Eisley is a band who I only started to listen to at the start because of the fact that their lead singer is married to Say Anything's Max Bemis, but after hearing more of Eisley they became more of a band who I could find myself really enjoying instead of just because of Max Bemis. Eisley is a family band made up of siblings vocalist/guitarist Sherri DuPree-Bemis, Stacy DuPree on keys and vocals, Chauntelle DuPree on guitars and vocals, Weston DuPree on drums, and their cousin Garron DuPree on bass. They formed in Tyler, Texas in 1997 and so far have released 3 full length studio albums which were "Room Noise" in 2005 off of Reprise, "Combinations" in 2007 off of Warner Bros., and "The Valley" in 2011 off of Equal Vision Records. They have also released 10 EPs, while only 7 were released off of record labels, 1 off Record Company, 5 off of Reprise, 1 off Sire and now Deep Space EP which was released on Feb. 14 ,2012 and also off on Equal Vision Records, as was their most recent full length. I would describe them as an almost indie pop rock with other almost 'space' rock characteristics, you would like this album if you like Passion Pit or Never Shout Never's album Time Travel I think you would get into an album like this. The album only consists of 5 tracks, 1."Lights Out", 2."Laugh It Off", 3."Deep Space", 4."192 Days", 5."One Last Song", totaling just under 20 min. I have heard Eisley's last full length, and it feels as this EP is just an extension of that. I really enjoy this band and almost every thing they put out, and this EP is no exception. After listening to this CD a good 20-30 times I have decided to rate it with a
4.4 Out Of 5 Stars
because of that fact that even though this band plays a genre that usually I'm not to crazy about, I think they pulled it off beautifully. My only big complaint is that lyrically this album really lacked and the fact that this album, although doing it smoothly, really felt like one big song and difficult to tell where one song stops and the other begins. Sherri really shines with her perfect soothing vocals. The band always plays amazingly together, whether it is just because they are family or just because they are amazing musicans. I mostly never do track-by-track reviews but since this album only has 5 songs, I will do quick summary's of things I enjoyed about each song. The opening track on the album "Lights Out" has the most soothing melody on the album, but as for lyrically, the rest of the album included was nothing spectacular. However the lyrics on "Laugh It Off" were the best on the album, and it it one of the slowest paced songs. Even though most of the EP is set to a really slow relaxing tempo, I believe that they really pulled everything off perfectly. If you want to listen to a song on the album that really sums up Eisley as a whole, it would be the title track "Deep Space" because both the music and the vocals really shined on this song, and if you like this song I believe you are going to be a fan of the band as a whole. The track "192 Days" was a demo from an older EP and this song, although catchy has the most corny lyrics on the entire EP. The final song on the album "One Last Song" is my personal favorite song on the album because of the way it flows, and the instrumental sections, the lyrics are also some of my favorite on the album. If you are a fan of Eisley or have now become one after reading my, mostly, positive review of their new EP, you can no longer pick it up from their MerchNow store as I did, being that it is sold out but it is available in a limited quanity on Amazon.com. Thats all for this one and until next time
STAY ALTERNATIVE!
