Light Years - Parking Lots EP Review

(Sorry the layout is all messed up, I'm posting this from Blogger mobile, it's shit)

What we have is a little known band hailing from Ohio that is doing something I thought didn't work the way they are making it work.

This is an EP consisting of songs off their new record I Won't Hold This Against You released last month through Paper + Plastick Records with an acoustic b-side. The main focus of this review is the single Parking Lots. It sounds pop punk. It is pop punk. So what is so special about it I hear you cry? It all comes down to execution.

See, I was under the impression if you stayed true to the long outdated pop punk script, it was going to be the whole been-there-done-that routine and then said band disappeared. Not here. This song does everything  by the book and it's bloody brilliant.  Power chords followed by high neck riffs are everywhere in this song. Particularly like the sound produced, crunchy and fattened. Vocals are pitch perfect with lyrics being, you guessed it... NOSTALGIC! They're enough to make anyone smile with stories aplenty contained within its punchy tempo. Whatever you expect out of a pop punk song, think New Found Glory and it is in this song. Precisely the reason it is so appealing. This is a perfect example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" because this song is without doubt the biggest, most pleasant surprise I've come across this summer. Worthy of me writing about it, haw haw....

DEFINATELY a band to watch over the course of the next couple of years. This wonderful little EP is available for only 50 cents (34p) from here: http://paperplastick.limitedrun.com/products/513490

7.5/10

Seb Wainwright 

Twitter: @Get_WhatYouGive

Citizen - Youth review

Released last month, this Citizen's first full-length album. For a band that consists of five 18/19 year old guys, I'd say that's not bad going! What's more impressive is their sound is somewhat unique right now and a trademark for them in their still very early career. I'm not sure about you but that's enough for many people to raise their heads and see what all the fuss is about.

What we find here is not necessarily a young band finding their first steps but more of an extended following of the sound they have already honed over the last couple of years through EP releases. The already well known "Citizen" sound of guitar fuzz and wah  has not gone away and with this production by Will Yip (Title Fight, Balance and Composure) it has never sounded better.

Opener Roam The Room has energy. It bursts and blooms into life just like those flowers there on the album cover (their drawings Seb, shut up). Drums are commanding throughout and the vocals of Mat Kerekes brings just as much of the energy by himself. Vocals turn quickly from a mournful drone to multi-layered yells of pure aggression.

The emotionally charged vocals ripple, caress and most importantly they captivate.

The lead single The Summer is in close contention for my favourite song on the record. It is simply a monstrous wall of fuzz, Nirvana-esque riffing and serious rolling drums. This song will be the one that will staple Citizen as rising stars at this moment in time. Vocals soar over the wall of sound beneath then in the next phrase return into the frenzy with Mat's strained, almost retching words "Why'd you wait/for the summer/to chew and spit me out?". It is a masterful demonstration of the bands individual style.

After the sluggish (what did you expect?) yet enthralling song Sleep and the thought provoking, heartfelt and at the end, brilliantly layered The Night I Drove Alone the rest of the songs no matter how much they try to latch onto you just sound the same. Monotonous I think would be the right word. Given, Your Head Got Misplaced has a wonderful groove and vocal phrases. Closer Drawn Out genuinely is drawn out and lacks that substance that had been so clear at the start of the record, albeit with a very beautiful chorus to top the album off

Until now Citizen had released an EP, Young States. That gave them enough space so that they weren't repetitive. However, we have to keep in mind their age and this is a debut. The potential is here for these guys to be up there, even in years to come to be mentioned alongside the likes of Brand New and Jimmy Eat World. A very solid debut that I would genuinely recommend. To no one in particular. Because it's easy just to press play and listen, right? Things are looking bright for Citizen and being only high school graduates we can expect many more years out of them yet. Good stuff.

8/10

Seb Wainwright
Twitter: @Get_WhatYouGive

NEW VINYL

Got a delivery today of the Citizen /// Turnover 7" split EP. Pretty evident to see it's an absolute beauty! It was also a breakout record for both Citizen and Turnover who as a result of this breakout have both conquered the dreaded nationwide tour of America. I'd quite like to know, given that the record is over a year old now, whether you would like to see me review this record? Leave your answer in the comment box below, COOL.

Seb 

Twitter: @Get_WhatYouGive

The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation Review

Right, so this has been out a couple of months already but I can't pass up an opportunity to talk about this record...

Too often in the music business do artists get scorned by fans and media alike for the following things: a musical difference from the previous record or a musical similarity to the previous record. In this case, consistency has never looked so damn good.

