The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 236

Great review @Larry David! I need to check that one out as their new one is pretty amazing.

 

I was paired with @anonimito this week. We're exchanging THREE records

They will be listening to:

If These Trees Could Talk- If These Trees Could Talk
Cecil Frena- The Gridlock
Julien Baker- Turn Out The Lights

I will be listening to:

Future of Forestry: Awakened to the Sound (Instrumental version)
Thirteen Senses: Crystal Sounds
Dominique Fricot: Sweet Little Fantasy

 

3!

 

I did three with @anonimito as well! So much fun!

 

I just bought my first LP that came from a rec from this thread today woohoo

@bachna84 got the honour as it was Deafheavens incredible album Sunbather (yes their awesome new track that dropped today reminded me I wanted to pick this up)

Anyways I’m hoping to have my review from last week for @mad up sometime tomorrow. Life’s been getting in the way again and I want to give the album another listen before reviewing it.

 

That's awesome! Yeah, I really like the new track. I only listened to it once so far, but I'm very excited for the upcoming album.

 

Yeah I’ve only given it the one listen so far, loving the emo influence in the guitar later on into the track.

 

man writing reviews is hard

 

Can I join back in next week?

 

Yes!

 

OK folks, as some of you may know I've been out of commission for a few weeks due to an insane project at work that had me working nights and weekends. Now that I have my life back I can catch up on reviewing the beautiful records that I've been recommended over the past few weeks. My apologies for the delays. Starting with a rec from three weeks ago from @broken22, Alkaline Trio's Agony & Irony.



I'm not very well-acquainted with Alkaline Trio despite their longstanding popularity in this scene. I am most familiar with Crimson, which I listened to quite a bit in college in preparation for a show that the band played on campus. Besides that, I have never listened to an Alkaline Trio album in full (though I did review Matt Skiba's album Kuts for CMCS a few months back).

Listening to this album has made me want to explore more of Alkaline Trio's discography. This is actually more in my wheelhouse musically than I expected, and I've enjoyed it more than I remember enjoying Crimson. Every song on this album is a slice of catchy, well-crafted, high-energy pop-rock. There is nothing particularly innovative here, but these are the kinds of songs that had me nodding my head, tapping my feet, and singing along even by the end of my first listen.

I was shocked to see that the first track, "Calling All Skeletons," was not a single. This is a song that has plenty of commercial appeal, and I could see it exposing the band to a much larger audience. It is upbeat and infectious (even the verses are very catchy) complete with handclaps and an anthemic chorus. "Help Me" is the second track, and this was the first single from the album. It is another worthy choice with more trademark pop melodies, some piano layered in the verses, and a straightforward singalong chorus. "In Vein" rounds out an excellent opening trio (hah) with a start-and-stop verse and a slight wail in the chorus when Skiba sings "You recognize this shape, it's the back of your hand" that sells the hook perfectly.

Other highlights include "Do You Wanna Know?" "Love Love, Kiss Kiss," and "Lost and Rendered." Really, there isn't a song here without a chorus that will get lodged in your subconscious after a few listens (or just one, in some cases). If this is an indication of what their other albums have to offer, I have some more listening to do.

 

A couple of weeks ago I was assigned Starset's Vessels by our very own @JediMasterKevo182. Having never heard the band before and seeing that they have only two albums, I decided to do a quick discography run and primed myself by listening to their debut album Transmissions. I appreciated a lot about the debut album, including the high energy, cinematic elements, extensive use of strings and electronics, and space-themed transitions that made for a cohesive and immersive listening experience.

However, while I could hear a lot of potential in elements of the band's sound, I didn't think they quite put it all together on Transmissions. The lyrics were a bit generic and lacking, and the hooks were so close to being there, but didn't quite reach the heights they were striving for. They also seemed to be searching for an identity, as there were moments from song to song that reminded me of Young Guns, Breaking Benjamin, and Linkin Park. After several listens, I can say that Starset has soundly answered my criticisms with Vessels.



