The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 411

Unique list. I can dig it.

 

Album No. 20:



The Story So Far: Proper Dose

The Story So Far are another pop punk band that have continued to remain on my radar for some time, maybe because of their slight nods to melodic hardcore on their previous albums but there is just something about them I enjoy. On their newest record, they continue that same sound but at the same time throw us totally off and give us these beautiful alt rock masterpieces. The rollout for this album couldn't have been more perfect in releasing their new sound in the singles and they are truly are amazing. This is another band that has chosen to evolve and challenge themselves instead of remaining stagnant in one genre. The album cover is perfect and shows how magnificent this album is but at the same time is a very dark one lyrically in that it gives us a glimpse into front man, Parker Cannon's struggle with drug addiction.

RIYL:
Pop Punk
Alt Rock

 

Lots of fascinating stuff on there. I played Handsome Ghost because you recommended it to me. I wasn't as into it as you were but I do love seeing Dear Rouge on your list that one is in my top ten for the year. Underrated band. For anyone not familiar with them I would describe them as the Canadian equivalent of Phantogram. @Patterns in Traffic did you listen to the new Metric record?

 

Yeah the Dear Rouge record is real good. I find them poppier and more accessible than Phantogram but I'm also not very familiar with Phantogram so maybe I have the wrong impression of them.

I did listen to the Metric album and I was super impressed on first listen but for whatever reason it didn't do much for me when I went back to it. I also remember it being really long which kept me from going back to it much. But I do want to give it another try at some point.

 

Yeah thats a super fair point the Metric record is a tad too long and i also haven't revisited it as much as i was hoping i would. But it's a good record by a great band. I heard Empty in a record store this week and was reminded how much i love that band. Gonna see them in 2019 so stoked on that. Great live band.

 

Album No. 21:


Turnstile: Time & Space

The Maryland hardcore bands first album for a major label is perfection. From the moment you hit play you are hit with jams that would make anyone get up and stomp all over the room. The success of this album is that it is catchy, pays tribute to hardcore but also is accessible to someone that may not feel comfortable venturing down the rabbit hole of the genre. On top of that, it was produced by Will Yip, that has an incredible resume. Hardcore has finally gotten the recognition it deserves and this is a great place to start if you are interested in what it has to offer.

RIYL:
Hardcore

 

Album No. 22:



Svalbard: It's Hard to Have Hope

This album has been a favorite of mine since it was released in May of this year and was given to me here in the CMCS. It incorporates so much of the music I love into one: atmospheric, black metal and metalcore in the vein of bands like Converge. It is a pummeling 8 songs but they vary things up enough to keep it interesting the entire way through. On top of it all, I guess this could be considered "political metal" and the lyrical topics are front center, not afraid to bring up the sensitive subjects. I would also like to point out that this is another band that is on the Holy Roar records roster.

RIYL:
Atmospheric
Black Metal
Converge

 

Album No. 23:



This Wild Life: Petaluma

This Wild Life has always been a band that I listen to when I want to just sit in peace and think about the world. There is something about their music that is so inspirational and they find a way to paint real life situations in a coat of bright colors. Speaking of painting and bright colors, their album cover is just beautiful. On a personal note, this album was released the same day that my daughter was born this year and will forever hold a special place for me. Especially this song:

RIYL:
Singer/Songwriter
Pop​

I also thought this was really cool:

(Not the best cover but its' still pretty good!)

 

Time for another album, and this time it shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me. Of course, I'll be talking about Thrice - Palms.



I'll start by saying Thrice is my favourite band, so it isn't a surprise this makes my AOTY list. The surprising part is that it isn't my definitive album of the year. It is a great album, dont get me wrong. I've listened to it probably 100 times in the month it came out, but have hardly listened to it since then. Palms sees Thrice experimenting a little more than on their previous album, with some Stranger Things-esque synths on opening track Only Us, a harp bridge on personal highlight Blood on Blood, and The Dark even ends with a chorus sung by thousands of fans who sent a recording of themselves. Overall, the album is more mellow and groovy and the bass shines on many tracks. There are still some heavier moments though, like first single The Grey or A Branch in the River. It is a great addition to Thrice's already awesome discography and I'm glad we are still getting good music from them.