Bombay Bicycle Club is an indie rock band formed in 2005 in Crouch End, London, England. So far they have released 3 studio albums their first being "I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose" in 2009, "Flaws" in 2010, and "A Different Kind Of Fix" which was released on August 26, 2011 everywhere but it was not until January 17, 2012 that it was released in the U.S. All of their albums have been released off of Island records, except for the U.S. edition of "A Different Find Of Fix" which was released off of A&M/Octane Records. The band consists of Suren de Saram on drums, Jamie MacColl on guitar, Ed Nash on bass, and Jack Steadman on vocals. The album has 12 tracks totaling around 50 minutes, a relatively long album. This band is for fans of bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Bon Iver, City & Colour, Portugal. The Man, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. The album has the most relaxing feel to it, almost as if you are floating. The lyrics are extremely heart-felt and meaningful. Albums like this are very hard to review because of the pure simplicity of the album, where most of the songs have the same soothing feel to it. I have listened to this album a number of times and really focused on the music, and decided that an appropriate rating for this album is a
4.0 Out Of 5 Stars
because of the fact that although I do really like the CD, it is not something I would find myself listening to on a regular basis or singing along to. The album had almost this feel that the music background to a movie or TV show drama would have. Their were a few stand out tracks on this album I thought such as "Bad Timing" which had an almost alt rock feel to it at some points, and the single "Lights Out, Words Gone" which not only had a great melody but also amazing female backing vocals over really meaningful lyrics. The other main single off of the album "Shuffle" is one of the most fast paced and catchy songs on the whole album. If you were only going to download/listen to one song just to get the feel for the band and the album it should be the opening track "How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep" because I think it is the most relaxing song on the CD and I think that is Bombay Bicycle Club's most redeeming quality. I was not the only person who enjoyed their album because it received amazing praise along with peaking at #6 on the UK 200, and it is even certified Gold in the UK, along with all of their albums. If you guys liked "A Different Kind Of Fix" as much as I did, tell me about in the comments and make sure to support the band by going to your local record store to pick up their music, or do what I did and order it off of Amazon.com. That's all for now so until next time,
STAY ALTERNATIVE!
MxPx, one of the biggest and most influential pop-punk/punk rock bands of the past decade, among others such as Sum 41, Green Day, Blink 182, Good Charlotte, and New Found Glory and influenced by bands like NOFX, Black Flag, and The Descendents. They formed their band in 1992 in Bremerton, Washington. The band initially had three members which were Mike Herrera on bass and vocals, Yuri Ruley on drums and Andy Husted on guitar, but after their debut album Husted left the band for college and was replaced by Tom Wisniewski on guitars. The line-up has remained strong since then. MxPx has been called a Christan band but they don't like being labeled. So far they have released 9 full length studio albums being "Pokinatcha" in 1994, "Teenage Politics" in 1995, "Life In General" in 1996, "Slowly Going The Way Of The Buffalo" in 1998, "The Ever Passing Moment" in 2000, "Before Everything And After" in 2003, "Panic", which is my personal favorite MxPx album, in 2005, "Secret Weapon" in 2007, and now their 9th release "Plans Within Plans" which was released on April 3, 2012 and their first release through their own record label, Rock City Records. The album has 13 tracks and totalling a little over 35 minutes. I have listened to this album an extreme number of times and I have decided to give this album an overall rating of
4.9 Out Of 5 Stars
because of the fact that this album is hands down one of the best that they have ever done, MxPx are living punk rock legends and have always put out amazing material. It is very difficult to pick out my favorite song but I think that if I had to pick one it it either "Best Of Times" or "When It Comes To You", even though those are a couple of the slower songs on the album but I think they are a couple of the most powerful songs on the CD, and the most passionate. The album featured a ton of faster paced songs and a few of my favorites were "Screw Loose", "Nothing Left", and "Stay On Your Feet". If you were to download or listen to only one song to get the feel for this album I think it would be the opening track "Aces Up" because of the classic MxPx feel and with great strong lyrics and fast punk rock music. The only reason that this album did not receive a 5/5 is because their were some points during the album where it felt as if I was listening to the same songs, but a little repetition is not bad because if you like it once your bound to like it twice, repetitiveness only bothers me when I cannot distinguish between songs, but other than that it was a perfect album. If you are a fan of MxPx or you just discovered them, you can pick up their album at your local Best Buy like I did and order it off of Amazon.com. That's all I got for you guys on this one, so until the next one,
STAY ALTERNATIVE!