This album is a big step up from Transmissions in every way. The lyrical content is better (not the deepest stuff you'll hear, but it enhances these songs where some clumsy lines detracted from the experience in Transmissions). The hooks deliver, with great anthemic, catchy choruses on every track. The band have honed in on a signature sound and they do it well. Stadium rock infused with electronic and orchestral elements, and a touch of metal influence in some riffs, breakdowns, and screaming vocals. Rather than jumping from genre to genre on this album, their forays into different styles complement and fit nicely into the framework of the sound they've established. Everything is deliberately and confidently executed by a band coming into their own.

This album clocks in at 70 minutes, which is definitely a long listen, and cutting a few songs could have made for a more easily-digestible album that I would be tempted to play on repeat. As it is, this album is like a Chipotle burrito. It's good all the way through, but there's no way I can ingest another one right away. Gotta take a break, let my body recover, and come back for another serving later. Some albums are more like a Taco Bell taco, y'know? You can just hit play again and again and never feel full. Anyway, it's late and this is the end of my weird Mexican food analogy.

This is a very good album if stadium rock is your bag. I really enjoy it and I'm excited to hear where the band goes with their next release. If they take another leap forward, it's going to be essential listening.

Highlights: Satellite, Frequency, Die for You, Starlight, Back to the Earth, Bringing It Down, Monster, Telepathic

 

Hey Maddy, don't feel the need to write massive reviews, this is just meant to be for fun. I know some people (myself included sometimes) do but there's plenty of people in here that write short reviews too. My review this week will probably be fairly short as I've been really busy this past week (I have been enjoying your album though when I've had the chance to listen to it).

Even just a paragraph saying I enjoyed/didn't enjoy this album because.....This band reminds me of a and b. The tracks I liked were..... will do. You'll probably find the more of these you do the easier it becomes to write stuff up and you're reviews will start to grow in length.

Anyways hope this helps somewhat

 

Yeah my review this week is going to be quite short, but I think it will vary depending on how much I have to say about the album really. I feel like my first review was pretty long and I'm not going to demand a certain length of writing from myself.

 

And now I want Taco Bell. Thanks! ;)

 

@mad I’ll echo what @ugman_2000 and @SamLevi11 both said - there’s no requirement for a long review! Just a few sentences to get your overall thoughts across works.

 

Great review I’m glad you liked it! A lot of your stand outs are the ones I return to most frequently when I want to listen to them but don’t have time for the whole album, even if the best experience is the whole thing.

I’ll Echo this too @mad ! There’s no length requirement, some of us write long and some go short. As long as you write SOMETHING that’s all that matters

 

Awesome review ! It's a super underrated album, I would probably check out This Addiction if you were into this.

 

I will echo all the previous comments in the length of the reviews. Being one of the longer review writers I totally get that it can be intimidating to feel the need to replicate the longer ones. Do whatever you feel comfortable with an nobody will ever think any less of you!

 

Okay so, my review this week is Fm Static's album "Dear Diary" courtest of @nickyeatworld


FM Static - Dear Diary

When I was given this album, I was pretty sure I had never heard FM Static’s music, and outside of recognising the band’s logo for this album (their name scrawled as if written in a journal or diary), I was totally unfamiliar with the band. I actually later realised I actually had a friend who was into this album when I was younger but had never really checked it out.

FM Static were a Christian three-piece pop-punk band from Canada, who are the side project of the band Thousand Foot Krutch, who I had also never heard of. Apparently they were a Christian nu-metal band, which despite being the most terrifying description of a band I have ever heard, hasn’t stopped them from being relatively successful according to their Wikipedia page.

FM Static’s third album, Dear Diary, is their most successful and actually landed just inside the Billboard Top 200 when it was released in 2009. The album is themed around a teenage boy who moves to a new town, and had diary entries to accompany the music in the liner notes. The music itself is easily categorised as rather generic pop punk, and there lies my issue with the album.

Half my issue with this album is that it doesn’t feel inspired. Second track, "The Unavoidable Battle of Feeling on the Outside” for instance, feels like they are trying to copy New Found Glory. Despite this, I did find that the album opened with my two favourite songs on the album, as that and opener “Boy Moves to a New Town With Optimistic Outlook” are fairly well written songs, even if they don't quite reach the level of their peers.

