The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 343

What festival?

 

This one, I’ve done it a few times over the years and it’s always such a blast.

 

English isn't even your first language and yet you're writing reviews this good. You're a great writer in English so don't worry :)

 

Only three sleeps to go! This is like Christmas to me!

 

Also I saw The Cure on Saturday and might write a quick review. It's gonna be an unusual one.

 

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a user named @Patterns in Traffic gave me two albums to review. I listened to those albums for countless hours and wrote those reviews. Sadly, tragedy struck. A dark force came and destroyed the holy reviews before they could be posted in the legendary Chorus Music Club Society. Now is the time to fight that dark force by creating new and better reviews. The dark side will not win.



The first album being reviewed is The Dear Hunter - Migrant. I had heard the name of this band a lot around these parts, but had never checked them out. If I got this right, this band is like Coheed and Cambria, not stylistically, but in the sense that most of their albums are tied together as a big epic tale. However, they do have a couple of non-related albums, and this is one of them.

The first thing that struck me with opening track Bring You Down is that there is a lot going on instrumentally, with horns, piano and everything. A lot of the tracks are slow piano-driven songs with some moments where it explodes. There were also some parts where the vocals somehow reminded me of Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons. Not all the time, just some specific parts. I actually like Imagine Dragons so it's not a bad point by the way.

Overall it was a good album, but it did start to drag out near the end. I'm curious to hear what their other stuff sounds like. Will I go listen to one of the "Acts" or will I listen to the ambitious The Colour Spectrum? Time will tell.

Favorite tracks: Bring You Down, The Kiss of Life, Let Go.

8/10




Next album is Sparta - Threes. I had never heard of this band so I didn't know what to expect.

The album starts off with Untreatable Disease which is one of my favorites from the album. One thing that struck me is that the singer sounds like Davey Havok from AFI at times, on this track particularly. I also saw that he was in At the Drive In before.

One of my other favorites was Erase It Again, which gave me the impression that I had already heard it, but I don't know where I would have heard that.

Overall it is a great Alternative Rock record, not too slow, not too heavy. I will probably check out their other stuff when I have some time.

Favorite tracks: Untreatable Disease, Erase It Again, The Most Vicious Crime.

8.5/10

 

@Patterns in Traffic has assigned me with All at Once by Paulson and I've assigned him Visuals by Mew.

 

Great reviews! Love the intro haha

All of The Dear Hunter's stuff is great, but I find the Act albums a bit difficult to get into. They are enjoyable but they are also pretty long for the most part and very dense. I haven't taken the time to really get to know the overarching story, so that is probably part of the reason I haven't been able to connect to them fully. I really like The Color Spectrum though and I find those songs to be more accessible and easily digestible. That would be my recommendation if you wanted to explore more Dear Hunter but lots of folks love the Act albums as well.

Glad you dug Sparta, one of my favorite bands and they're about to tour for the first time in 10 years (seeing them next month)! "Erase It Again" was a single, so it's definitely possible that you heard it somewhere. I was thinking it was in a video game but I couldn't find any evidence of that in The Google, I was probably thinking of "Taking Back Control," which was in Madden '07.

 

The Cure @ British Summer Time in Hyde Park (07/07)

On Saturday I ventured to Hyde Park in central London to see The Cure’s 40th Anniversary headline show, one that promised to be special, spanning their career and celebrating everything they have done. It was also the day of London Pride and England were playing Sweden in the World Cup quarter final, so the city was heaving with colourful members of the LGBTQ+, alongside fans of music and sports.

The festival refused to show the football match which was on between 3pm and 5pm, and as there was no re-entry (once you are in, if you leave you cannot re-enter) it meant if I wanted to watch the football I could not see bands such as Slowdive, Ride or The Editors. I found a cramped pub to watch the football in and found about 20 others around me who were complaining about the same thing. Many drinks were had and England’s Football Team (10) won. A good start to the day and it was ensured I was pretty lubricated for the final few bands.

Entering the festival itself, I saw Goldfrapp (7) who had some big electronic pop hits a few years ago. I was honestly surprised by how many songs I knew and they put on a good performance to an ever growing crowd, as it seemed 50% of the attendees also watched the football and arrived later, a bit mistake by the festival organisers.