Recommended tracks: Only Us, The Grey, Just Breathe, Everything Belongs, A Branch in the River, Blood on Blood, Beyond the Pines.

Previous AOTY posts:
Fall Out Boy - MANIA: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 401 • forum.chorus.fm

Senses Fail - If There Is Light, It Will Find You: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 402 • forum.chorus.fm

Hawthorne Heights - Bad Frequencies: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 406 • forum.chorus.fm

Les Trois Accords - Beaucoup de Plaisir: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 408 • forum.chorus.fm

The XCERTS - Hold On To Your Heart: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 408 • forum.chorus.fm

The Fratellis - In Your Own Sweet Time: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 409 • forum.chorus.fm

Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 410 • forum.chorus.fm

 

Album No. 24:




Trophy Eyes: American Dream

Another band that reinvented themselves in 2018. This album is just fantastic from the moment you hit play and the production is crisp and grand in scale. This sees the Australian band further distancing themselves from the indie scene and going in a more mainstream direction but it works so well. I think I have played this almost everyday since the day it was released.

 

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas!

Album No. 25:



Andrew McMahon in The Wilderness: Upside Down Flowers

Sometimes things in your life just line up in the right order and this is the perfect example with this album. I started speaking to some members recently about Butch Walker and solo work along with production credits and low and behold this album drops around the exact same time. I was introduced to Andrew McMahon through this club even though I had heard some of the singles from his various projects. He might be one of my favorite discoveries in the club and he and I share a common thread of being leukemia survivors and every time I put on his music, it inspires me in so many ways. This album is just fantastic and I look forward to seeing him in February!

 

Album No. 26:



Holy Fawn: Death Spells

December 26th is a good day, not only for me, but for the band Holy Fawn because this is the day that Holy Roar announced them signing to their label. Holy Roar is one of my favorite labels running right now and since the band released this album earlier this year, I could not put it down. It is dark, atmospheric and incorporates so many elements of post metal/post rock and reminds me so much of one of my favorite bands, Isis. I really look forward to what this band does in 2019!

 

Album No. 27:



Black Foxxes: Reidi

Another album that has stayed with me throughout the entire year and every time I revisit it, I fall in love with it all over again. I love the marriage of shoe gaze and the 90's grunge scene working throughout the entire record. It has a very dark feel to it but at the same time feels inspirational. This was a great record to review here in the CMCS and one I connected with almost instantly.

 

I watched all 5 videos you posted of those bands @Nate_Johnson and dug them all. Foxxes and McMahon were nice mellow listens that I'll def check out those albums. McMahon's first album was rec-ed to me in here too which I really liked.

Holy Fawn was crazy with such a crazy video. I expected it to just be straight heavy but it is so much more.

 

Oh and @Bad Frequencies, I saw the title of the 2nd McMahon video. I know now why you love them so

 

Glad you really enjoyed them all. I posted another video for Holy Fawn if you enjoyed the first song. They will fit in very well on the Holy Roar roster.

 

Picked up Holy Fawn on vinyl. So stoked that it's getting the vinyl treatment!

 

My top 10 LPs and 3 EPs from 2018:

LPs:
1. Foxing - Nearer My God
2. Underoath - Erase Me
3. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
4. Lydia - Liquor
5. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
6. mewithoutYou - Untitled
7. Emery - Eve
8. Good Tiger - We Will All Be Gone
9. Black Foxxes - reidi
10. Senses Fail - If There Is Light It Will Find You

EPs:
1. Gretta Ray - Here and Now
2. Minus The Bear - Fair Enough
3. Dream State - Recovery

I also wrote a bit about each of these if anybody is so inclined to read more:
2018 Albums of the Year

 

Album No. 28:



Daughters: You Won't Get What You Want

It is a dark and rainy day here in North Carolina and I couldn't think of a more appropriate album to post as one of my favorites of the year. This album is DARK, not heavy, but dark. Putting this album on, you will almost instantly feel a sense of dread and uneasiness.

I have followed this band since their beginnings back in 2003, with the release of Canada Songs. At the time, most members had been in grind core act, As the Sun Sets, and they brought that sound with them. With each subsequent album they have moved farther away from that sound and in their current state they are a mix of Post Punk and industrial with these haunting spoken word vocals. Some words I would use to describe them are: dark, haunting, noise, wall of sound, trance and rhythmic.

