In case you've forgotten (or you're new to the blog), Talkin' 'bout My Generation is a series where I take a new(ish) band that I have discovered and do my best to plug them to the masses. Whereas I metaphorically shot my load way too early with my other semi-regular series, The Elite of Just Alright, I have decided to only stick with putting up a new TBMG maybe twice a month. (Which is a faulty system because I could theoretically discover ten new bands in a month and want to cover them all, but I digress). Now, on to the feature!
I've mentioned this before, but when it comes to pop punk, I'm an early 90's Lookout! style kind of guy. Nothing against the pop punk bands who take a more of an alternative rock approach- it's just not really my flavor. So when I do find myself enjoying a pop punk band that doesn't fall into my usual mold of pop punk, it always kind of catches me off guard.
Take the Day is one such band.
To be completely honest, I had only heard of the band because they began to follow me on Tumblr. So I checked them out and found them to be quite pleasant. They had a homemade music video of them trying to save a small mouse from the cold snow while one of their songs played in the background. I think it was this adorable act that won me over. Or their acoustic cover of blink-182's I Won't Be Home for Christmas. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because they they can write a catchy hook that can get stuck in your head.
As of right now, the band has a 3-song studio EP, City Lights & Summer Nights (Part One), an acoustic single, Lydia, and a "Holiday EP" with three cover songs and an original. Musically the band sounds a lot like a culmination of the bands that they cover on the latter EP (We Shot the Moon, blink-182, and even NeverShoutNever's prettier tunes) while also sounding like other bands in the modern pop punk/emo scene (to be completely fair to the band, they refer to themselves as "Pop/Rock/Roll" on their Facebook page and they may very well be specifically avoiding the terms "pop punk" and "emo") particularly The Starting Line and Valencia.
If there's anything that I don't like about these guys, it's their usage of vocal modifiers on some tracks. It's not like they obnoxiously autotuned half their songs like some bands do, but when they've got the song writing chops to come up with a catchy headbanger like Won't Wait, I don't think they need to rely on fancy studio tricks.
In comparison to a lot of the other bands that I've covered in this blog, Take the Day seem much less "punk" and perhaps slightly out of place. But I don't think that's such a big deal. Punk or not, Take the Day has that ability to produce music that makes you want to sit on a front porch on a nice July night while drinking a nice glass of Arnold Palmer and listening to the mosquitoes that are flying into the bug zapper. I'm not sure if that's the kind of imagery that Take the Day was aiming to conjure up, but I sure hope so because they accomplish it with ease.
Things to note:
-Is it just me, or do the verses to As Am I, Isaac Asimov sound like Avril Lavigne's Complicated? Not a bad thing, just asking if anyone else hears it.
-Lydia has this really nice... almost soul-like feel to it. It's nice.
-I really think that they kind of sound like Valencia a lot. Not in a bad way- I kind of like Valencia, too. I just keep hearing it when I listen to their EP tracks.
-You can find the band in the following ways: Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Also, here's that video of them saving the mouse from the cold:
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Classics of Love - Classics of Love
Happy Valentine's Day, world! Even if you don't have a special someone to spend today with, things aren't so bad after all. Jesse Michaels is making music again! Life is worth living still!
Classics of Love first hit the scene in 2009 with their EP, Walking in Shadows and I've been anticipating this album ever since. The EP showed a lot of promise and in the three year gap between releases (okay, they also released an Art of the Underground single in 2010, so technically it's only been two years), the band has only gotten tighter and, as a result, the LP is an improvement upon their EP in almost every way.
If you're familiar with Jesse Michaels and his previous work, you probably know that he has incorporated a lot of "ska" (I'll put it in quotations in case any ska purists would like to argue this) into his music. Operation Ivy was known for heavily sprinkling their songs with upstrokes and were one of the first "real" ska-punk bands (duh) and Common Rider did the same thing with a wider variety of sounds, incorporating lo-fi rock and reggae into their music. Classics of Love doesn't really do that. Two or three songs might use the classic upstroke guitar that Michaels' bands are known for, but all-in-all this is a much faster, near hardcore album.
Okay, so it's not quite a hardcore album either, but there's no denying the influence that 80's hardcore has on the sound of this album. The band (comprised of Michaels and all three members of Hard Girls) plays hard and fast, and it is definitely a call back to punk rock circa 1990. The longest track clocks in at 2 minutes and 37 seconds, while the whole album runs for a grand total of 22 minutes and 39 seconds. My kind of punk rock for sure!
Lyrically the band takes its cues from all the same places they take their musical cues from. Much like a good chunk of the Operation Ivy discography, these songs are soaked in social criticism. Unlike so many bands these days that will write a political anthem and then eat their own words, there's something about the way that Jesse Michaels carries himself and his songs so that he never comes off as overtly preachy. Yes, he's rallying against classism and poor up keep of the law just like so many bands, but there's an urgency and spark in his voice that everyone else is lacking. Perhaps it's the fact that this album calls back to the politically (however personal or universal) charged era of punk rock, but the band's cries of "We need a change!" comes off as much more sincere than any of their contemporaries.
2012 has the potential to be an incredibly bleak year. Politicians spend their time fighting over the tiniest of issues instead of the big things. People think it's okay to tweet "I'd like Chris Brown beat me any day" and mean it. The apocalypse may very well be coming (unlikely, but I won't rule out the smallest of possibilities).
It's all incredibly sick and sad.
Yes, 2012 looks very bleak, but Classics of Love's debut helps shine a light in these dark times. Thank you, Jesse Michaels.
STREAM IT HERE
ORDER IT HERE
Classics of Love first hit the scene in 2009 with their EP, Walking in Shadows and I've been anticipating this album ever since. The EP showed a lot of promise and in the three year gap between releases (okay, they also released an Art of the Underground single in 2010, so technically it's only been two years), the band has only gotten tighter and, as a result, the LP is an improvement upon their EP in almost every way.
