The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 383

@Wall Of Arms was really good at that. I’m all for it.

 

Isn't Gang of Youths from Australia?

 

I thought this.

 

Yeah, they are but a damn good recommendation!

 

I'm listening to the new Years & Years album this morning, that's another solid one

 

Yeah, I looked them up after I said it! Oops!

There is an Australian bands thread.

 

Australia has produced so many good bands in the last 5 years or so!

 

Hey I'm listening to that right now. We must be brain buddies

 

Might as well add some more to the list of active UK artists doing great things: The Xcerts, Marmozets, Milk Teeth, Nervus, Higher Power, Employed to Serve, Conjurer, Rolo Tomassi, Jamie Lenman, Martha, Munchie Girls, Dream Wife, Black Foxxes, and Arcane Roots.

As for Aussie bands I've been digging DZ Death Rays, Violent Soho, Dune Rats and The Smith Street Band recently.

 

This week I was assigned Conditions- Full Of War by our founder @Bad Frequencies . Conditions was a band that I had kind of missed the boat on when they were around back in the day. I remember them being a band that I had heard their name thrown around, heard a few songs, but just never got around to fully committing to them. Within the past week I checked out their record Florescent Youth, based on Kevo being full on obsessed with the band recently, so recommending Full Of War seemed like a good, relevant recommendation from Kevo.

The record begins with “Walking Separate Ways” which has drums with urgency in the verses before opening to a chorus with a big, catchy hook with some catchy repeated lines (“second-second-second” “never-never-never”) The next track was “Skeleton” that began with a full-band introduction with a memorable guitar lead. The song had another big hook, and ended the first chorus with an “Oh!” before getting into a short music break before verse 2. Already I could tell why Kevo likes them so much. They write very catchy, memorable hooks. The next song was “Open Eyes” which started with a clean guitar part, before going into a spiraling guitar lead, along with another guitar playing a muted riff. The verse reminded me a lot of an Anberlin song structure, which is a very good thing. This was a much slower song in comparison to the first two tracks, but not quite ballad song; just a more straight forward rock song. I enjoyed the bridge a lot, which was complete with gang vocals. The next song “Best Mistake” was dubbed by Kevo as “probably the catchiest song this band has ever done” It was quite catchy, even transitioning into the last chorus with hand claps as he began singing the final chorus. This sounded like it was ready for radio, although I thought the lyrics were kind of cliché (although true to that era)

“She's my best mistake, and I like paying for it”

“Love Elusive” began with an “Oh!” and set the tone for a quick, catchy track. Their drummer really shined through on this track, with frantic drum rolls and drum fills throughout the song. This song also featured a massive bridge, with very good backing harmonies. This was probably my favorite song up until this point in the record. The next track was “Wonderful Lie” which began with a heavy, driving bassline, with the two guitars dueling back and forth with subtle clean guitar parts. At this point in the record I began noticing a trend. It was a 2 on 1 off pattern. 2 fast songs, followed by 1 more straight forward rock song. I was wondering if the trend would follow through like this for the entire record, or if it was just coincidental. “Everyday Is A New Life” broke this trend, as this song began with a spiraling guitar part and driving bassline that was another straight forward rock song. The song had uplifting lyrics, that was written towards people who suffer daily from depression. As someone who struggles, the lyrics hit close to home, and this line specifically really stuck out to me:

“And know that you can do much more with a day, than just survive”

The next song was “The Descent Of Man” This was another more straight forward song. It seems the band made the fast songs a little more top heavy. That’s not to say it wasn’t a great song though! “What We Wait For” was the next song. The song began with some strings, and clean guitar in the verse, with a big, anthem chorus. The last 30 seconds are borderline epic and really showed the singers talent as he belts out “What is it that we wait for?” The next song was “Long Division” which started with just guitar and vocals until the drums and bass entered about a minute in and drove the rhythm section into the second verse. The last track was “Not Giving Up… Not Yet” This was very reminiscent of the front half of the record, with a much faster tempo, and massive, catchy chorus with a call and answer chorus, with the backing vocals repeating “not yet, not yet, not yet”

This was a very good record that was pretty comparable to Florescent Youth which also had a lot of big hooks, and seemed ready for a lot of sing-a-longs live. I am a little partial to FY after only a listen once to each, but this is a very worthy follow-up to that record. I know there are rumors circulating that the band may be putting out something soon, and it’s confirmed they were in the studio at a minimum. It’s safe to say, I will be looking forward to that release, whenever we’re lucky enough to be gifted it.

Favorite Tracks: “Walking Separate Ways” “Love Elusive” “Everyday Is A New Life” “Not Giving Up... Not Yet”

 

Munchie Girls sounds like a much better band name than Muncie Girls to me haha

 

Haha bloody autocorrect.

I was also going to add Gnarwolves and Johnny Foreigner to my list but I’ve got no idea if they’re active atm.

 

Awesome review! This one is my personal favorite of their albums, but you can't really go wrong with any of them. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it, and I'm sure Kevin will be too!

 

Speaking of UK artists, I just saw that David Ford released a new album this year. I saw him open for Augustana in 2008 and he blew me away with his use of the loop pedal to perform as a one-man band. His new album is full of great songwriting (as are all of his releases) but it's hard to capture the energy of his live performance on record. If you aren't familiar with him and have eight minutes I would highly suggest checking out this video, so damn cool.

 

Also, The Wombats

 

Excellent review of an excellent album buddy. I’m glad you enjoyed it.


Also just want to say how impressed I am with your advancement in reviewing albums. You’re at the top of your game right now.

 

It must really be a long album! ;)

 

Whoops- fixed

 

@figureitout and I are paired up this week
I gave them
Rex Orange County - Apricot Princess

And they gave me

The Pauses - Unbuilding

 

This isn’t a Starset album

 

That's what I was going to post originally lol.

 

Love some Rex Orange County.



Also, I am injury free, surprisingly.

 

How was the gig mate? The photos I saw popping up online yesterday from the Dover show on Monday looked awesome.

 

Incredibly sweaty. The setlist was fantastic too, only downside was we didn't get Black Mass. It was great to see how much fun the band were having in smaller venues again, they looked ecstatic to be doing some smaller gigs.

 

Shame you didn't get Black Mass but sounds like it was a good time. Glad it looked like they were loving the small venue.