drunken dancers and unforgettable escapades was all being seen off with fire and uh more fire. Not wanting to miss Enter Shikari Sound System we left behind the Scots and the mass of mainstagers and headed towards the dubstep mash-up which proved to be a quite genius combination of your average dance music and songs from bands like Bring Me The Horizon. Of all the dance/dubstep acts i've seen Enter Shikari's take is by far my favourite.

PART ONE (ARRIVAL)

PART TWO (FRIDAY)

PART THREE (SATURDAY)