The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 365

@ugman_2000 and I have teamed up for a "classic" albums swap!

He will be listening to:
Earth Crisis: Gomorrah's Season Ends

I will be listening to:
David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

 

^ These should be fun, two very different albums haha.

 

That’s my second favorite Bowie album.

 

It’s my joint first along with Let’s Dance.

 

Courtesy of @iCarly Rae Jepsen I listened to Amy Shark's Love Monster. I was happy for the rec cause I had a long drive and had to sit in traffic for a zillion years so I could focus on it. It was v nice! It was poppy but it stood out like not like all the pop indie kitchen singers that blend together for me. The lyrics were v simple in that way it felt like someone's diary or actual stream of consciousness. I think sometimes that runs a risk of it not being as relatable because the lyrics are so specific, but I still found that it was relatable. I liked the closer the best. Her delivery of

"My voice is all that I got
You think that I think I sound like God
But I got the microphone and you don't
Got all the right words up in my throat"

Felt v powerful. The only song that kinda lost me was the one with mark hoppus just because I didnt realize he was involved with the album prior and the song came on and I was like wtf is that mark hoppus? And it was a bit distracting and I felt the feature didnt rly add to the song it just sorta took me out of focus. But I liked the album and I see she's playing pdx the weekend I am out there but I put an embargo on myself and concert tickets so it will not happen but if she comes thru again another time I'd consider going!

 

You've...never...heard ETID???

 

I was given this album last time. I loved it and was also surprised at the Mark Hoppus feature lol

 

Me neither.

 

I saw Every Time I Die sub headline the big ballroom (second stage) at Slam Dunk South Festival in 2012, under Architects, and the pits and crowd were so intense I coughed up blood. Worth it.

Great band.

 

I saw ETID open for Taking Back Sunday last year. A couple people showed me some of their songs prior to the show and I was impressed with their live show. Since then @bachna84 has been systematically making me listen to every album of theirs the same way I made @Patterns in Traffic listen to Hawthorne Heights lol

 

Welcome back and good review!!

 

I'm listening to this right now and really digging it. It comes across to me like a more pop/lighthearted version of a Courtney Barnett/Julien Baker. Some of the lyrics are kind of immature, very diary-like as you said, but for the most part I think they work with her style as a kind of throwback to old-school pop-punk. I thought the Hoppus feature was kind of cool, definitely surprising but the hook was pretty good and their voices blended well together once I got used to it. I'll definitely be spending more time with it.

 

Thanks! I've been a lazy flop so if my partner doesnt message me I haven't been messaging them oop but I've been doing a lot of long drives so I was geared up!

 

For the future if your partner doesn’t message you let me know. I like to weed out the placeholder names

 

Chorus Music Club Jail!

 

What if there's a hypothetical scenario where the founder of this club owed me a couple album listens?

 

Since they aren’t CMCS sanctioned trades it’s a moot point?



Don’t worry I’ll get to them

 

I was partnered with my good friend @Bad Frequencies this week and was assigned the record Far From Earth by Stonefield. The band is from Australia, and fun fact, they rent a house next to @Mary V and know her very well! I have never heard the band, but know Kevo has had them in his top 10 at certain points during 2018.