Interpol (8) were next. Previous to this lineup, they were a band I knew the name of but very few actual songs, but I was glad to have spent some time listening to them in the build up, as their performance was great, ending on a one two of Evil and Slowhands, which are two of their biggest songs.

For many bands, 29 songs would be a back breaker, testing the patience and attention span, not to mention the consistency of their discography. For The Cure (10), however, it was no trouble, as they slimmed down their usual three hour setlist to just two. Opening with a subdued version of Plainsong, they then sprang into Pictures Of You, a one-two from their 1989 seminal album Disintegration.

It set the tone for the set, as they littered big songs consistently, amongst deeper cuts and fan favourites. The band said very little until later in the set, however Robert Smith did seem genuinely taken aback by the huge crowd and the absolute fever that greeted more obscure songs.

The stage was excellently set up, at the bottom of a very slight slope that allowed everyone to see, and with two massive trees either side that framed it, with leaves and vines over the top. The screens either showed some impressive and creepy visuals, such as the spider weaving a large web during Lullaby, or the man running through a forest during, well, A Forest.

(ignore my terrible camera work, I was about 7 pints deep)

The Walk, Inbetween Days, Never Enough and Just Like Heaven were obvious highlights from the main set, before the band paused and came out for an encore. A hugely impressive run began here, with Lullaby, The Caterpillar, Friday I’m In Love, Close To Me, Why Can’t I Be You and Boys Don’t Cry following each other. After this the band played a few deep cuts they hadn’t played in seven or eight years, and then closed with their first single, Killing An Arab.

The only notable absence was Lovecats, but otherwise it was perfect, and what I loved most was seeing several generations all joining in, singing and dancing together. In front of me was a man in his late 50’s or early 60’s (I would guess), dancing and singing every word with his wife, son, and grandkids. It really showed how loved this band are, and it seemed at the end that the members knew it too.

 

I lol’d so hard at you giving England a 10 there @SamLevi11 . A+ review mate, I’m just a casual fan of the cure but even to me (I only know the best of and disintegration) that set list looked incredible.

 

Honestly, my original review had a slightly longer paragraph talking about how they "played songs they last played in 1990, such as Semi Final Appearance" but I thought it might confuse the American members haha.

 

Also Nate and Jim your reviews are coming tonight, sorry they’re a little late. I was far too hungover after the Football on Saturday to review them yesterday.

 

No worries! I'm behind on mine as well. 4th of July party this past weekend, new baby, what other excuses can I come up with? Haha!

 

Procrastination. That's my only excuse.

 

Lorene Drive
Romantic Wealth
2005



This was the second album that @Chase Tremaine assigned me for last session. I had heard of this band before, but I was unfamiliar with their music. Lorene Drive is a band from California that was formed in 2002. This album is the only full-length album that they have released to date and they have also released two EPs (2005's Savan In Super Pursuit Mode and 2008's Out Alive). As a side note, three of the tracks on this full-length album (Kill Your Lover, Change Of Occupancy, and For The Rest Of Us) were also released on their 2005 EP. The band went on hiatus after their lead vocalist Daniel Murillo joined Hollywood Undead in 2010. In late 2012, the band announced that they were returning from their hiatus and that they were working on a new album, but I wasn't able to find any updates on their progress.

God Knows I Love You Kid kicks off the album and it's a great opening track. It's a high energy song that's guitar driven. It had a nice mix of sung and screamed vocals. I'm not great at assigning genres, but I'd say that it's alternative rock that incorporates aspects of post-hardcore and 2000's era screamo. Let It Go follows and it's one of my favorite songs on the album (of course a song named Let It Go is one of my favorites!). It's another energetic one that has a really catchy sung chorus and some more screaming. So Easy is one of the shorter tracks on the album at under three minutes and the highlight of the track for me is the breakdown at the end featuring screamed vocals. A Kiss Won't Make This Better changes up the pace a bit as this song has a bit of a slower tempo. It's certainly not a ballad though. A Song In The Key Of Sex is another song that is a standout to me (even though I am not a big fan of the song title). It's another really catchy chorus and contains more well-placed screaming.