If you're familiar with Jesse Michaels and his previous work, you probably know that he has incorporated a lot of "ska" (I'll put it in quotations in case any ska purists would like to argue this) into his music. Operation Ivy was known for heavily sprinkling their songs with upstrokes and were one of the first "real" ska-punk bands (duh) and Common Rider did the same thing with a wider variety of sounds, incorporating lo-fi rock and reggae into their music. Classics of Love doesn't really do that. Two or three songs might use the classic upstroke guitar that Michaels' bands are known for, but all-in-all this is a much faster, near hardcore album.
Okay, so it's not quite a hardcore album either, but there's no denying the influence that 80's hardcore has on the sound of this album. The band (comprised of Michaels and all three members of Hard Girls) plays hard and fast, and it is definitely a call back to punk rock circa 1990. The longest track clocks in at 2 minutes and 37 seconds, while the whole album runs for a grand total of 22 minutes and 39 seconds. My kind of punk rock for sure!
Lyrically the band takes its cues from all the same places they take their musical cues from. Much like a good chunk of the Operation Ivy discography, these songs are soaked in social criticism. Unlike so many bands these days that will write a political anthem and then eat their own words, there's something about the way that Jesse Michaels carries himself and his songs so that he never comes off as overtly preachy. Yes, he's rallying against classism and poor up keep of the law just like so many bands, but there's an urgency and spark in his voice that everyone else is lacking. Perhaps it's the fact that this album calls back to the politically (however personal or universal) charged era of punk rock, but the band's cries of "We need a change!" comes off as much more sincere than any of their contemporaries.
2012 has the potential to be an incredibly bleak year. Politicians spend their time fighting over the tiniest of issues instead of the big things. People think it's okay to tweet "I'd like Chris Brown beat me any day" and mean it. The apocalypse may very well be coming (unlikely, but I won't rule out the smallest of possibilities).
It's all incredibly sick and sad.
Yes, 2012 looks very bleak, but Classics of Love's debut helps shine a light in these dark times. Thank you, Jesse Michaels.
STREAM IT HERE
ORDER IT HERE
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Hextalls - Rock You to Sleep
The Hextalls are a pop punk band in the vein of the 1990's Lookout Records roster. This, of course, means that it's the best kind of pop punk out there. Short and (mostly) humorous songs about girls, parents, hockey and Kenny Rogers, is there anything else a pop punk kid could ask for?
Rock You to Sleep is the newest release from the Canadian quartet. I'm still somewhat of a new fan of the band, but I am aware that they started in 1998, broke up for awhile, then got back together in 2007. I haven't listened to any of their pre-break up music, so I can't honestly make an accurate comparison to how their music has changed since their inception, but I can say that this new album follows the exact same formula as the previous two (2008's Call It a Comeback and 2010's Get Smashed). It also follows the exact same formula as every Teenage Bottlerocket album, most Steinways songs, the first Dopamines album, tunes by the Adorkables and even the Copyrights and Lillingtons.
By that, I mean it is a shining example of the modern pop punk genre that has been so graciously dubbed, for better or for worse, "Ramones-core." This is not a bad thing, especially if you're a fan of the genre, because it means that you know exactly what the songs will sound like and if you'll enjoy them or not. However, it does mean that there is very little diversity of sounds found on the album, and the little that is there does not do a whole lot to make the album stand out above the rest. The best modern pop punk bands all do something with the three-chord formula to make their music stick out: The Ergs! aped the Descendents' style of oddball guitar chords mixed with incredible bass lines; The Copyrights (and Dear Landlord) know how to create vocal harmonies that almost put Bad Religion to shame; Teenage Bottlerocket has Kody from the Lillingtons and The Dopamines simply decided to just release Expect the Worst, the best pop punk album of the decade. The Hextalls will incorporate a piano on a few tracks and sing about Kenny Rogers, but that's not enough to really push them to the top of the game.On the tracks that do feature the piano, such as I Don't Want to Go Down to the Basement, Either (what a fun Ramones nod, although the song itself is about poop) and Pebbles the Happiest Chihuahua, the singer (who, despite the claims made in My Name Is Kenny Rogers, is not Kenny Rogers) kind of sounds like Ben Folds. While it does make the band slightly more unique, it's still not enough to really make them the next big thing in pop punk.
I realize I'm giving off the impression that this album is nothing special, but it is actually really good. The songs are catchy and will get stuck in your head even if you don't realize it. The band members have to be at least in their late 20's at this point, but they still sing about things that kids can relate to: "lead single" (I'm not sure if it's a proper single or it was just released as an album teaser) I Just Want to Sleep in the Treehouse features a very angry "Fuck you mom! And fuck you dad! You don't have a fuckin' clue about me!" and while the lyrics are meant to be silly and immature, I don't think there's a single person who wouldn't shout along with the band at a show. These songs are those kind of songs: light-hearted and fun to sing.
Rock You to Sleep is a fun album, regardless of the constant mentions of Kenny Rogers. The Hextalls might not be trying to take over the world, but they'll certainly take over your speakers. And isn't that what a good pop punk album is supposed to do?
Stream/buy it on bandcamp!
Rock You to Sleep is the newest release from the Canadian quartet. I'm still somewhat of a new fan of the band, but I am aware that they started in 1998, broke up for awhile, then got back together in 2007. I haven't listened to any of their pre-break up music, so I can't honestly make an accurate comparison to how their music has changed since their inception, but I can say that this new album follows the exact same formula as the previous two (2008's Call It a Comeback and 2010's Get Smashed). It also follows the exact same formula as every Teenage Bottlerocket album, most Steinways songs, the first Dopamines album, tunes by the Adorkables and even the Copyrights and Lillingtons.