“Delusion” kicks off with heavy distortion and is already not what I expected. It has a very grungy feel, and the fuzzy guitars instantly hook me. I loved the way she scaled her singing at certain points in the song. Their sound is unique, and has some callbacks early on in the record to music from the 70’s. I also got some Ghost vibes in the eerie tones used, and the way she scaled her vocals at points. “Far From Earth” begins with a catchy guitar lick, before going into the verse where the guitar plays in rhythm to her vocals. Her vocals are incredibly strong, and unique and I love when they partner with the guitar part. “In The Eve” begins as a slower ballad, with a more subtle guitar part, but a very nice bassline. This is the first song where the bass player gets the forefront of the song, and really shows how talented they are across the board. In the midsection of the song the singer’s vocals absolutely soared, and almost reminded me of Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) at times who is potentially the best female singer in the history of rock and roll, so that is the highest of compliments. “Visions” also begins slow, and has a vibe that reminds me a lot of Rush, with a trippy, atmospheric, spacy intro before the guitar lick comes in. This one was a little more upbeat, in comparison to the last track, but the beginning left me wanting more of what I heard from the title track after a couple of straight forward songs. The ending of the song was the best part of the song, when they played out a similar style as the intro. “Together” gave me some Stone Temple Pilots vibes in the guitar riff that was played through the song, and the way she delivered her vocals. I could see this song being their single choice if they decided to go to radio with a song. “Broken Stone” had a very cool intro, which reminded me of something Jimmy Page. (who is my favorite guitarist of all-time) would’ve added as an intro to a Led Zeppelin song. This was a slower song, and it really hit me during this song how impressive it was that a band of only four people were able to have so much going on at once. I’d love to see them live and see them pull some of these sounds off. For the most part the band pulled back a little on the track though, especially in the chorus, to let the singer really showcase her gorgeous vocals. This was a longer track clocking in at almost 6 minutes, but I only knew that by looking at the track listing; It did not feel long at all! “Through The Storm” starting with a slow-burning guitar riff, that set the tone for the entire song. The track length of this being 4:20 may have been intentional, and this was the closest they came to a stoner-metal sound. The bridge had a slow, trippy part to it, that was heavy on synth. The transition back to the song was great, where the bass began playing a riff, that the guitar would eventually play off of. I’d love an entire record from them with this sound. This was their outlet to not worry about a catchy song, and to just go out there and experiment and let loose. “In My Head” brought back more of a straight forward desert-rock sound to the record. “Sleepyhead” was the closest they came to a legitimate ballad, with a clean guitar starting the song off, that echoed throughout the song. They didn’t have a “big” moment in this song from a heaviness standpoint, but her vocals were extremely effective, even when held back in this track. “Celestial Spaces” ended the record with a slow building, driving intro that built into their trippy sound heard throughout the record, and had the urgency and feel of a closing track and felt like a proper end to the record. My only complaint is to end with an instrumental track when you have a vocalist as talented as you do. I also would’ve liked to see them take more risks with it being an instrumental track.

I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for something that sounds fresh despite influence and callback to another time. This band is one of the more unique records I’ve listened to in 2018, and it was a very nice surprise. I would say the best band comparison would be a female-fronted, non-satanic influenced Ghost. My only complaint with the record is that I feel like it lost a little bit of steam after the first two tracks, which were stunning. Luckily it recovered in the second half of the record. This will definitely require multiple listens to truly unpack all that was going on this record, including her very visual, trippy lyrics. Thanks for the rec @Bad Frequencies

Favorite tracks: “Delusion” “Far From Earth” “Broken Stone” “Through The Storm”

 

We call it Benching. CMCS Jail doesn’t sound like a good look

 

A Will Away
Here Again
2017



This past session I was paired with @ineverlose and was assigned A Will Away's album Here Again. They are a rock band from Connecticut who formed in 2011, but just released this debut full-length album last year after signing to Triple Crown Records (Foxing, Tiny Moving Parts, O'Brother, etc.). Prior to Here Again, they had released a handful of EPs.

This album is quite short at 13 tracks spanning a brief 33 minutes and it opens with the short, energetic title track. It's under two and a half minutes in length and it's alt-rock in the vein of Moose Blood. The vocals are well done and this song does a good job in setting the tone for the record. Pay Raise is next and it's slightly lower in tempo than the first track, but it's still quite catchy. The vocals are again the highlight for me. There's no screaming, but in the final 45 seconds or so of the track they are a bit more aggressive than just typical sung vocals. Agoraphobia is another short track (there aren't any long songs on this album, so I guess I should stop calling out the short songs!) again in the vein of Moose Blood. It's catchy enough, but this song hasn't really grabbed me. Chemicals is an interlude type track at only a minute and a half long and it's a bit of a ballad.

The next two songs, Crochet and Well-Adjusted, are two of my favorites on the album. Crochet is really solid musically and vocally, and I enjoyed the lyrics:

You think you’re not any good at all
Would you cover my back
When I’m too scared to let go?

Well-Adjusted is another really catchy track and in particular I enjoyed the guitar in this song, particularly near the end. Caroline is next and while it's a solid track it didn't really stand out from the rest of the album for me. Better Reluctant is one of the longer tracks at over 3 (!!!) minutes and it's another song that's pretty catchy and enjoyable from a lyrical standpoint:

Take your prescription
We’ll dumb it down
Live to walk and talk another day
And if you always want to feel this way
Give up your faith
Never show your devotion
They’ll take that away

Summon Your Savior is another very short track similar to Chemicals. It starts off rather slow, but gets a bit louder as it goes on. Out of the two very short interlude type tracks, I preferred this one.

