The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 324

Republic of Wolves?

What about Wolf, does that count? Wolf Parade, Wolf Alice, Sea Wolf

 

Also this club is great and I'm proud to be an admin, I'll do my best to help everyone out whenever needed.

 

Welcome to the administration @Davjs and @Patterns in Traffic.

Special shout out to the book keeper @anonimito!

 

Hell yeah!!!

 

I guess I just needed T&S to be more heavy for what I want from these guys. VxV kinda has it all for me, super heavy Wake Up to pretty mellow Bird and the Snake. Not to mention Relief and Majesty in Misery are two of their very best songs

That you love it but you still need to listen to their best song Slaves off Captors!

Republic is my rec from @highfidelity203 that I still need to do!

Dunno about those other Wolves, never heard of them.

 

All those wolves are pretty cool, I really dig this album if you're in the mood for the chillness

 

Who dis?

 

This Is Hell

 

Ah sweet, I’m away on holiday atm so totally missed that news.

 

@Nate_Johnson gave me Righteous Woman by For Esmé

I really like her voice and the vibe on this, I wish I could elaborate more , I appreciated how current and personal this felt
standout tracks- Small Talk, To Hate, For Others, Doubtmouth, Modern Love, Didn't Ask

 

@anonimito and I did some bonus trades and I am trying to catch up on them slowly in between our regularly scheduled sessions. The most recent album they gave me is:

Daniel Bedingfield: Second First Impression (2004) Polydor

Daniel Bedingfield is a singer/songwriter and producer from New Zealand and is probably best known for his sister Natasha Bedingfield that gave us such hits as Unwritten and Pocketful of Sunshine. This record is his second solo record and unfortunately is not on streaming services, although it is on YouTube. I could not stand that I couldn't listen to it wherever I wanted to so I found it on Amazon for $2 and ripped it into iTunes.

His style is essentially pop like his sister but what is really great about him is how diverse he is. This record screams of pop music from the early 2000's but is a diamond in the rough. Is it perfect? No, there are some production issues and the bass is turned way up and I was actually kind of freaked out playing it because it literally shook my car. The closest artist I could compare him to is Justin Timberlake, right down to his vocals and even some of the production feels like it could have been a record written for him. Let's make one thing clear though: he can sing! His vocals are fantastic and just instantly grab you and you don't want him to stop. I don't know why he didn't get so much bigger than this! During the records 13 tracks, well 11 and 2 bonus songs, he gives us pop music in the area of straight up pop, reggae and ballads. There really is nothing bad I can say about this album and when it stopped, I wanted to keep hitting repeat! I'm not always the biggest fan of straight pop music but this has so much variety that it keeps you entertained the entire time. I could have been fine without the bonus songs but that is a minor complaint.

I highly recommend this album if you are looking for something a bit out of your comfort zone and I guarantee you that you will be amazed by his talent.

RIYL: Early 2000's Pop Music, Justin Timberlake

Favorite songs:
Wrap My Words Around You
Sorry
Holiness

 

Awesome review, Nate! I couldn't have said it better myself!

One thing: he is probably best known for these two tracks on his debut LP, but his sister eclipsed him for sure.

Edit:

Here's a track from his latest (2012) album. Warning: the official video for one of the tracks is 100% NSFW. This one, however, should be fine.

 

Thank you!

Omg I heard that second song and always thought it was a girl because of how they modify his vocals!

 

Sure thing!

Lol! I can see that. That song was the reason he was signed to his label. I love that album - possibly a bit more than his sophomore album!

 

After this week I'm gonna need to be benched for a few weeks

Got some personal stuff going on and they are going to get in the way of this for sure. I have two reviews to do currently and I'll get them done when I can.

 

Life comes first! Hope everything is ok.

 

Trophy Eyes
Chemical Miracle
2016



This session I was paired with @Nate_Johnson and he assigned me two albums. This is the first of the two (the second will hopefully be coming tomorrow)!

@Nate_Johnson and I had been messaging back and forth a bit discussing some of the recent albums out of the Australia metal scene (namely Colour & Shade and Emecia, which have both been discussed in this thread in the recent past) and he mentioned the band Trophy Eyes. I had heard of the band before, but I had never given their music a listen. We discussed a bonus trade, but then a day or so later we happened to be paired for this session, so here we are!