By that, I mean it is a shining example of the modern pop punk genre that has been so graciously dubbed, for better or for worse, "Ramones-core." This is not a bad thing, especially if you're a fan of the genre, because it means that you know exactly what the songs will sound like and if you'll enjoy them or not. However, it does mean that there is very little diversity of sounds found on the album, and the little that is there does not do a whole lot to make the album stand out above the rest. The best modern pop punk bands all do something with the three-chord formula to make their music stick out: The Ergs! aped the Descendents' style of oddball guitar chords mixed with incredible bass lines; The Copyrights (and Dear Landlord) know how to create vocal harmonies that almost put Bad Religion to shame; Teenage Bottlerocket has Kody from the Lillingtons and The Dopamines simply decided to just release Expect the Worst, the best pop punk album of the decade. The Hextalls will incorporate a piano on a few tracks and sing about Kenny Rogers, but that's not enough to really push them to the top of the game.On the tracks that do feature the piano, such as I Don't Want to Go Down to the Basement, Either (what a fun Ramones nod, although the song itself is about poop) and Pebbles the Happiest Chihuahua, the singer (who, despite the claims made in My Name Is Kenny Rogers, is not Kenny Rogers) kind of sounds like Ben Folds. While it does make the band slightly more unique, it's still not enough to really make them the next big thing in pop punk.
I realize I'm giving off the impression that this album is nothing special, but it is actually really good. The songs are catchy and will get stuck in your head even if you don't realize it. The band members have to be at least in their late 20's at this point, but they still sing about things that kids can relate to: "lead single" (I'm not sure if it's a proper single or it was just released as an album teaser) I Just Want to Sleep in the Treehouse features a very angry "Fuck you mom! And fuck you dad! You don't have a fuckin' clue about me!" and while the lyrics are meant to be silly and immature, I don't think there's a single person who wouldn't shout along with the band at a show. These songs are those kind of songs: light-hearted and fun to sing.
Rock You to Sleep is a fun album, regardless of the constant mentions of Kenny Rogers. The Hextalls might not be trying to take over the world, but they'll certainly take over your speakers. And isn't that what a good pop punk album is supposed to do?
Stream/buy it on bandcamp!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Top 5 Concept Albums/Rock Operas
The term "concept album" can be pretty broad. In its most basic sense, it is used to describe any album that has recurring themes present throughout the tracks. In my experience people will often use "concept album" to describe albums with a running narrative from song-to-song. While this is technically correct (the best kind of correct), the running narrative can be more accurately described as a "rock opera" (or metal opera, or hip-hopera or what-have-you), while a concept album can even be something as simple as the song titles all having a common element (this is something I learned recently... The Ventures released an album titled The Colorful Ventures in 1961 and each song had a different color in its title. Being an instrumental band, there were no lyrical themes or characters popping up anywhere but it's still a unifying concept and thus, a concept album).
With that said and done, most of my favorite concept albums are rock operas.
05. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life (Matador; 2011)
The newest album on this list, it's also the most impressive in terms of just how much effort was put into making it. Fucked Up has always kind of pushed the boundaries of what a hardcore band is supposed to do, but they level of commitment that they put into making this album goes well beyond their normal threshold. Hell, it goes well beyond the level of commitment that almost any band ever has put into making an album. I still don't fully understand the story being told (Something along the lines of being about a guy named David who works at a lightbulb factory, and he falls for a girl named Veronica. They have revolutionary ideas and plan to blow up the aforementioned factory but then Veronica dies when the bomb is set off early. Then there's a girl named Vivian and a narrator/villain named Octavio, who is controlling the story, and David fights him for control... but then it gets super-meta and the band is also apparently cast into the story and pulling some strings or something...), but it doesn't make the album less enjoyable. But seriously, how many other bands will not only record an 18-track, 75-minute album, but also record eight additional tracks to complement the story (two of those songs simply just introduce the town that the album's story takes place in(!), four of which introduce the four main characters, one that is kind of like an epilogue, and a final song to explain the entire concept) as well as a fake compilation featuring 11 brand new songs by fictional bands from the fictional location of the proper album? I won't pretend to be an expert on what the original SMiLE was supposed to be like, nor will I pretend to know exactly how epic Songs from the Black Hole was planned to become, but I can say that David Comes to Life easily shadows those albums in terms of presentation (and existing in its intended format).
04. New Found Glory - Catalyst (Drive-Thru/Geffen; 2004)
This album is not a story. At least I don't believe that it was meant to be. But there's most definitely a general theme of self-doubt and failing in almost every song. It is important to note that Catalyst is their sophomore effort on a major label: their self-titled had been a big hit and signing to Geffen and releasing Sticks and Stones only increased their exposure. To me it only seems natural that the band members began to become unsure of the direction they were heading; after all, once you're made it to the top, there's nowhere to go but down. The artwork in lyric booklet is what first tipped me off to thinking that there was more to this album than well-produced hooks. Instead of trying to describe it, just take a look:
A sleazy, snake-like creature wearing a suit is up in the front. I can only assume that he is the Catalyst. Kids with sad or blank expressions holding instruments. One kid is signing a contract in the snake-man's hands. Factory buildings that read things like "Tattoo" "Insta Star" "Angst" "Heart Removal." It's not exactly subtle. The back cover and inside artwork don't try to keep the band's feelings concerning major label success a secret:
Okay, so teen angst and hating "the man" are not the most original or compelling of concepts to base an album around, I admit that. It's definitely not as impressive as Fucked Up's David Comes to Life but that's just not a fair comparison. What I think the most interesting thing about Catalyst is that when New Found Glory released the album, they were doing the very thing that the album was (seemingly) rallying against, that being a pop punk band getting mixed up in a major label's roster. There is no way that they were not aware of that fact though and in the very first song (fittingly titled "Intro") they claim: "It's more than a t-shirt, it's more than a tattoo. It's more than a phase, this is how I was raised. You keep trying to market this feeling, I heard what you said. And no we're not the same." It's the only song that doesn't have any real negative connotations or introspective questions about themselves and I think it really speaks true to the general character of the band as a whole, especially seeing how they've bounced back from the "going major and slowing down" point of their career that so many other bands have trouble recovering from.
03. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (Equal Vision; 2003)
In theory, I could have picked the entire Coheed and Cambria studio discography and put it in this spot. But that would've been a really long entry and I only want to write so much right now. I picked In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 because, even though I prefer the musical complexity of Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (I'm abbreviating that from now on) more, the segment of the story that is being told on IKSSE:3 is my favorite part of the entire Amory Wars. I love the fact that the entire band is based around a concept, and I love that the concept is a sci fi epic. My favorite parts of almost every story is when everything has gone wrong to the point where the protagonist finally wakes up and realizes what he or she has to do and accepts their role in the story, and IKSSE:3 is that part of the Amory Wars saga. The story can be a bit confusing to follow if you don't know a thing about it (it is way easy to follow if you've read the corresponding comics), but what makes this a great concept album is that the tracks are strong enough to stand on their own and the listener doesn't even have to know that there are entire battles going on in the songs. It's also the last part of the story that doesn't bum me out. I know I just said that I prefer GAIBSIV, V1:FFTTEOM in terms of the music, but the story takes a very meta turn on that album that involves a character, the Writing Writer, who is penning the entire Claudio Kilgannon saga which means that everything that happened on the first two albums was merely a story being written. By the next album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World for Tomorrow, things go back to the sci fi world and the Writer exits the story but it still kind of ruins the whole concept for me because I still know that there's someone pulling the strings and the characters were never in any real danger. Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way and there was some Stranger Than Fiction things going on, but I still think that the Amory Wars story peaked with In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3.
02. AFI - Sing the Sorrow (DreamWorks; 2003)
Including this one might be controversial. At least to hardcore AFI fans, apparently there's some disconnect between fans as to whether there is any real concept on this album or if it's all just speculation by people with way too much free time on their hands. I'm not going to try to pick apart the entire Clandestine/336-337/Sing the Sorrow/etc mystery- there's no way that I understand it enough to do it any justice. I do, however, understand that there is a theory that the album is examines the cycles of life, self reflection of death and, possibly, the ability (regardless of whether it's a good thing or not) to break out of those cycles. One of the more prominent concepts that I've heard relates to life being cyclical. There are twelve months in a year, during which many things happen, first and foremost the temperature and climates change. When one year ends another simply begins and starts the cycle all over. Allegedly, each track can be seen as representing a month and the sounds that can be heard at the end of the album are similar to those at the very beginning, giving the impression that the album can be listened to on repeat without any sonic disruption, throwing the listener into yet another cycle (and also shines some light on how it is possible for the Leaving Song Part II to occur before the Leaving Song).
This ties into the concept of reincarnation, always starting over from the beginning. The concept of breaking out of the reincarnation is explored in the hidden track, This Time Imperfect, as well as the then-unreleased song Rabbits Are Roadkill on Route 37 (the lyric booklet contains a picture of a dead rabbit with "rabbits are roadkill" written next to it). Lyrics such as "I cannot leave here, I cannot stay" and "There are no flowers, no not this time/There will be no angels gracing the lines" which create an image of being stuck in limbo, and allegedly Rabbits (Hares) cannot be reincarnated according to the Chinese Zodiac and Davey Havok is a Rabbit himself and this leads to the conclusion that the album is not only about the cyclical nature of life, but also about how Davey Havok is living his final life.
All of this makes for a super interesting concept, and it's one of the main reasons I love the album so much, but I do not know how much of that last part is true. Every time I try to search for links between reincarnation and the Chinese Zodiac I can never find any information on whether or not it is believed that Rabbits are in their final stage of life, I'm always just brought to fan pages about the band. That said, it is fun to notice the little things, such as how Rabbits are fourth in the Chinese Zodiac cycle, while track four on Sing the Sorrow is Silver and Cold, which has a corresponding music video showing Davey Havok about to jump off a bridge while his bandmates, rushing to stop him, all die in a car crash and implications that Havok was a ghost the entire time.
01. Green Day - American Idiot (Reprise; 2004)
Come on, like this wasn't going to be my number one. Green Day was the first band I really fell in love with. So much to the point that between 2001 and 2003, I had kind of overplayed every single one of their albums and I couldn't listen to them anymore. Then in 2004, they released American Idiot and I finally had something new to listen to on repeat. I've raved on and on about American Idiot before (right here if you want to read it: http://cmoncheermeup.blogspot.com/2011/03/green-day-american-idiot.html), so I won't go into a whole lot of my history with the album. What I really like about American Idiot is that they not only created an easily accessible album that reignited their career, but they created an easily accessible rock opera that lays its cards out on the table for all to see all while still using their trademark Green Day lyrical imagery. Anyone who says differently, and that the band "totally changed their sound" for this album, clearly has never listened to Warning or the second half of nimrod. I get that it's one thing to dislike an album or its singles after hearing them a million times, but that's no excuse for making blind accusations that can be easily rebutted.
But I digress. American Idiot's story is extremely easy to follow, which definitely contributed to why it has become the most successful rock opera of the new century. Being a rock opera with such an incredibly fluid story, the track list of the album is really the only way to listen to the story of Jesus of Suburbia, and putting the songs in any other order would be like taking your favorite book and rearranging it so that the big reveal in chapter 34 comes in right after chapter 6 while the introduction of the red herring in chapter 4 has been placed back as the final chapter. This predetermined listening order could be seen as a bit of a problem, because listening to music is not exactly the same as reading a book, but I like to think of it as one of the album's strengths. Other rock operas may have well-crafted and involved stories (such as Coheed and Cambria's Amory Wars or Fucked Up's David Comes to Life), but with cryptic lyrics that can sometimes be difficult to decipher in terms of the grand scheme, it's sometimes impossible to really know how the story is unfolding unless you have a reliable source to help you out (for example, the Amory Wars comic series based on the music of Coheed and Cambria or interviews with members of Fucked Up discussing the album) (actually, the members of Fucked Up have been known to make things up for the fun of it, so an interview with them might not be the most reliable of sources).