The back half of the album opens with Kill Your Lover which is an aggressive, energetic song featuring a good amount of screaming. I enjoyed that one a lot! Lip Service is a short, quick track at a little under two and a half minutes. It leads into Change Of Occupancy which is another song that I enjoyed a good amount. There's really not much to be said about this track that hasn't been said about multiple tracks to this point. The band is really firing on all cylinders here. I mentioned this a few days ago, but I had been listening to this album in the wrong order due to it having the wrong track numbers in my iTunes. This song was the first track in that incorrect version, but I still think that this would have worked well as an opening song!

The last two tracks on the album are Some Kind Of Love and For The Rest Of Us. Some Kind Of Love was a bit more of the same (and I don't mean that in a bad way), but For The Rest Of Us was a very unique track to close out the album with. It's the longest song one the album at about five and a half minutes in length and it's definitely the slowest song on the album. Piano is featured heavily on this track and it certainly has the feel of a closing track.

Overall, I enjoyed this album a good amount. The album did sound a bit "samey" at times, but at a run time of under 40 minutes, it didn't overstay its welcome. I mentioned above that For The Rest Of Us had the feel of a closing track, but I wonder if it would have been more effective to put that in the middle of the album and maybe break up the album's flow a bit. I could see some people having a tough time getting into this album because of the screaming, but that wasn't an issue for me personally. I don't think that they overdid the screaming and I thought that it was a good mix of screamed and sung vocals. Having said that, I understand that any screaming is too much for some listeners.

I would recommend this album to fans of 2000's era post-hardcore and screamo. Some bands that I was reminded of at times include Greeley Estates, The Used, and Finch.

Give these songs a listen if you like what you've read: Let It Go, A Song In The Key Of Sex, Kill Your Lover, and Change Of Occupancy.

Thanks for another great recommendation @Chase Tremaine ! I hope I did this album justice!

 

Whoop whoop!

 

The Receiving End Of Sirens - Between the Heart and the Synapse (2005)



So newcomer @Jim Morgan gave me the debut album by The Receiving End Of Sirens. I'd heard of this band before but never bothered checking them out back in the day, I'm not quite sure why as I dabbled a fair bit in what is known around this forum as the scene. For those of you that don't know this band they're an emo/post-hardcore band from Boston that were about from the early 00's through to the early 10's.

Well I'm kinda kicking myself for never checking this band out before now, they're very much my sort of emo, they have lots of soring melodies, intrinsic guitar parts and a nice mix of vocals traded off between their 3! vocalists. This trading of vocals brings quite a unique sound to this band which I love. As for their music it reminds me of a mix Anberlin, The Sleeping and Funeral For A Friend but with extra electronics and technical guitar parts.

I have to be honest with the running time of this being over an hour and that I've been pretty busy this past week (along with Nates albums too) I haven't given this album as much time as I've wanted too. That's not a dig on at the length of this album either I think the paces of the albums perfect and it doesn't feel like it dips at all throughout.

From the couple of listens I have given it though I can tell that this is a really great album that ticks all the boxes for me when it comes to this genre. Like I said above I really enjoyed how the vocalists trade off against another and I love all the added electronic elements subtly added throughout this album. It's certainly something I'd have been all over back in the day. I'll definitely be going back to this and checking out some of their other material too when I have a bit more time.

Thanks for the awesome first rec @Jim Morgan

RIYL: Anberlin, The Sleeping, Funeral For A Friend, basically 00's emo done to a great standard
Favourite Tracks: This Armistice, The Evidence, Dead Men Tell No Tells

 

Alright I have an @anonimito review extravaganza coming at you. I’ve been paired with @anonimito the last two weeks, so I have four of their recommendations to review and I’m hoping to get them all written up in the next couple of days. Spoiler alert: they’re all cool.



The first recommendation is Andrew Belle’s 2013 album Black Bear. I’ve heard his 2017 album Dive Deep, but never explored his back catalog, so I was excited to get into this one since it seems to be his most popular and well-received album.