Having released three albums of a very high calibre, there was a lot of angsty teenager's expectations weighing down on the pop punk Philadelphia sextet. The delivery the band produced was astonishing.

The opener There, There navigates effortlessly between between an indie tinged riff and the singer Dan "Soupy" Campbell emotionally charged strained vocals. The lyrics play a huge role in this record. There, There finishes with the line "I'm awkward and nervous" which strikes a cord on a personal level with I'm sure many listeners and this will happen time and time again throughout the album. Relatable and deeply personal lyrics are an integral part to many pop punk bands but none are more consistent and heart renchingly open then that of Soupy (sometimes called Spicy because of a fan slip up... Hilarious).

Straight after There, There on the second track the gem of the whole album sticks out like a sore thumb. Passing Through A Screen Door is possibly the best song of 2013 in my humble eyes. This song is faultless. Special credit must be given to TWY's drummer Mike Kennedy who's blistering speed turns this song into a rip-roarer. The energy is barely confined to the tempo as every guitarist almost battles with the other to be faster. The lyrical content doesn't half pull at your heart strings either "Jesus Christ/Did I fuck up?". The ability in this album to churn out songs of this standard almost looks too easy as the album progresses, with the pop punk 101 Dismantling Summer and the soaring ballad-esque The Devil In My Bloodstream both affirming The Wonder Years ascension to the top of the pop punk pile. Pop punk pile, I can't say it properly...

After a thought provoking acoustic number Madelyn; the album closer I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral is a stroke of genius. The Wonder Years borrow their name from a late 80's TV show about an older Fred Savage looking back at his childhood. It is now pretty evident what Soupy's favourite TV box set collection is of. In I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral there is an individual song and it is very good but it is what happens afterwards that made me smile like a bloody idiot. The song suddenly jumps to an exact copy of There, There, then Screen Door, then Dismantling Summer. By looking back through the songs played on the record what they have done is create nostalgia within the record, not just in your memories of childhood that The Wonder Years bring back to life. That is everything The Wonder Years is about. And it is this ingenuity that will see them only get bigger and bigger.

You need this. Right now.

9/10

Seb Wainwright
Twitter: @Get_WhatYouGive

First Review - Old Again's Broken People EP

First of all, thanks so much for reading this. As an aspiring Music Journalist it is essential I keep updating this blog to build a portfolio and by you reading what I have to say it really means a lot to me. I will hone my writing style in the coming months but here's a first attempt:

Broken People is what most people would call textbook pop-punk. Do not by any means let that deter you, Broken People is an example of a group of lads that understand a scene of music that has pulsated and swollen to levels people would not have dreamed of five years ago. What we find in this EP are five solid tracks that put Old Again in very good stead as a gem in a sometimes saturated scene.

The first track on the EP stamps the bands all important sound and feel for the album. I love the bands rhythmical precision in this song and throughout the EP as it gels the garage sounds of pop-punk with a musical understanding that begs for music making to be their career (stick out the day jobs guys).

The second track Fairweather Friend ft. Chris Koo keeps up the top gear speeed from which this EP doesn't come down from. There is stellar use of Chris Koo's vocals from Alive In Standby that complement Joshua Partridge like they were brothers. However, this song tends to fall stale pretty quickly. The Bob Loblaw Law Blog gives us a nice sprinkling of good old hardcore riffage towards the end of the track that is slightly reminiscent of A Day To Remember and other compatriots. The lead track off the EP Jenna is a piece of pop-punk gold I'm telling you. I'm not sure about you but I just listened to it and smiled; ear to ear... for the whole thing. From the broken chord lead guitar to the commanding drum beat, everything fits. A punk song about a girl, it simply can't get better. Lyrically, the songs are nostalgic and inviting. The mention of Sextape by Deftones is certainly nostalgic for me anyway.

The inclusion of Joel Quartuccio from Being As An Ocean in the last song (deep breath) Alaska Is North Patagonia Is South, But I'm Stuck Here is a masterstroke. The clean, ambient tone of the guitars adorning the bridge sections complement the sort of sound we are accustomed with hearing Joel sing with but in the same song incorporating the pop-punk elements that fuse this EP together, it makes for a truely interesting listen and a potential direction of choice for this band with only two EP's under their belt.

The only I can find would be repition of ideas which is so easy to find in the pop-punk. As a rock all rounder I see it all the time and I'm sure other listeners waived it just as I did.

Now, waiting game for another EP or potential LP awaits and with that comes the expectation too of which I have a lot! A damn solid debubt if you ask me.

8.5/10