There are plenty of ways to do a concept album, but American Idiot is how to tell a story in a rock opera right. I can only hope that the next great rock opera takes cues from Green Day's storytelling, Coheed and Cambria's visual companions and Fucked Up's dedication to making the story come to life.
Honorable Mention
It would be stupid of me to not at least mention the Who somewhere. My dad introduced me to the Who at a very young age, specifically songs from Tommy and Who's Next. While the latter was really a compilation of stuff that survived the Lifehouse project, Tommy was definitely the first concept album that I had ever heard. Pinball Wizard and Sally Simpson were favorites to sing along with and when I was about seven or eight, I saw the film version of Tommy. Despite that I didn't truly understand what was going on in the story until I rewatched it again while I was in college, I still greatly enjoyed it because I got to see the music I was listening to come alive on screen with actors and dancing. I think my love for American Idiot's success stems from being in awe of how Tommy went from being "just an album" and turned into so much more, because now all of that is happening again, but based on the music of a band that I grew up listening to instead.
So that only took a couple of hours to write. I'm amazed that I stuck with it. If you managed to read this far, kudos and thanks for reading! How about leaving some of your favorite concept albums/rock operas in the comments?
With that said and done, most of my favorite concept albums are rock operas.
05. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life (Matador; 2011)
The newest album on this list, it's also the most impressive in terms of just how much effort was put into making it. Fucked Up has always kind of pushed the boundaries of what a hardcore band is supposed to do, but they level of commitment that they put into making this album goes well beyond their normal threshold. Hell, it goes well beyond the level of commitment that almost any band ever has put into making an album. I still don't fully understand the story being told (Something along the lines of being about a guy named David who works at a lightbulb factory, and he falls for a girl named Veronica. They have revolutionary ideas and plan to blow up the aforementioned factory but then Veronica dies when the bomb is set off early. Then there's a girl named Vivian and a narrator/villain named Octavio, who is controlling the story, and David fights him for control... but then it gets super-meta and the band is also apparently cast into the story and pulling some strings or something...), but it doesn't make the album less enjoyable. But seriously, how many other bands will not only record an 18-track, 75-minute album, but also record eight additional tracks to complement the story (two of those songs simply just introduce the town that the album's story takes place in(!), four of which introduce the four main characters, one that is kind of like an epilogue, and a final song to explain the entire concept) as well as a fake compilation featuring 11 brand new songs by fictional bands from the fictional location of the proper album? I won't pretend to be an expert on what the original SMiLE was supposed to be like, nor will I pretend to know exactly how epic Songs from the Black Hole was planned to become, but I can say that David Comes to Life easily shadows those albums in terms of presentation (and existing in its intended format).
04. New Found Glory - Catalyst (Drive-Thru/Geffen; 2004)
This album is not a story. At least I don't believe that it was meant to be. But there's most definitely a general theme of self-doubt and failing in almost every song. It is important to note that Catalyst is their sophomore effort on a major label: their self-titled had been a big hit and signing to Geffen and releasing Sticks and Stones only increased their exposure. To me it only seems natural that the band members began to become unsure of the direction they were heading; after all, once you're made it to the top, there's nowhere to go but down. The artwork in lyric booklet is what first tipped me off to thinking that there was more to this album than well-produced hooks. Instead of trying to describe it, just take a look:
 |
| Nope, no allusions or metaphors here. |
03. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (Equal Vision; 2003)
In theory, I could have picked the entire Coheed and Cambria studio discography and put it in this spot. But that would've been a really long entry and I only want to write so much right now. I picked In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 because, even though I prefer the musical complexity of Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (I'm abbreviating that from now on) more, the segment of the story that is being told on IKSSE:3 is my favorite part of the entire Amory Wars. I love the fact that the entire band is based around a concept, and I love that the concept is a sci fi epic. My favorite parts of almost every story is when everything has gone wrong to the point where the protagonist finally wakes up and realizes what he or she has to do and accepts their role in the story, and IKSSE:3 is that part of the Amory Wars saga. The story can be a bit confusing to follow if you don't know a thing about it (it is way easy to follow if you've read the corresponding comics), but what makes this a great concept album is that the tracks are strong enough to stand on their own and the listener doesn't even have to know that there are entire battles going on in the songs. It's also the last part of the story that doesn't bum me out. I know I just said that I prefer GAIBSIV, V1:FFTTEOM in terms of the music, but the story takes a very meta turn on that album that involves a character, the Writing Writer, who is penning the entire Claudio Kilgannon saga which means that everything that happened on the first two albums was merely a story being written. By the next album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World for Tomorrow, things go back to the sci fi world and the Writer exits the story but it still kind of ruins the whole concept for me because I still know that there's someone pulling the strings and the characters were never in any real danger. Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way and there was some Stranger Than Fiction things going on, but I still think that the Amory Wars story peaked with In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3.
