Month: December 2016

Welcome to the final Super Saturdays of 2016! This week we have The Rift, The Sold! and Bones, AMZY, and 2 a.m. Orchestra

LA based band The Rift have released a re-arrangement/re-mix of their song "Worst of Me", accurately titled "Worst of Me 2". The changes take the song from something that sounds like newer Fall Out Boy to early/mid 90s alt. rock along the lines of Eve 6, The Toadies, and Weezer. I think the changes in arrangement really take this song from decent to stellar and I'm a big fan of the rework, and probably would've even passed on writing about the song had I been sent the original rather than the new version. The band have done amazing job on improving their work! You can buy their record, Inventions, on Bandcamp and follow the band on Facebook.

Legendary LA punk vocalist Billy Bones (of The Skulls) has teamed up with The Sold! to form The Sold! and Bones, a new punk-blues band. Consisting of Easy Lou Jones on guitar, Charles La Ferrera on bass, and Justin McGrath on drums, The Sold! provide an excellent companion to Bones. Bones takes his 40 years of experience and pours them into "Bored in L.A." along with the rest of the band. They are releasing their debut album, Full Circle Suicide, in early 2017. I'm excited to hear more from this band as they keep the music coming.

Hailing from Denver, CO, AMZY provides an upbeat, dancy track called "Words" to the listening public. The track reminds me somewhat of what The Killers could have done, but a bit dancier – perhaps Killers meet Neon Trees. Either way, this is a band to keep an eye on in 2017 as they will no doubt progress quite well. Strong vocals and arrangement will take this band places. You can find them on Facebook and Bandcamp.

For the last song RMP posts in 2016,, from Auckland, NZ, 2 a.m. Orchestra have shared "Heads & Tails". The song is reminiscent of early 2000s alt/emo rock, such as Jimmy Eat World and Motion City Soundtrack. The creative video for the song is quite an interesting watch. You can get the band's latest release on Bandcamp.

That's it for now, until the first Super Saturdays of the new year!

Join us for the final edition of Triple Tuesdays in 2016! This week, we have Straight Line Syndicate, Half Crown, and Ignore the Elephant.

"Borrowed Time" by Straight Line Syndicate is an upbeat pop punk song from the band's album Go Back to the 90s. There are obvious influences from 90s pop punk bands such as Green Day, Blink 182, Pennywise, and Good Riddance.

Half Crown mix a pop/rock sound with Santana-esque influences in their song "Start It Up". All that's missing is Rob Thomas – just kidding, the vocals are good. There's even a rap section of the song (I'm not kidding). These guys seem to blend styles effortlessly, I look foward to hearing more from them.

Swedish alt/emo rockers Ignore the Elephant have shared anthemic sounding track "Bruises", which brings memories of Jimmy Eat World and Kings of Leon. The band state that the song is about the "many beatings which throughout life."

That's it for this Triple Tuesdays, signing off until next year!

In what will most likely be the last Metal Mondays feature of the year, we have some kickass new music from Sworn to Secrecy, as well as tracks from Autocatalytica, A Proper Burial, and Rebel Machine.

Based in Newcastle, the UK act Sworn to Secrecy will be a hit for fans of Architects or other modern metalcore acts. Consisting of Logan Cox on vocals, Dominic Whillians on rhythm, Patrick Morton playing lead, and with Tommy Lee on drums and Matthew Gunnion playing bass to hold down the rhythm section, the brand new band formed earlier this year seems to hold lots of promise. Listen to "Tie A Rope" below and keep an eye on them in 2017!

Brooklyn band Autocatalytica have released their potentially final album, Vicissitudes. Though frontman/producer Eric Thorfinnson hopes to continue the project, the band completed the new record after the tragic loss of their guitarist, Erik Sorensen, in 2015. Whether Thorfinnson decides to press on with the band, or leave the project alone with Vicissitudes as a final goodbye to Sorensen, only time will tell. What's for sure is that this is a band who will sorely be missed if they don't continue their efforts. You can listen to the track "Mondoslam" below.

Metalcore/hardcore duo A Proper Burial have shared their first single, "Floor 25", with us. The song comes from their debut EP, God of the Pavement Below, and introduces us to their sound, which is self described as being influenced by "the embarrassed remnants of old Crabcore bands" such as Beartooth.

Last but not least, we take things down a notch to a more classic sound with Brazilian act Rebel Machine. With riffs straight out of the 80s and 90s and powerful vocals, the band's song "Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong" makes me want to listen to more grunge/hard rock such as early Foo Fighters or late 80s metal. The production and arrangement in the song are right in the pocket, I could listen to it all day.

That's all for this Metal Mondays, until next year!

Welcome to one of this month's sporadic features, being posted as the songs come in! Triple Tuesdays (or this time, quadruple Tuesdays) is back for the week, featuring Soul Salvation, Despite Everything, Hello Operator, and Drawstring.

Soul Salvation, hailing from Sweden, is an old school playing new school sounding indie rock band. The production on their track "Dream Girl" is exquisite. Full sounding mix, creamy guitars, punchy drums and well mixed vocals round out this song.

Up next, Greece's Despite Everything with "The Joke's On Us". A classic punk song akin to Bad Religion, Good Riddance, or Pennywise, thesong is sure to please punk fans the world around.

Jumping back to bluesy indie rock, we have Britain's Hello Operator and the song "Vex Money". The song is about "a hopeless romantic that was burning a hole in his own pocket."

Another UK based band, the emo/pop punk duo Drawstring, have released their song "School" via Old Press Records. Their album Cool was released earlier this month.

Until next time!

This edition of Super Saturdays is a bit short, with only two songs, but we hope you'll get a kick out of them!

FL based reggae/rock band Jacuzzi Fuzz have released their new song "Hoverboard". This is honestly one of my favorite reggae songs since Ballyhoo! released "Take It Easy" on Pineapple Grenade. "Hoverboard" is one of two new songs released, the other being "In Orbit". The band released a full length, titled The Best Worst Case Scenario, last year.

Part of what Cali Conscious makes from their song "One Love For You" will be donated to Reggae for a Reason, an organization that fights youth homelessness in southern California. The band describes themselves as "barefoot beach reggae", and in the video distributes socks to those in need.

Until the next Super Saturdays!