I think this current album might be my favorite of theirs but it is not for everyone. With that being said, I will say that nobody should listen to it when they are depressed or in a bad mood because it is an extremely powerful album with it's ability to elicit a lot of deep and dark emotions.

 

Here comes another AOTY post. This time it's about Muse - Simulation Theory.



I know Muse's 3-4 previous albums have all received pretty mixed reactions. Personally, I've always found something I like in them, particularly in Drones. As soon as I heard the first singles from this, I knew we would get a fairly diverse and interesting album. This new album is a kind of homage to the 80's pop culture, from its cover, to the videos reminiscent of Thriller and Back to the Future, to the songs themselves. You can hear they were having fun on this album. This album has everything from poppier tracks with huge choruses like Pressure or Get Up and Fight, to the slower tracks like Something Human, to the more epic sounding tracks like Blockades or Algorithm, and even weird tracks like Propaganda which is jarring at first but somehow still works. And it's full of synths.

Recommended tracks: Algorithm, The Dark Side, Pressure, Something Human, Get Up and Fight, Blockades.

Previous AOTY posts:
Fall Out Boy - MANIA: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 401 • forum.chorus.fm

Senses Fail - If There Is Light, It Will Find You: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 402 • forum.chorus.fm

Hawthorne Heights - Bad Frequencies: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 406 • forum.chorus.fm

Les Trois Accords - Beaucoup de Plaisir: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 408 • forum.chorus.fm

The XCERTS - Hold On To Your Heart: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 408 • forum.chorus.fm

The Fratellis - In Your Own Sweet Time: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 409 • forum.chorus.fm

Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 410 • forum.chorus.fm

Thrice - Palms: The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 411 • forum.chorus.fm

 

Album No. 29:



Sevendust: All I See Is War

So the weather here in North Carolina took a drastic change and on December 29th it got to a high of 70! That made me excited to put this one up today and remind myself of all the times I had seen them on summer festivals throughout the years. Sevendust are and will always be one of my favorite bands. They have found a way to merge groovy riffs, heavy breakdowns and front man Lajon's soulful vocals that works perfectly and I can't think of another band that has or can do what they do. This is the twelfth studio album by this Atlanta band and they are still killing it! I hope they do it for another twelve albums because they are fantastic and find a way to remain relevant with every new album. I also have to give a shout out to Rise Records for signing so many diverse bands!

 

Album No. 30:



Hawthorne Heights: Bad Frequencies

If this were an awards show and there were categories, I would give this album the title of "Album that has grown on me the most since it's release". When this album was first released, I "liked" it but continued to critique the fact that the band was still not living up to their full potential and trying to use a lot of the same things that made them popular in the early 2000's. Most notably, the screams, which I still don't love but there is so much more that overshadows that minor criticism. The current lineup of the band might be the strongest since the passing of Casey Calvert and I dare say I think this could be in the top three of their discography. Is it their best? That is up for debate but it is an extremely strong comeback record for a band that has had a lot of hurdles in their career and I give them so much credit for pushing through it all. Hey, maybe I am biased because I have seen them twice this year but I am excited to see where they go from here!

 

2018: WHAT A YEAR! This is a year I will remember for a while and for many reasons, including joining this club. It really has opened my ears to so much amazing music and things I would have never heard without it. With that being said, I hope everyone has a safe and happy new years eve and someone to spend it with!

Album No. 31:




Heavy Things: Glimpse

I don't want to call this my AOTY as that changes with the wind and as I find new music I completely missed altogether. But I will say that I will always remember 2018 whenever I play this album. The year I moved to North Carolina, had my beautiful daughter, bought a house and got to see this incredible band live less than a month after I moved. I have to give all the credit to @Bad Frequencies for buying me the ticket to see Hawthorne Heights and after checking out the opening bands and this album, I absolutely fell in love with it. The band does an incredible job of combining emo, pop punk and a bit of country. I love the storytelling and the use of dual vocals combined with catchy hooks that get stuck in your head for days.

I was going to make an honorable mentions list but it would be 100 albums long so please go and check out everyone's list and listen to something you may missed earlier this year. Here is a toast to 2019!