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Metal Mondays, March 6th, 2017

Bringing back Metal Mondays for the first time in a while! We've had a drought of good heavy music coming our way, so it's been too long. This week we have X-Vivo, Xombie, and Chelsea Rockwells.

Based in Berlin, alt-metal/industrial band X-Vivo combine elements sounding like Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein, resulting in a solid NDH sound. After hearing "Aphelion", I'll definitely be keeping this band on my radar – their album Petrichor will be released on April 29th of this year.

Xombie is a rap metal group from New York City. "Might As Well" is a single from the band's upcoming album, Super Cell.

Australian hard rock trio Chelsea Rockwells recently released the song "Halos", which stems from their upcoming debut EP. The heavy hitting song has a nice groove to it, with strong vocals and a solid rhythm section. The band's sound reminds me a lot of fellow Australians, Sick Puppies.

Until the next time we have enough great submissions for Metal Mondays!

Triple Tuesdays, Feb. 28th, 2017

It's that time again folks, time for Triple Tuesdays! This week we have HAWK, The Jacks, and Grown Up Avenger Stuff.

HAWK is an indie rock band from the UK. Made up of a group of friends, the band express what they witness in everyday life filled with social issues dealing with inequality. Their new video for "Take It Away" is filled with strong emotions and a dark, artistic touch. Vocalist Julie Hawk's delicate yet powerful voice sings of a friend being stalked after a night out. To find more information about the band, check out their site. 

The Jacks are a Southern California band inspired by the vintage sound of the 60's and 70's. Their new single, "Wings", is very upbeat and has a smooth feeling to it. Take a look at their website to find out more.

Grown Up Avenger Stuff are an indie rock band from Charlotte, NC. "A.I.M (All In Motion)" is very hard rock-like with punk riffs. The vocals start off calm but then change, revealing a more in your face attitude. Check out their site for more information.

See you next week on Triple Tuesdays!

Premiere: The Barnum Meserve – Flight

With a full length album titled When All is Lost slated for release on April 21st, The Barnum Meserve have partnered with RMP to premiere their song "Flight". With a large sound and careful arrangement, this powerful band forges ahead without any guitars in the mix. The trio consists of Leon Wiley on vocals and piano, Dylan Griffiths on bass, and Paul Moss on drums to round out the rhythm section. The band certainly does a good job of blending their influences and staying original at the same time. We hope you'll enjoy their powerful blend of genres and instruments!

The Barnum Meserve – Band Info

You can find The Barnum Meserve on Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp. When All is Lost will be available worldwide on April 21st, 2017 on 34D Records.

The Barnum Meserve Promo Photo

Super Saturdays, Feb. 18th, 2017

Yet again, Super Saturdays returns! This week we have The Flashpot Moments, SUiT, and Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors.

Hailing from one of the best cities on earth, Boston-based The Flashpot Moments put out a killer rock song called "The Learning Curve". With a wide variety of influences, the band showcase their musical diversity.

"1q84" by SUiT is a bluesy alternative rock song with a pumping, building energy. The single is off of their upcoming album, which will be released before the end of 2017.

For the hopeless romantics out there, Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors have released "We Never Should Have Moved to L.A." The amusing lyric video featuring a dancing storm trooper is definitely worth a watch.

That's it for now, until the next Super Saturdays!

Metal Mondays, Feb. 13th, 2017

Another Monday… And that means it's time for Metal Mondays! This week we've got Veio, Chase the Day, and Bullet Height.

Portland based metal act Veio have released the song "Structures", in support of their upcoming sophomore release Infinite Light / Desperate Shadows. The hard hitting song features a solid mix with sounds similar to those of Chevelle and Tool, yet bringing a tad of originality to the sound as well.

From their first full length album, Chase the Day present "Pariah". The song features hard rock riffs over a solid groove provided by the rhythm section. The UK based band certainly shows their best with this song, and it's damn good.

Last, but not least, a German duo from Berlin – Bullet Height. The electronic band has a heavy sound fitting with industrial or perhaps even NDH, and their music is definitely worth checking out. They'll be dropping an album later this year.

Until next week for more Metal Mondays to start your week!

Super Saturdays, Feb. 11th, 2017

This week on Super Saturdays we have tracks from Kaptur, Joshua James Hunt, and Bronte.

Canada's Kaptur show off their chops with the song "Futureproof", which was released on Feb. 2nd. A driving indie song with building energy, Futureproof catches the ear of the listener and draws you in. The song is from their EP, Go to Waste.

Joshua James Hunt's song "Tell Me Girl" is a high school love song with a funky bass line and driving choruses. The album Just Let Go is available now on the Joshua James Hunt website.

