The Story So Far Live!

So, I saw The Story So Far at Bristol's The Fleece last night. I got headwalked on and screamed lyrics in my friends face in an intimate venue. What could be better, right?

Openers Save Your Breath are on point more than ever before in their career. Being from South Wales myself like Save Your Breath, I have grown up the last four years watching this band grow themselves. The straight up, no nonsense pop-punk they now effortlessly generate is impossible not to like. Singer Kris Richards is now better at his live performances than ever too. Closer Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy you haven't already heard it is a must listen!

Main support Seahaven bring a wholly different atmosphere but thoroughly appreciated by a vast majority of the audience. The simple grooves and complex overlaying melody compliment each other in a live setting so well. Lead singer Kyle Soto's eerie vocals, sometimes lost in the mix, captivates many a listener, especially second song Black and White. Keeping a close eye on these guys for a new release soon.

Now then, The Story So Far. It seems to be a focal point of TSSF's music to be as effective played live as it is catchy and gritty on record. I tell you what, it works a charm. Right from the first line of opening song Right Here the band had a roomful of 400 people feeding off the palms of their hands. I'm not just talking about the gig I attended either, this happens universally. With the What You Don't See album tour cycle still running on all cylinders, "new" songs are dropped in the set list with a reception from the crowd like they were 5 years old. The band sound as tight as the day they left their garage and there's certainly not going to be a let up soon of that. Drummer Ryan Torf gets a personal kudos for the physical performance he has to put in every night behind that drum kit. Awesome stuff.

The crowd just go nuts at these gigs. Every lyric is sang right back to singer Parker Cannon's face. Crowd favourites like Quicksand and Mt. Diablo, I don't think I heard Parker's voice over the overbearing crowd raucously singing through every song. Stage dives and crowdsurfing left, right and centre, which is a given, you knew that? I wouldn't go as far as to so say that TSSF are a unique live band, there are many like them, but they certainly will be talking point with your friends for many months to come.

I'm not going to rate these, there's no need to. Just given you an insight what what these gigs are like, innit. Hope you liked my first live review, tell me if you did on twitter, yeah?

Next live gig for me is Heart Of A Coward (gulp) but one may pop up in between, I'll let you all know.

COOL! 

Seb Wainwright
Twitter: @Get_WhatYouGive

Drum Covers!

This may seem like self-advertising but that's what this site is all about! So here are a couple of drum covers I uploaded to YouTube before I moved house this summer. One is of Aussie metallers Northlane (with added footcam) and Cali pop-punkers The Story So Far. My absolute favorite pass time is to play drums. My drums are set up here in my new house now and new covers will ensue don't you worry! . For now, however, so enjoy these first two I have put together and please please please let me know what you think of them! I appreciate it.

IN THE PIPELINE: Stray From The Path new album, TSSF live and the almighty Letlive. live!

You rule.

Seb Wainwright

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