The performances are fine, and it’s a serviceable album, but nothing stuck with me unfortunately. I feel like if I had heard this album when I was 13, I would have gotten quite into it, but hearing it 12 years later, I can’t help but feel it lacks excitement or originality.

I wouldn’t say this album is bad full stop, but I just felt it lacked absolutely any memorable moments for me, and made me want to listen to the much better bands that they try to imitate, such as New Found Glory and Yellowcard.

Recommended tracks: Boy Moves to a New Town With Optimistic Outlook, The Unavoidable Battle of Feeling on the Outside
Recommended If You Like: Yellowcard, New Found Glory, The Starting Line

Rating: 3/10

Sorry for the low score but I just couldn't click with this album. Thank you for the recommendation anyway.

 

Hot Water Music
Exister
2012



I was paired with @broken22 and given the album Exister by Hot Water Music. This veteran band was first formed in 1993 and hails from Gainesville, Florida. I have listened to them some in the past, but they're not a band that I listen to frequently. I saw them on the 2003 SnoCore Tour along with Sparta, Glassjaw, and Dredg (I'm obligated to tag @littlejohn when discussing this tour) and I remember liking them. On a side note, how great of a tour was that?! Their 2002 album Caution is their release that I'm most familiar with, but I haven't heard much of their discography outside of that.

2012's Exister is their first full-length release in 8 years following 2004's The New What Next and a brief hiatus after that album. I did a little research on Hot Water Music prior to listening to this album and I discovered that their lineup for Exister was their original lineup. I'm always impressed when veteran bands are able to maintain a constant lineup. Hot Water Music's lineup consists of Chuck Ragan (guitar, vocals), Chris Wollard (guitar, vocals), Jason Black (bass), and George Rebelo (drums).

From the opening note of the album's first track Mainline, it's apparent that this is a no-frills punk rock album. It's a pretty fast paced punk song and the vocals have a bit of a raspy, gruff delivery. The following track Boy, You're Gonna Hurt someone had a catchy riff heading into the chorus that I really enjoyed. The next two songs State Of Grace and Drown In It were short, catchy punk rock songs that did not let up and kept the album moving forward. Drag My Body is a bit of a longer song (closer to three and a half minutes vs. the two and a half minutes or so that the previous tracks were) and a little slower (but not a ballad by any means) which was a nice change of pace. It featured a very catchy chorus and it was one of my favorite tracks on the album. The following song Safety featured another one of my favorite guitar riffs on the album toward the end of its chorus. Musically, this band is firing on all cylinders. I guess 20 years together will do that!

It's at the midway point of the album that the songs seem to blend a little bit together for me. There's not one single track on the album that I thought was a bad song and all of the songs are solid punk songs, but the next few tracks really didn't stand out much to me. On the back half of the album, the tracks Pledge Wore Thin, The Traps, and Paid In Full were the standout tracks for me.

This album is a fast moving album as only 6 of the 13 tracks are over 3 minutes long and none of those 6 tracks exceed the 4 minute mark. There are no ballads at all either and that, in combination with the short track lengths, really keep the album moving. I'm sure that on repeated listens, I'll find more things that stand out to me on the back half of the album.

I would recommend this band and this album to fans of The Menzingers, Against Me!, and The Gaslight Anthem.

My favorite tracks to this point are Mainline, Boy You're Gonna Hurt Someone, Drag My Body, Safety, and Paid In Full. 4 of those 5 tracks are on the first half of the album which I guess isn't surprising based on my thoughts on the second half of the album. The songs Pledge Wore Thin and The Traps get an honorable mention here.

All in all, if you're a fan of the punk rock genre and/or a fan of the bands that I mentioned above, you owe it to yourself to check out this album (and probably the rest of Hot Water Music's discography).

Good recommendation @broken22 !

 

Paid In Full is fire

 

I remember that tour! not sure if I've told you but that was my first club show.

 

Solid review ! Everything is spot on. Jason Blacks bass playing is stellar too.

 

I'll have my Thrice review up from a couple weeks ago @anonimito