Top Tunes: October/November

PVRIS - Let Them In

"I wanna feel something that's not the weight of your world in my head"

Taylor Swift - Out Of The Woods

"Remember when we couldn't take the heat, I walked out said i'm setting you free but the monsters turned out to be just trees"

Tonight Alive - Bathwater

"I watch the sun coming up over the trees and rooftops, it's like its piercing the sky I wish it all could just stop"

The Story So Far - Things I Can't Change

"This twitch in my fingers love/hate it lingers. Sent it direct but the point must have missed her"

New Found Glory - Hold My Hand

"I'm telling you for the very last time you better know"

Kids In Glass Houses - Matters At All

"As you passed out as a heart throb when you woke up in a day job"

Lorde - Ladder Song

"If I gotta go first I'll do it on my terms. I'm tired of traitors, always changing sides. They were friends of mine"

Paramore - Tell Me It's Okay

"Thought it was my right to be as sorry as I wanted to be, I wasted all my teenage years being a misery factory"

Echosmith - Terminal

"Mum and Dad i'm coming home, she cries out give me a place I know, familiar faces as she runs into their arms. They just want her home"

Transit - The Only One

"Here's where the horror hits home. I figured it all out on my own Heaven is what you make it, Hell is what you're putting me through"

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

Album Review: PVRIS - White Noise

Seemingly from nowhere Rise Records' PVRIS have come crashing onto just about everyone's radar with their synth rock perfection. The trio teeming up with Blake Harnage was a damn good move on their part as he's king of the otherworldly synth sound that they've honed in on for their impressive debut and I for one cannot stop listening/talking/tweeting/blogging about it.

From the get go 'Smoke' shows off layer upon layer of instruments and well placed electronics with Lynn Gunn's unbelievably stunning vocals smoothly working their way around the music with her ethereal lyrics adding to the eerie atmosphere. The heavenly combination works throughout the ten track album where no two songs sound the same but where they all have an impact and part to play in maintaining the magic created. 'St. Patrick' is one of the most upbeat tracks which is so infectious it'll take a lot of Taylor Swift to erase it from your brain. Lynn sings "you're a glimpse of bliss, a little taste of heaven" and honestly that is how I feel about PVRIS right now... and most likely for a long time. The bridge crashes, exposing fragility, "I need a miracle to bring me back to you, I know you're gone now but I still wait for you," but when the synth line kicks back in with added vigour jumping around the room is vital.

This is a band who have not held back in giving their all, clearly determined to leave you pining for White Noise in the rare moments you'll listen to something else. The determination is particularly present on 'My House' where every drum beat, strum of the guitars and every word packs an almighty punch. One of my initial favourites was 'Holy' with its laid back vibes and cutting lyrics with an addicting vocal pattern. It's much more subtle musically than most of the other tracks and you have to listen carefully to hear the different elements, but should you take one away it just wouldn't sound half as brilliant. Four tracks in and if you haven't learnt never to mess with Lynn yet then you're a fool - she holds no bars.

Title track 'White Noise' sounds like what the lyrics describes, "all that comes out is white noise and incomprehensible sounds." The synths are fuzzy and distorted, all so loud its hard to pick out particular lines, the vocals sound as though they're coming from behind a wall quite the opposite to 'Fire' where the picture PVRIS paints is quite clear. Opening with a quiet shake and pulse Lynn speaks her nastiest lyrics with precision before bandmates Alex Babinski and Brian MacDonald join her in the assault with heavy guitaring. Jesse Lacey will likely forever be god of lyrics but Lynn is almost as genius with a hard, unforgiving edge:

"You were a walking talking corpse at best,

and I swear I couldn't wait to get you off my chest.

And when you asked us why we couldn't look you in your eyes

It's hard to find life in something that's already died."

Ouch. Without her delivery they hurt but when you factor in her snarl its downright terrifying. Heart wrenching 'Eyelids' depicts the loneliness and distance with faraway synths and runaway guitars. The piano twinkles, dreamlike, adding to the ironic lullaby sound. Another instant favourite, 'Mirrors' has an absolutely addictive pulsing synth leading the song - another example of where Blake's hands have made a brilliant song incredible by truly understanding the vision here and layering the sounds expertly. Second to last track, 'Ghosts', is equal amounts enchanting and tragic. Intricate guitars and drums open the song with a light brush of keyboards. It sounds hopeful and hopeless all at once. Lynn's vocals and lyrics confirm the heart breaking nature of this beautiful sounding song which explodes on the chorus with Lynn wailing "Why can't you stay?" It's also on this song that Sierra's (Would totally be down for a Versa/PVRIS formation to create one killer band) backing vocals are most present adding to the melancholic beauty. Closing out the album is killer 'Let Them In'. Straight from space synths and a kick drum building, raring to go you know this song is going places. And it sure does. 'Let Them In' ends the emotional journey of White Noise with a sonic blast. The chorus ignites, no one here is holding back. Lynn sings "You can't be tamed for me" and so PVRIS do not tame themselves in the slightest with Lynn roaring the last lines "I let you win, I let you in."