02. AFI - Sing the Sorrow (DreamWorks; 2003)
Including this one might be controversial. At least to hardcore AFI fans, apparently there's some disconnect between fans as to whether there is any real concept on this album or if it's all just speculation by people with way too much free time on their hands. I'm not going to try to pick apart the entire Clandestine/336-337/Sing the Sorrow/etc mystery- there's no way that I understand it enough to do it any justice. I do, however, understand that there is a theory that the album is examines the cycles of life, self reflection of death and, possibly, the ability (regardless of whether it's a good thing or not) to break out of those cycles. One of the more prominent concepts that I've heard relates to life being cyclical. There are twelve months in a year, during which many things happen, first and foremost the temperature and climates change. When one year ends another simply begins and starts the cycle all over. Allegedly, each track can be seen as representing a month and the sounds that can be heard at the end of the album are similar to those at the very beginning, giving the impression that the album can be listened to on repeat without any sonic disruption, throwing the listener into yet another cycle (and also shines some light on how it is possible for the Leaving Song Part II to occur before the Leaving Song).
This ties into the concept of reincarnation, always starting over from the beginning. The concept of breaking out of the reincarnation is explored in the hidden track, This Time Imperfect, as well as the then-unreleased song Rabbits Are Roadkill on Route 37 (the lyric booklet contains a picture of a dead rabbit with "rabbits are roadkill" written next to it). Lyrics such as "I cannot leave here, I cannot stay" and "There are no flowers, no not this time/There will be no angels gracing the lines" which create an image of being stuck in limbo, and allegedly Rabbits (Hares) cannot be reincarnated according to the Chinese Zodiac and Davey Havok is a Rabbit himself and this leads to the conclusion that the album is not only about the cyclical nature of life, but also about how Davey Havok is living his final life.
All of this makes for a super interesting concept, and it's one of the main reasons I love the album so much, but I do not know how much of that last part is true. Every time I try to search for links between reincarnation and the Chinese Zodiac I can never find any information on whether or not it is believed that Rabbits are in their final stage of life, I'm always just brought to fan pages about the band. That said, it is fun to notice the little things, such as how Rabbits are fourth in the Chinese Zodiac cycle, while track four on Sing the Sorrow is Silver and Cold, which has a corresponding music video showing Davey Havok about to jump off a bridge while his bandmates, rushing to stop him, all die in a car crash and implications that Havok was a ghost the entire time.
01. Green Day - American Idiot (Reprise; 2004)
Come on, like this wasn't going to be my number one. Green Day was the first band I really fell in love with. So much to the point that between 2001 and 2003, I had kind of overplayed every single one of their albums and I couldn't listen to them anymore. Then in 2004, they released American Idiot and I finally had something new to listen to on repeat. I've raved on and on about American Idiot before (right here if you want to read it: http://cmoncheermeup.blogspot.com/2011/03/green-day-american-idiot.html), so I won't go into a whole lot of my history with the album. What I really like about American Idiot is that they not only created an easily accessible album that reignited their career, but they created an easily accessible rock opera that lays its cards out on the table for all to see all while still using their trademark Green Day lyrical imagery. Anyone who says differently, and that the band "totally changed their sound" for this album, clearly has never listened to Warning or the second half of nimrod. I get that it's one thing to dislike an album or its singles after hearing them a million times, but that's no excuse for making blind accusations that can be easily rebutted.
But I digress. American Idiot's story is extremely easy to follow, which definitely contributed to why it has become the most successful rock opera of the new century. Being a rock opera with such an incredibly fluid story, the track list of the album is really the only way to listen to the story of Jesus of Suburbia, and putting the songs in any other order would be like taking your favorite book and rearranging it so that the big reveal in chapter 34 comes in right after chapter 6 while the introduction of the red herring in chapter 4 has been placed back as the final chapter. This predetermined listening order could be seen as a bit of a problem, because listening to music is not exactly the same as reading a book, but I like to think of it as one of the album's strengths. Other rock operas may have well-crafted and involved stories (such as Coheed and Cambria's Amory Wars or Fucked Up's David Comes to Life), but with cryptic lyrics that can sometimes be difficult to decipher in terms of the grand scheme, it's sometimes impossible to really know how the story is unfolding unless you have a reliable source to help you out (for example, the Amory Wars comic series based on the music of Coheed and Cambria or interviews with members of Fucked Up discussing the album) (actually, the members of Fucked Up have been known to make things up for the fun of it, so an interview with them might not be the most reliable of sources).
There are plenty of ways to do a concept album, but American Idiot is how to tell a story in a rock opera right. I can only hope that the next great rock opera takes cues from Green Day's storytelling, Coheed and Cambria's visual companions and Fucked Up's dedication to making the story come to life.
Honorable Mention
It would be stupid of me to not at least mention the Who somewhere. My dad introduced me to the Who at a very young age, specifically songs from Tommy and Who's Next. While the latter was really a compilation of stuff that survived the Lifehouse project, Tommy was definitely the first concept album that I had ever heard. Pinball Wizard and Sally Simpson were favorites to sing along with and when I was about seven or eight, I saw the film version of Tommy. Despite that I didn't truly understand what was going on in the story until I rewatched it again while I was in college, I still greatly enjoyed it because I got to see the music I was listening to come alive on screen with actors and dancing. I think my love for American Idiot's success stems from being in awe of how Tommy went from being "just an album" and turned into so much more, because now all of that is happening again, but based on the music of a band that I grew up listening to instead.
So that only took a couple of hours to write. I'm amazed that I stuck with it. If you managed to read this far, kudos and thanks for reading! How about leaving some of your favorite concept albums/rock operas in the comments?
Friday, February 3, 2012
Matt Pryor - May Day
Last January, the Get Up Kids released their comeback album There Are Rules. Here we are a year later (I know it's February, shut it), and front man Matt Pryor has completed his second solo album, May Day. Mostly funded by a Kickstarter campaign and a bulk of it being written and recorded last May (get it?), this sophomore release is not only the perfect follow up to his debut album, Confidence Man, but also as the perfect follow up to last year's Get Up Kids album.