Trophy Eyes is a five-piece band out of Newcastle, Australia (a bit north of Sydney) and Wikipedia gives their genres as pop punk, punk rock, melodic hardcore, and emo. After listening to this album, I'd say that it's a terrific blend of pop punk and melodic hardcore/post-hardcore. Chemical Miracle is their second studio album, following 2014's Mend, Move On. They also have an upcoming album due out on August 3rd titled The American Dream. Additionally, they've release an EP and what appears to be a couple non-album singles.

The album begins with one of my favorite tracks, Chlorine. It's a very solid opening track and there's a mix of sung vocals and more gruff vocals. It's a great blend of pop punk and post-hardcore and it reminded me of times of Boston Manor (another band that I checked out through CMCS courtesy of @SamLevi11 ) Chlorine is a really catchy track and I could already tell that I was going to enjoy this album. Counting Sheep follows it up and it's another catchy song. I liked how the tempo slowed down a notch toward the end of the track. Next up is Nose Bleed which is another of my favorite tracks. It's pretty short at roughly two and a half minutes long but it's another really catchy tracks with pop punk hooks with a bit of harsh vocals. At this point it's apparent that these guys have a unique style and they do it well.

Heaven Sent has a slower start to the song and it is a nice change of pace for the album. I really enjoyed the lyrics in this one:

So stay away from me
Now that you know what kind of man I can be
Breaking hearts is second nature to me
I'll step over you just to get what I need

Rain On Me is reminiscent of The Menzingers at times from a vocal standpoint. The highlight on this track for me is probably the music around the 2:30 mark of the song. The vocals tend to take the forefront on this record, but the music itself is really well done. Chemical is at the midpoint of this album and it's the shortest track at just under a minute and a half. It's essentially a brief interlude consisting of hard vocals over a beat.

Breathe You In starts off the back half of this record and it's a bit more of a midtempo song with more sung vocals. Home Is is another very solid song. The verses contain harsher vocals and the chorus is really catchy and sung with clean vocals. Both of these songs are enjoyable, but I didn't find either of them to be standout tracks for me.

Miracle is another short song at just under two minutes. The main thing that stood out on this track was its heavy lyrics. It's a short track, so here's the entire song:

I want to die some inconspicuous way
To have everything mean nothing, would mean everything to me
To die in a way that would hurt my mother the least
To stay out of the papers and off the TV

I wouldn't bleed out in a bathtub 'cause blood fucking scares me
But I'd jump in front of a car like so many of my friends have
Like the time you took the needle even though it can kill you
And Tom couldn't sleep for weeks 'cause he had to watch you

What choice did I have when all the men in my family
Thought the only answer all would be swinging from trees
I know that it's selfish punching out early
But who's gonna miss me? Who's gonna miss me?

Who the fuck's gonna miss me?
Who the fuck's gonna miss me?

Suicide Pact is another one of my favorites. The highlights of this one for me were its lyrics and it had an extremely catchy bridge. Here's are a couple lines from the song that I enjoyed:

Walk on your friends to fly
We've run out of reasons for watching you die

and

I know the feeling, man
You can't count the fuck ups on two hands

The album closes with Daydreamer which is the albums longest track at over five minutes. It's a relatively slow and quiet song with primarily sung vocals. It's a good way to close the record and I enjoyed the lyrics on this track too:

Daydreamer
No one's going to love you like you love them
It's like your old man said
It's not your fault, you're just different
Alone and different

If you like pop punk, punk, post-hardcore or anything in between, I highly recommend checking this album out. The songs are catchy and the lyrics are heavy, heartfelt, and relatable. I'm going to check out the rest of their past material and I look forward to their new album in less than two months!

Thanks for the recommendation @Nate_Johnson !

I'd recommend this to fans of Boston Manor, The Menzingers (mainly due to the vocals at times), post-hardcore/melodic hardcore, and pop-punk (mainly for the catchy hooks).

The album is only 37 minutes long, so I recommend giving the full thing a listen, but if you only have time for a few songs, I'd recommend Chlorine, Nose Bleed, and Suicide Pact!