Gathering my thoughts about this album is difficult. It's everything I want in an album and so much more than I think anyone could ever have expected from a debut. There is so much talent evident its overwhelming, thinking about the fact these guys are the same age as me and they've only been together for two years makes me feel remarkably insignificant and infinitely proud. The chemistry between not just the three of them but between them and Blake made this one hell of an album that is not only one of my favourite debuts of all time but currently one of my favourite albums ever. Cliche as it might be to describe an album as haunting but White Noise really is. The synths don't leave your mind, you half expect the guitar riffs to jump out from a closet and yell boo and as for Lynn her vocals and lyrics are mesmerising. A world without PVRIS would be a world missing out.

Take Me Back: Pop Punks Not Dead Tour (23/11/14)

Back in early 2012, when New Found Glory headlined the annual Kerrang Tour, Chad promised to bring America's Pop Punks Not Dead tour to the rainy shores of Britain. Whilst I hoped beyond hope that the line up would be the same I knew it would be unlikely and was still pretty excited that in the end the UK version included The Story So Far  - as was my brother as our attempts at seeing them over the years were almost as useless as our attempts at seeing The Wonder Years used to be.

For the first time in years we were in the doors and getting a drink having only missed one band and not all the supports. Sugary punk arrived in the form of Candy Hearts who had just started their surprisingly enjoyable set. I'd listened to one of their songs a couple years ago and I remember finding it kinda irritating but - what I'm assuming was their newer material - sounded great live and the crowd certainly seemed to agree with me.

Still celebrating the first birthday of their debut album, State Champs brought upbeat enthusiasm to the room with the nights' first mosh pits and crowd surfers. Having clearly read the manual on How To Be Pop-Punk they proved their place on the tour but mid-set chat showed their humble side. Having increased their fan base on The Wonder Years' tour back in May the room was louder with lyrics being shouted back and the bands' smiles wider.

The moment my brother had been waiting for - The Story So Far. I managed to catch them at Reading this year when they opened the main stage but my super fan brother was yet to see them live despite his desperation. Sound checking their own equipment I was pretty sure my brother was gonna pee himself when Parker Cannon came out in a parker and if the excited screams were enough to go by he wouldn't have been alone. The moment they broke into 'Empty Space' the full room attempted to occupy just the front two rows turning into security's worst nightmare. Staying on my own two feet was bloody difficult as the room surged around violently, trying to stay upright whilst aggressively fist pumping and bellowing the brilliantly angry lyrics with more bite than Parker himself. My brother - who without his glasses is near enough blind - got lost in the crush when a particularly large guy came bombing through my side of the room opening a gap for me to find him. In the smaller venue Parker lost his shyness from Reading and joked with the crowd and apart from the non-appearance of 'Mt. Diablo' the set was perfect with every TSSF song with a relatable, pissed off hook included.

Googling the set list pre-show I couldn't wait for New Found Glory as it really was supposed to be the best set list i've seen from them so with fingers crossed I waited. Sure enough the set was the same as what I'd seen online which saw them open with 'Understatement'- a sure way of drawing everyone into madness from the start. Playing a range of songs from across all albums and all eras of their 17 years as a band, the newer tracks, which could be accused of being wishy washy, sounded a lot better live and for me that's how they're meant to be heard.
One of the highlights was the third song in - 'Hold My Hand'. A completely infectious piano led track everyone had teethy grins and dimples the whole way through, the 'do do da doo's' deafening. This was a pop-punk dance party where fully grown adults became dorky twelve year olds for three minutes. A staple to their set is their fantastic cover of 'Kiss Me' which was like letting loose twelve year olds on a bouncy castle. Following on was 'Dressed To Kill' and 'Head On Collision' and the adults were back in their pits - mosh, not ball. Another stand out moment was when Cyrus' drums started 'The Story So Far'. There was a kind of disbelief in the crowd. Arms linked together and voices broke yelling 'and everything else is irrelevant to THE STORY SO FAR.'
Chad told us Jordan was going to cast a spell on us all to make the whole floor turn into a giant mosh pit and Chad was not wrong. Jordan stood on the box, swished his arm around and announced 'My Friends Over You' and in no less than a second the whole floor really was a mosh pit. Their encore consisted of rarely played Sticks And Stones tracks 'Sonny' and 'Forget My Name' before closing this pop-punk fest with 'All Downhill From Here'. They might have been a band for 17 years but see these guys live and they just keep on delivering fantastic show after fantastic show having more fun every time I see them.