Sounding similar to Atlas Genius and The 1975, Brontë shares infectious indie rock with their song "Hands", which is the lead single from their EP of the same name.

That's al for now, until next weekend for another Super Saturdays!

Triple Tuesdays, Feb. 7th, 2017

Yet another week, and another Triple Tuesdays! The Astronots, The Sleeping Sounds, and Benchmarks fill out the lineup this week.

Orange County rock band The Astronots have released a bluesy, synth loaded song called "Rain Jammo". The song, full of solid riffs, features a good mix that holds the song together as a cohesive whole.

The Sleeping Sounds submitted the video for their track "Figure It Out". A dancy song that would sound just right on top alternative stations, I hear similarities to Atlas Genius and other such artists.

From Nashville, TN, Benchmarks have released their anthemic song "Frames". The song maintains the status-quo of indie punk, but still brings originality as well.

See you next time for another Triple Tuesdays!

Super Saturdays, Jan. 28th, 2017

This weekend on Super Saturdays we have pop punk band Exit, pop-metal act Youth in Revolt, and electronic rockers ESTHER.

Hailing from Connecticut, Exit provides smooth vocals over a wall of solid pop punk music. Taking the classic dual-vocalist approach, the band hits hard with their debut single. Their EP, also called Familiar Ground, will be released on Friday, February 3rd.

Youth in Revolt, from Holmdel, NJ (where NJ's Warped Tour stop is held every year) have released a new single about life on the road and leaving loved ones behind. Their album The Broken is due on February 17th.

If you like rock infused with synths, you'll like ESTHER. The British four piece brings a heavy edge to their music, but also has a solid sound with funky bass lines abound.

See you next weekend for another Super Saturdays!

Live: Less Than Jake

On their co-headlining tour with Pepper, Less Than Jake didn’t fail to impress. The fun, energetic ska-punk band from Gainesville, FL, showed that even after 25 years, they haven’t lost their energy.

 

Kash’d Out

Kash’d Out was unfortunately terribly unimpressive. Their mix was pretty bad, with the kick drum being so boomy that it was completely impossible to make it out during any of their songs. Their music was low energy and didn’t really do much to rile the crowd up for the bands to come later, and to be honest wasn’t original sounding at all.

 

Red City Radio

This band did a much better job of getting the audience ready for the show – perhaps because they were a punk band rather than a reggae band, but at the same time I’ve seen a reggae/ska band get a crowd going really well before (shoutout to Ballyhoo!). Red City Radio played a solid set of fast punk songs, circle pits and all, and it was clear that they’ve been perfecting their craft for quite some time.

 

Less Than Jake

My highlight of the night, Less Than Jake had a circle pit going from song one through the end of the set, except for the quiet part of “The Rest of My Life”. The band brought their classic stage shenanigans, including toilet paper launching leaf blowers, giant balloons, and confetti cannons, while Evolution Kid (the band’s mascot) throws merch into the crowd. The band played most of their hits such as “The Science of Selling Yourself Short”, “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts”, and of course “Look What Happened”. However, they made sure to include some cuts off of their upcoming EP, Sound the Alarm, in the form of  “Bomb Drop” and “Things Change”. Overall, the band did an amazing job at keeping the crowd going, and even those Pepper fans who seemed uninterested in the band at the start of the set were enjoying Less Than Jake thoroughly by the end of the set.

 

Less Than Jake’s EP Sound the Alarm will be released on February 3rd via Pure Noise Records. You can preorder a copy from the band’s store now. You can also check out our gallery of Groezrock 2016, which has some great shots of Less Than Jake. We’ll have a review of Sound the Alarm soon, as well.

Photo by Jurriaan Hodzelmans for RMP Magazine.

Triple Tuesdays, Jan 24th, 2017

You know what time it is… Time for Triple Tuesdays! This time around, we've got Barcreeps, another new track from Tenth Electric, and Mark of 1000 Evils.

If you're a fan of Teenage Bottlerocket, Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls, or Dropkick Murphys (minus the bagpipes), you'll probably like Barcreeps, the UK's newest punk band. Their single, "Joey Smokes", was released yesterday and Eponymous EP (yes, that's actually the title) will be released on Friday the 27th.

You may remember we shared Tenth Electric's song "Burn" a few months ago – the band is now back with another hit, "Lie To Me". Keep in mind that their EP Burn is out on March 1st!

Another band from the UK (we're three for three this week), Mark of 1000 Evils has released their track "Pay to Play". The driving but spooky sounding song invites the listener to dance along to the uptempo track.

See you at the next Triple Tuesdays!