 

Great review! This is such a diverse yet catchy album.

 

Nice review! I've never listened to this band for some reason. Seems like I should check them out.

 

Thanks! It really is. I'm going to check out their past stuff (looks like only about an hour of material total, so it shouldn't be too hard!) and I'll be eagerly anticipating their new album with everyone else.

 

Do it! They are so good! Shane Told called it his AOTY for 2017 and it was in my top three for last year.

 

I have already preordered in Vinyl. Can't wait!

 

Comin' in late with the albums that @Bad Frequencies assigned me last week. I'm gonna focus on the album I really loved, and then gloss over the album I didn't.



Starset - Vessels

Stadium rock isn't usually my cup of tea, but the brand of theatrical stadium currently being perfected by the members of Starset can perhaps more accurately be described as space station rock or satellite rock. Starset balances all your typical modern rock elements (driving guitars, booming drums, cinematic string arrangements, layers and layers of vocals, and flourishes of beats and sampled stripped from today's hip-hop and dance music), but they also throw things together in compositions that are absolutely riveting. Instruments come and go in surprising ways, (like some grimey bass synths that sound incredible), all in support of frontman Dustin Bates' beautiful performances and stupid-catchy melodies.

Bates' talents really sell the album. His emotive, pitch-perfect transitions perfectly from anthemic choruses to momentary screams, such as on "Ricochet," where he displays one of the most lovely screams I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. (His scream is, in my opinion, the type of performance that could get people liking screaming for the first time.) Bates is so confident in his abilities that he doesn't mind hiding behind effects and vocoders, whenever those tools amplify the song. Look no further than "Starlight" for a stunning display of the softer side to his dynamic range.

The opening tracks (instrumental "The Order" followed by "Satellite" and "Frequency") are straight-forward numbers, but the album really comes alive through the next seven tracks, from "Die for You" to "Last to Fall." "Into the Unknown" shows the band at its heaviest, especially with its metallic guitars, making a perfect argument for how rock, metal, and EDM actually can converge successfully. Meanwhile, the math-y, thumping "Back to the Earth" sounds like the result of asking for a modern rock song from a more prog-leaning band like The Dear Hunter. Finally, "Gravity of You" (which might be my favorite track overall) daringly uses screaming for its main hook, and it's as beautiful and thrilling as anything else here.

If there's a major flaw to this album, it's that there's no need for it to last 70 minutes, especially when the final five tracks fail to stand up against the preceding seven. (Every song on the album is good, but "Bringing It Down" and "Unbecoming" are certainly the weakest links.) Often, when I finish the tenth song, I'm just dying to hear one of those first ten songs over again. But overall, I'll take as much Starset as I can get, so I really shouldn't be complaining.



Saint Asonia - s/t

As for the other album I was assigned, I just...I couldn't. I listened through once, and it was painful. I tried a second time but only got a few songs in. This is a "supergroup" so to speak, and I like some of the original bands that these members hail from, but this project was a complete failure in my ears. Adam Grontier's vocal performances were consistently pitchy and grating. In each song, I could hear the potential for something exciting to happen, but these avenues never came to fruition. At each point, it seriously seemed like the band took the most boring, obvious option possible, whether from perspective of the guitar riffs, drum beats, or vocal melodies.

So, sorry @Bad Frequencies -- I'd say something positive if I could....so I'll end my bashing fest now. How about that Starset album, though?? hahah

 

Comin' in late with the albums that @Bad Frequencies assigned me last week.

I'm so glad you loved this album. It was such a departure from the debut album that many big fans of it rejected this album. I get why, to an extent, but this will always be the superior album to me. It's become one of my favorite albums of all time (actually, probably my #2 album ever), and it continues to mean so much to me as the years go by.

Hilarious observation: you listed out 8 "standout tracks," and the four you didn't mention were the instrumental and ALL THREE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS, hahahhah. My top 3, gun to my head, would be "Wanderers," The Salesman, the Husband, the Lover" and "Swallow People Whole." Pretty funny, huh?

 

Hey I turned another person on to Starset so I’ll take the L with Saint Asonia with no worries because of tht lol