“Dark Matter” kicks off the album on a strong note with pulsing electronics and big drums. Belle’s voice enters in a lower register, sounding both vulnerable and processed to blend with the electronic backdrop. The chorus is a catchy alt-rock style hook with an arpeggio twinkling in the background. Belle’s voice remains delicate while the music increases in intensity around him. The drums and other percussion (both natural and digital) are very expressive throughout this album and really drive the songs.

“Pieces” follows and this is a real standout on the album. If there is one song from Belle that I would recommend checking out to give a good impression of his sound, this would be the one. Lots of great layered keyboard/synth parts that add interesting flourishes to each moment, real and electronic drums combining to form a driving rhythm, a pleasant and catchy melody, and heartfelt lyrical content. I can see this song ending up on many of my playlists and mixes in the future.

Third track “Sister” introduces a new element with an extended instrumental section and an electric piano solo. Title track “Black Bear” is a bit more stripped back and focused on piano and vocals. The chorus has a repeating melody that was stuck in my head from the first listen. “Details” slips into a rhythmic, hypnotic repetition of one line which had me bobbing my head with the groove without even realizing it.

“Santa Fe” is another standout for me with a simple bass drum/snare pattern and a sexy low bass synth that kind of reminds me of Michael Jackson. Belle sings in a high register on this track, and he reminds me of Mutemath’s Paul Meany in certain moments. There’s not a ton to this song, and it’s the shortest one on the album, but it just has this cool dirty groove to it that I love. Notably, this song still clocks in at 3:45 as the shortest song on the album. Most of these songs are long, but I didn’t really notice since the beats/grooves pulled me in and made it easy to stay for a while.

“The Enemy” has some of the most prominent vocals on the album and also the most prominent guitars. This is probably the most straightforward rock song here, and Belle’s voice as well as the instrumentation were reminiscent of Mat Kearney. “Many Lives” follows and contains many of the same elements.

Overall, this is a fantastic album and one I’m surprised I didn’t hear more about back when it was released. I’m sure I would’ve been a huge fan of Belle and would have been more eagerly anticipating his 2017 follow-up. The percussive, electronic, and vocal elements that I pointed out above are definitely his signature style, so if that sounds like something you would enjoy I would highly recommend this album. There aren’t huge stylistic shifts, although Belle brings in some different influences here and there that change the sound a bit and evoke different contemporaries. I did notice that the album seems to start out more digitized and electronic-heavy and ends with some songs more focused on vocals and natural instruments. I’ll be checking out more of Belle’s back catalog for sure!

 

This sounds like something I'd dig for sure, great review @Patterns in Traffic

 

The second album @anonimito recommended to me last week is Secret Codes & Battleships by Darren Hayes. Hayes was one half of Savage Garden, a pop group that I’m not very familiar with, although of course I know their big singles like “Truly Madly Deeply,” “I Knew I Loved You,” and “I Want You.” (Side note – I had no idea “I Want You” was Savage Garden. I pulled it up on YouTube and had an “OMG I REMEMBER THIS SONG” moment. Would have never guessed it was the same band as the other two songs I mentioned. I also recognized “To the Moon and Back.” I suspect they have a bunch of singles I know that I didn’t realize were all by the same band.)



This is Hayes’ fifth solo album from 2011, and I had no idea he had such a long solo career after Savage Garden. As would be expected from the lead singer of a pop vocal group, this is a poppy and vocal-first album. Hayes is a great singer with a high range and his voice is at the forefront of each song. “Taken by the Sea” opens the album with what sounds like a music box before strings and piano enter and Hayes’ familiar vocals join in. Hayes’ voice has a breathy and soothing quality that adeptly carries these songs, although I will say that with such a distinct voice and instrumentation that doesn’t vary too much from song to song the album can start to sound samey if you’re not paying close attention. One thing that strikes me about “Taken by the Sea” and can be said for pretty much the whole album is that there are little vocal runs and quick catchy melodies that are inserted into the verses and prechoruses that are great ear candy and keep the listener invested even in the parts of the songs that usually receive less focus.