So, Rocky Loves Emily is a Christian power pop band from Sterling Heights, Michigan formed in 2008 and signed to Tooth & Nail Records. So far they have released 2 EP's which were the independently digital only release "The What What What EP" in 2009 and "American Dream" EP which was their first physical release and their first off of Tooth & Nail. Then on April 24, 2012 they released their first full-length album "Secrets Don't Make Friends" off of Tooth & Nail. The line up of the band has changed a few times since the initial formation of RLE. but the personnel of the band in Secrets Don't Make Friends consists of Pete Kalinowski on drums, Andrew Stevens on guitar, Brandon James Ellis on vocals, Stephen Hull on bass/keys, and Sean Kick on guitar. This album is a crazy power pop album with some pop-punk and pop-rock influences. This album is for fans of bands like Never Shout Never, Mayday Parade, Forever The Sickest Kids, or We The Kings. Lyrically this album features the classic pop-Esq themes with a 'boy meets girl' mentally, except for the album closer, 'The Root Of All Evil', which features very meaningful lyrics, you can listen to it by clicking on the song title. As I have listened to this album a good number of times I have to give it an overall rating of
3.9 Out Of 5 Stars
because of the fact that that even though they grew up a lot on this album lyrically and musically in comparison to their past EP's but it still featured songs like their lead single and title track 'Secrets Don't Make Friends', which was my least favorite song on the album, with simple and corny lyrics and generic pop music. Don't get me wrong I love power-pop but it can get really repetitive, like a lot of this album did. My favorite song on the album hands down was 'Be Mine Tonight' which they just released a music video for. This song really sums up what RLE is capable of, with fast catchy Melody's and had a nice pop-rock sound to it also the lyrics basically kept with the same theme but without being to mundane. The album had some songs that were really fast and poppy like 'I Don't Like You' and 'Drivin' Me Crazy' but also had slower more mature songs like 'Dream' and 'Oil & Water' and also had more pop-rock songs like 'Guilty, Guilty' and 'It's Not Me It's You'. If you like Rocky Loves Emily please support them by picking up their album at your local Hot Topic, like I did, or other record stores, or you can also buy it through Amazon.com by clicking right HERE. That's all I have for this album, be sure to tell me what you thought of the album through the comments below, and until the next review
STAY ALTERNATIVE
On The All-American Rejects' 4th full length album, they stepped up their game. AAR started their band in 1999 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They have released 3 full length albums prior to 'Kids In The Street', which were 'The All-American Rejects' in 2003, 'Move Along' in 2005, and 'When The World Comes Down' in 2008. All of their releases, excluding their self-titled album which was released off of DreamWorks, were released off of Interscope Records. Kids In The Street was released on March 26th 2012, through Interscope/DGC Records. AAR's line up has been generally solid through out the years, their current line up has remained the same since their album Move Along, which consists of Tyson Ritter on lead vocals & bass, Nick Wheeler on lead guitar, Mike Kennerty on rhythm guitar and Chris Gaylor on drums. Kids In The Street is 43:12 and has 11 tracks in the standard edition and has 15 tracks in the deluxe version which consists of one new song and three demos. The album did fairly well on the charts with peaking at #18 on the US Billboard Top 200 and #10 on the US Billboard Rock charts. The album so far as spawned three singles which were Beekeeper's Daughter, Kids In The Street, and Walk Over Me. After listening to this album like 100 times and weighing all the pros and cons of this album I have decided to give it an overall rating of
4.7 Out Of 5 Stars
I a giving this album this high of a rating because this album was very hard to find a major flaw in it. I tried to stay away from comparing this album to their older, more 'poppy' sound because this album really created a new face for The All-American Rejects. Although I have always loved them, they still had that very radio pop sound quality in their songs which gave them their mainstream success. Kids really opened them up to more things since they are expanding their sound to a more alternative rock and less of a pop rock. Now I can't say this is their best album, because of Move Along but this CD came as close as ever. Tyson really changed everything from his writing and singing to just his overall appearance. He really shows himself maturing and really growing up overall. The album still features really catchy songs like The Beekeeper's Daughter but also featured really alt rock tracks like Kids In The Street and Walk Over Me and indie rock tracks like I For You. I feel the best track on the album is the opening track 'Someday's Gone', because of the fact that it shows the biggest change in not only their sound but also their writing ability. If you want an album that is catchy and everything else that an album can be all in one, you can pick it up at a record store or even a Wal-Mart, like I did, or by clicking the Amazon.com link to buy a physical copy with some of the strangest album artwork i have seen in a while. Make sure to comment on your thoughts on the album on the bottom of the page. That's all for this one, and until next time
STAY ALTERNATIVE