Musically, the album never strays far from the formula used on Confidence Man and, to some extent, Matt Pryor's other project the New Amsterdams. Acoustic guitars, soft drumming, the occasional harmonica and a plethora of instruments that if I named individually would take awhile. Last but not least there is, of course, Matt's signature scratchy, yet soft and sweet, vocals. When looked at from this aspect, May Day becomes the perfect follow up to Confidence Man, albeit it slightly odd as in the past, Matt has always tried to stay away from releasing two similar sounding albums in a row (that may or may not be entirely accurate, I'm basing that sentence entirely on the Get Up Kids discography and nothing else).
Lyrically, however, May Day hits closer to the bitterness found on There Are Rules. Both albums were written somewhat within the same time frame, so it's only natural to think that the emotions and feelings in the songs would be carried over. That said, the anger and disappointment on the Get Up Kids album is deeply rooted in the "savior" status that the Get Up Kids have in the emo scene and their rejection of title, whereas the anger on May Day could be said to be more heart-on-sleeve. Don't let May Day fool you, the songs may sound nice and pretty, but you don't even need to listen to the lyrics to know that the songs are angry, just read some of the song titles: The Lies Are Keeping Me Here. As If I Could Fall in Love with You Again. Polish the Broken Glass. Unhappy is the Only Happy You'll Ever Be. As Lies Go... This One is Beautiful. You Won't Get Any Blood from Me. You don't have to be a Sherlock to know there are some recurring themes of negativity going on here.
Two of the albums strongest tracks are possibly some of the angriest. Track four, Like a Professional, calls out an old friend while also referencing his work with the Get Up Kids: "What became of everyone I used to know/I wrote that song for you, and I meant every word" The song ends on a bitter note, with Pryor singing "And to fail/and trust me, when you fall you will fall hard/oh, it sails/and you lose sight of who you really are." The other track, Your New Favorite, sounds like a really sweet song upon first listen and it musically is reminiscent of Confidence Man's title track. With a chorus like "So I'm going on whistling to your new favorite song/whistling your new favorite song" it is easy to mistake it for the future highlight song of the next mixtape that you're going to make for that special someone. But then you listen to lines such as "I can lie to you so genuine/I sell it with a smile/I can thanks ladies and gentlemen/while breaking up inside" and you have stop for awhile and re-consider the song's meaning. Yes, the Get Up Kids had some bitter songs, but these songs have their own bitter identity and show that Matt Pryor still has it in him.
After all of the bitterness is over, the album ends on a rather loving note. It's almost like a story where the clouds have finally cleared and the character is realizing it's not all that bad and there are some nice things worth having in life in spite of all the awful things. "While I was gone/it was nothing but midnight/a new day has dawned/so welcome the sunlight/I've seen everything that my tired eyes would view/there's nothing that compares to seeing you."
There are a lot of front men from the modern punk scene doing the solo acoustic thing these days. Maybe it's because the Get Up Kids were never really "punk" to begin with but Matt Pryor avoids being lumped in with the Revival Tour crowd by taking a different approach to roughly the same folksy, acoustic music. Of course, he does perform on the Where's the Band? Tour, but none of those other guys have officially released solo albums yet so it still seems refreshingly original.
(Speaking of the Where's the Band? Tour, this album features two iTunes bonus tracks: covers of Husking Bee's Walk and Saves the Day's Freakish. They originally on the Three Way Split between him, Chris Conley [of Save's the Day] [duh] and Masafumi Isobe [of Husking Bee] [as you probably figured out])
Edit: It has come to my attention that I'm an idiot. Dustin Kensrue, of Thrice, has released a solo album, as well as a Christmas album. I know I've never received any comments correcting the mistakes that I make, but I just wanted to address it ahead of time in case someone comes across this blog in the future and wants to tell me that I messed up.
Edit part 2: the guy from Bayside also just released a solo album last month. I am super far behind on the times.
Musically, the album never strays far from the formula used on Confidence Man and, to some extent, Matt Pryor's other project the New Amsterdams. Acoustic guitars, soft drumming, the occasional harmonica and a plethora of instruments that if I named individually would take awhile. Last but not least there is, of course, Matt's signature scratchy, yet soft and sweet, vocals. When looked at from this aspect, May Day becomes the perfect follow up to Confidence Man, albeit it slightly odd as in the past, Matt has always tried to stay away from releasing two similar sounding albums in a row (that may or may not be entirely accurate, I'm basing that sentence entirely on the Get Up Kids discography and nothing else).
Lyrically, however, May Day hits closer to the bitterness found on There Are Rules. Both albums were written somewhat within the same time frame, so it's only natural to think that the emotions and feelings in the songs would be carried over. That said, the anger and disappointment on the Get Up Kids album is deeply rooted in the "savior" status that the Get Up Kids have in the emo scene and their rejection of title, whereas the anger on May Day could be said to be more heart-on-sleeve. Don't let May Day fool you, the songs may sound nice and pretty, but you don't even need to listen to the lyrics to know that the songs are angry, just read some of the song titles: The Lies Are Keeping Me Here. As If I Could Fall in Love with You Again. Polish the Broken Glass. Unhappy is the Only Happy You'll Ever Be. As Lies Go... This One is Beautiful. You Won't Get Any Blood from Me. You don't have to be a Sherlock to know there are some recurring themes of negativity going on here.
Two of the albums strongest tracks are possibly some of the angriest. Track four, Like a Professional, calls out an old friend while also referencing his work with the Get Up Kids: "What became of everyone I used to know/I wrote that song for you, and I meant every word" The song ends on a bitter note, with Pryor singing "And to fail/and trust me, when you fall you will fall hard/oh, it sails/and you lose sight of who you really are." The other track, Your New Favorite, sounds like a really sweet song upon first listen and it musically is reminiscent of Confidence Man's title track. With a chorus like "So I'm going on whistling to your new favorite song/whistling your new favorite song" it is easy to mistake it for the future highlight song of the next mixtape that you're going to make for that special someone. But then you listen to lines such as "I can lie to you so genuine/I sell it with a smile/I can thanks ladies and gentlemen/while breaking up inside" and you have stop for awhile and re-consider the song's meaning. Yes, the Get Up Kids had some bitter songs, but these songs have their own bitter identity and show that Matt Pryor still has it in him.