The second track “Don’t Give Up” turns up the triumphant/anthemic dial and features some more guitars and bass. Hayes’ signature falsetto is on full display here and he still sounds great. “Nearly Love” is a bit more of a sugary pop song that I could definitely see hearing on pop radio. “Black Out the Sun” is one of my favorite tracks with lots of falsetto, strings, and an infectious chorus. “Talk Talk Talk” is a more electronic-based track that I could see having commercial appeal, but it is probably my least favorite on the album as the hook doesn’t really hit the spot for me.

“God Walking into the Room” is a heartfelt love song that has some cool guitar licks that enhance the mood of the track. “Hurt” starts out with an 8-bit sounding synth line and contains one of the biggest and most immediate choruses on the album. This is another one I could easily hear on the radio. “Cruel Cruel World” is kind of an alt-rock leaning track with lots of guitars and closer “The Siren’s Call” has a ton of layers of vocals and builds to a wordless climax before fading out with some strings.

In some ways, this album is exactly what I would expect from a member of Savage Garden. It has high-soaring vocals, catchy melodies, and contemporary pop instrumentation. But there are a number of curveballs throughout that were unexpected delights. On first listen, I didn’t think this album would really be for me, but after trying it a few more times I started to really enjoy a handful of songs. There are still a few tracks toward the middle/end of the album that don’t grab me, but everything here is an enjoyable listen and it’s a pleasure to hear Hayes’ voice. I think this is a great album for pop fans and I would be interested to know if all of Hayes’ solo albums are in this style or if he’s experimented with other genres and styles over the course of his solo career.

 

The Barber - Black Friday (2018)



The first of my reviews for our resident reviewing machine @Nate_Johnson is this album by Russian hardcore/punk & roll band The Barber. This is their most recent album that came out in May this year and I tell you what this is a straight up banger.

Do you like the Every Time I Die's the Big Dirty, do like the unrelenting punky hardcore of Cancer Bats and Comeback Kid, well if you answered yes to all these question then stop reading this review and stick this album on now. If still you need more convincing then continue

Basically this band is built upon taking that Southern bluesy rock sound that you get on ETID's The Big Dirty and adding a whole load of stoner rock riffing to the mix too. Then finally they kick up the pace with the ferocious punk hardcore sound that you get with bands like Comeback Kid and Cancer Bats.

There's a few bands that have been breaking out recently with this sound and a lot of them seem to be coming out of Europe surprisingly enough. Two that come to mind are The Good The Bad and The Zugly and Bokassa who are both from Norway. I actually rec'd Bokassa to Nate a little while back and this band remind me of them a lot. I absolutely fell in love with their record when I heard it earlier this year but god damn I think this edges it.

This album is flawless in my eyes. It comes in at just under 40 mins and is perfectly paced throughout, you have some great punk and roll songs like the first couple of tracks Not Easy Love and Shaking Hotheads (my god what a Sabbath like riff at the beginning of that one). Then you get songs on the other end of this bands spectrum like My Own Buyers Club and Seven Sins where they just kick right off and turn up the tempo to the max but they still somehow keep a Southern feel to their sound.

So I'd like to say this album was a surprise but tbh I was half expecting Nate to pull something out the bag with his rec's because we've done enough rec'ing outside of CMCS that I trusted him to nail it. This album has gone straight into my top 5 AOTY and it's still growing on me with each listen. I've also rec'd it to a few of my mates back home too and they've all loved it too.

I have to add thanks to @edisnfg for bringing this album into the thread as I believe that's who Nate discovered this album from in the first place.

RILY: Big riffs that slap you round the face in the style of ETID, Cancer Bats and Comeback Kid.
Favourite Tracks: Smokin' Aces, R.O.Y, Shaking Hot Heads

@Nate your other review will probably follow tomorrow now as my brains fried.

 

Nice review! I still need to listen to this - hopefully I can get to it in the next day or two!

 

I’m really glad you loved it! I knew you would!

I love the the fact that you referred to me as the “reviewing machine” haha!!!

 

Well technically you're one half of a badass reviewing duo with @Bad Frequencies both of you get through a ridiculous amount reviews each month haha.

 

This much is true!