The next couple tracks The Shakes and Gravity were both solid, but neither made much of an impression on me. Gravity does have a catchy chorus and the overall vibe of the track is pretty relaxing. The second to last track Into The Light is another one of my favorites and the vocals here really shine. Something Special closes out the album and it certainly has the feel of a closing track. This song relies heavily on acoustic guitar and it's ends the album on a positive note.

Overall I enjoyed this album, but to be honest I'm not sure if I'll revisit it often. It certainly isn't a bad album and there aren't any songs on it that I'd consider bad, but it seems (to me at least) that sometimes the songs just need a bit more of a punch to make them stand out. The vocals are very well done and some of the hooks and melodies are quite catchy and I will definitely check out their future releases if and when they come.

Fans of vocal driven alt-rock and Moose Blood would likely enjoy this album. They actually toured with Moose Blood, Boston Manor, and Trophy Eyes while supporting this album. While not as aggressive as Boston Manor and Trophy Eyes can be at times, I can see fans of those bands also enjoying this album.

These are some of my favorite tracks: Here Again, Crochet, Well-Adjusted, Better Reluctant, and Into The Light.

Check this track out:

Thanks for the recommendation @ineverlose !

 

Awesome review, this is one of my favorite albums of all time!

 

Alright, this week I was paired with @Chase Tremaine and we traded 2 albums my first review is for the band Mercy Street

Let Me Live is a 2014 album by Mercy Street, which is a band fronted by Scott Sellers the lead singer for the band Rufio. I am very familiar with Rufio, their album Perhaps, I Suppose was my jam back when it came out. I think I've listened to that album hundreds of times. Mercy Street is pretty similar to Rufio to me, and that is not a bad thing at all. You get some really good pop punk songs with some awesome guitar riffs. For having 13 songs this album flew by and was very enjoyable to me. This is not to say that its just Rufio under a different name, there are some differences, but if you like Rufio you will definitely like Mercy Street. @Chase Tremaine really gave me a really good album this week, and I'm pretty surprised I had no knowledge of this album at all. I can see myself revisiting this album over and over again for sure. Gonna keep this review short because now I need to listen to some Rufio or it will be stuck in my head for the entire day. If you like awesome guitar riffs, pop punk, fast songs, this interesting album art even, please check this album out. I did have to listen to it on bandcamp though, it unfortunately isn't on Spotify for some reason. So go to their bandcamp page and give it a listen.

Fave songs: Caught by the Wind, Try Hard, The Grey, Don't Tell the Truth
RIYL: Rufio, older New Found Glory, good pop punk

 

I'd like to think not, that's a jury I wouldn't want to be involved with

 

Whoop whoop! Stoked you liked it!

 

For my 2nd review I will be covering out very own @Chase Tremaine's band Ours By Accident and his Album-In-A-Day Project, Vol. 1

I don't even know where to begin, maybe just the fact that these 4 songs were written and recorded in a day! That's crazy! These 4 songs are really really really good! The first track "The Science of Programming the Soul" is very catchy and reminds me of JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights a bit. The lyrics are really good too with "The more I love, the less I'm loved?
The less I'm loved, the more I want," getting stuck in my head for days. The second song "Gloriously Mundane" is also incredibly good. This one reminded me of Dustin Kensrue's solo albums a lot. Plus, I'm a sucker for hand claps and snaps which this song has. This is my favorite song on the album for sure. It's a very laid back song with a little country feel, but more folk maybe than country. Either way its really really good! Track three " Deep Sighs and Few Words" is still in the realm of the previous song but still different. That's the nice thing about this album too, each song has its own sound, which I still am amazed at for being written in a day! This song has a really cool guitar riff too and more claps! The last track "See It In Your Eyes" is kind of an acoustic-y song. I really liked the lyrics to this one the most. So @Chase Tremaine is incredibly talented is what I'm getting at. Everyone who has not heard this really needs to check it out. He's a member of the community here and a really nice guy too! so give it a listen and I'm sure you will enjoy it. Thanks @Chase Tremaine for the trades this week. I enjoyed both albums very much! I look forward to trading again soon.