After all of the bitterness is over, the album ends on a rather loving note. It's almost like a story where the clouds have finally cleared and the character is realizing it's not all that bad and there are some nice things worth having in life in spite of all the awful things. "While I was gone/it was nothing but midnight/a new day has dawned/so welcome the sunlight/I've seen everything that my tired eyes would view/there's nothing that compares to seeing you."
There are a lot of front men from the modern punk scene doing the solo acoustic thing these days. Maybe it's because the Get Up Kids were never really "punk" to begin with but Matt Pryor avoids being lumped in with the Revival Tour crowd by taking a different approach to roughly the same folksy, acoustic music. Of course, he does perform on the Where's the Band? Tour, but none of those other guys have officially released solo albums yet so it still seems refreshingly original.
(Speaking of the Where's the Band? Tour, this album features two iTunes bonus tracks: covers of Husking Bee's Walk and Saves the Day's Freakish. They originally on the Three Way Split between him, Chris Conley [of Save's the Day] [duh] and Masafumi Isobe [of Husking Bee] [as you probably figured out])
Edit: It has come to my attention that I'm an idiot. Dustin Kensrue, of Thrice, has released a solo album, as well as a Christmas album. I know I've never received any comments correcting the mistakes that I make, but I just wanted to address it ahead of time in case someone comes across this blog in the future and wants to tell me that I messed up.
Edit part 2: the guy from Bayside also just released a solo album last month. I am super far behind on the times.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Talkin' 'bout My Generation: Masked Intruder
Masked Intruder is the best pop punk band that you hope never gets out of prison. At least that's what their Facebook would tell you. Their self-titled demo/EP was my favorite short playing release of last year and I expect that once their full length is released that I'll be listening to that just as much, if not more, than the EP.
I hate it when people use the term "buzzing guitars" to describe the sound of a band. Mostly because it is used when they really mean that it sounds kind of like the Ramones, but also because at this point it is used so often to describe a variety of bands that I think that it has kind of lost any real meaning (this is assuming it had any actual meaning to begin with). With that in mind, this album is very Ramones-esque. But with more guitar solos and nasally vocals. I guess that kind of makes them like an American version of the Buzzcocks. Lyrically, the band focuses on girls and getting into trouble with the law. The classic punk stuff, in other words, you know, the kind of things that bands like the Ramones or Buzzcocks would sing about. Edgy stuff, I know.
It should be noted that Masked Intruder is a gimmick band. Their name (and sometimes their lyrics) reflect the band's appearance as actual masked intruders, hence the first sentence of this entry. Their whole schtick is that they claim to actually be prisoners. They will play shows dressed in ski masks and matching Chuck Taylors, and they will refer to each other as the color of their mask and shoes (In case you're wondering: Blue sings and plays lead guitar, Green is rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Yellow [aka Orange] plays bass and Red is the drummer). They will make Facebook status updates saying things like "the warden let us out to finish recording our demos today" or something. Normally gimmicky bands are good for their live show, but their music falls flat when recorded in the studio. I don't know a single person who says that they enjoy listening to GWAR unless they're either about to go see them live or they just came back from a GWAR show. People might be a little more divided when it comes to the Aquabats, but for me they're definitely a band where I enjoy their music more in a live setting. Masked Intruder isn't like that. Perhaps it is because their music doesn't heavily rely on the knowledge that the band poses as actual masked intruders or maybe it is just because I like this brand of pop punk so much that I am willing to overlook it. Either way, the music is enjoyable and that's the important part.
Give it a listen and see what you think. And if you dig it, go like them on Facebook.
I hate it when people use the term "buzzing guitars" to describe the sound of a band. Mostly because it is used when they really mean that it sounds kind of like the Ramones, but also because at this point it is used so often to describe a variety of bands that I think that it has kind of lost any real meaning (this is assuming it had any actual meaning to begin with). With that in mind, this album is very Ramones-esque. But with more guitar solos and nasally vocals. I guess that kind of makes them like an American version of the Buzzcocks. Lyrically, the band focuses on girls and getting into trouble with the law. The classic punk stuff, in other words, you know, the kind of things that bands like the Ramones or Buzzcocks would sing about. Edgy stuff, I know.
It should be noted that Masked Intruder is a gimmick band. Their name (and sometimes their lyrics) reflect the band's appearance as actual masked intruders, hence the first sentence of this entry. Their whole schtick is that they claim to actually be prisoners. They will play shows dressed in ski masks and matching Chuck Taylors, and they will refer to each other as the color of their mask and shoes (In case you're wondering: Blue sings and plays lead guitar, Green is rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Yellow [aka Orange] plays bass and Red is the drummer). They will make Facebook status updates saying things like "the warden let us out to finish recording our demos today" or something. Normally gimmicky bands are good for their live show, but their music falls flat when recorded in the studio. I don't know a single person who says that they enjoy listening to GWAR unless they're either about to go see them live or they just came back from a GWAR show. People might be a little more divided when it comes to the Aquabats, but for me they're definitely a band where I enjoy their music more in a live setting. Masked Intruder isn't like that. Perhaps it is because their music doesn't heavily rely on the knowledge that the band poses as actual masked intruders or maybe it is just because I like this brand of pop punk so much that I am willing to overlook it. Either way, the music is enjoyable and that's the important part.
Give it a listen and see what you think. And if you dig it, go like them on Facebook.
Talkin' 'bout My Generation
New semi-regular column because I'm already exhausting myself with The Elite of Just Alright. This one will be centered around modern bands and my praise for them. Get pumped.
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