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  1. The Academy Is… Interview

    August 17, 2008 by Steph

    The Academy Is…

    William Beckett & Adam T. “Sisky” Siska

    Warped Tour, Carson, California

    August 17, 2008

    Click here to listen to this interview




    A2SSteph: So how do you guys feel about your new record [Fast Times at Ridgemont High] coming out on Tuesday?
    Adam: Couldn’t feel better.
    A2SSteph: Really?
    William: Really excited.
    Adam: Very excited. Ginks
    William: I said really excited.
    Adam: Very and really…
    A2SSteph: It’s a little different. There’s a variation, you know?
    William: A “very”-ation ha ha ha… A2SSteph: (laughter) Gotcha! Anyway… how do you guys feel about the fact that it leaked? Are you guys kind of sad about it?
    William & Adam: We did it ourselves, people just didn’t know.
    A2SSteph: You did it yourselves? Really? I didn’t know that.
    Adam: We knew that it would probably leak within this week anyway, so we just wanted to be in control of that.
    A2SSteph: So you’re just like “We’re going to let it go”?
    Adam: We gave it to our friends to listen to it. We hope that they like it.
    A2SSteph: That’s pretty cool.
    William:Yeah. We had contest winners and we gave each one of them a different song. Um… a widget of a different song, which I just recently found out what a widget is.
    A2SSteph: You learn that in econ[omics]. It’s like just look at a…
    Adam: A widget is a female midget. Right? Like a women midget.
    A2SSteph: (laughter)
    William: Uh…No Adam, no.
    A2SCatharine: I don’t think midget is the correct term. I think it’s “small person”.
    Adam: Ah! Whatever, it’s midget. (laughter)
    William: Or dwarf?
    A2SSteph: I think that’s like an actual term though. That’s like the disease “dwarfism“, right?
    William: Yeah, dwarf.
    A2SSteph: I don’t know, is that correct to say “disease“?
    Adam: I saw that movie ‘Little Man’.
    William: Midget is also right. You know it’s also a “little man”, right?
    Adam: Yeah, a “little man”. The Waynes Brothers.
    William: Little people.
    A2SSteph: Yeah, little people. That sounds good. So are you guys excited to take off for Aussie Land?
    William: Yes!
    Adam: Yes! It’s amazing, just a couple of hours.
    A2SSteph: Yeah? Kind of crazy flight, gnarly. How long is it?
    Adam: I am looking forward to it.
    A2SSteph: Yeah?
    Adam: 15 hours. Something like that. I’m looking forward to it because I can sit down for like 15 hours and do nothing, which is one of my favorite past times.
    A2SSteph: Pretty cool. Sleeping maybe?
    Adam: Yeah! Sleeping, movies…
    A2SSteph: Reading? Are you guys into reading? I don’t know. Do you guys read?
    Adam: Yeah, of course.
    William: Yeah. We read. I write. So, I like um… I like plane rides because I like to write. And I write quite a bit on plane rides.
    A2SSteph: So you guys excited to tour with Panic, the first time since Truck stops and State lines, right?
    Adam: Yeah.
    William: Yeah.
    A2SSteph: Pretty cool.
    William: You did your homework.
    A2SSteph: Been there. (laughs)
    William: Oh, great.
    Adam: We’ve done a couple shows since. But uh… we love the guys and…They’ve even gotten way cooler than they were back then. I always liked them back then. But now that Jon (has) joined the band…
    William: They grew up a little bit. They became men. Like boys to men.
    A2SSteph: (laughter)
    Adam: Our friend Jon joined the band and he kind of like brought this whole new energy.
    William: He showed them the way.
    Adam: Yeah! This whole new energy in the band and I’ve always loved all the guys to begin with, but now like having Jon in the band has made it that much better. We’ve hung out a lot since that tour but we’ve never really had a chance to really like… do it for an extended period of time. So we’re really looking forward to it.
    A2SSteph: Cool! So last question. What’s your favorite song off the new album? And why?
    William: Mine is… I’m not sure if I can pick one.
    A2SSteph: Really?
    William: No.
    A2SSteph: Alright. How about the most fun to play?
    William: Well we’ve only played two in front of people.
    A2SSteph: That’s true.
    Adam: Um…I’d say, (I don’t)… it changed a lot. One of my personal favorites is a song called “After The Last Midtown Show”. I remember the afternoon it was written in Los Angeles, with uh… you know just feeling like there’s something really nostalgic about it and that’s the type of songs that I always like the best. Nostalgic songs, you know a song that makes you feel like you went somewhere else or that you had an out of body experience.
    A2SCatharine: Like a little moment?
    Adam: Yeah! Like a little moment and that song in particular is one that like just even the first time I heard the rough demo of it, just being really excited about it.
    A2SSteph: Very cool. Alright, well thanks guys. I really appreaciate it.

    Category Interviews | Tags: | Comments Off on The Academy Is… Interview

  2. Alkaline Trio’s Agony and Irony

    July 18, 2008 by Steph

    Agony and Irony by Alkaline Trio
    I’ve been listening to Alkaline Trio for a couple of years now and I love the darkness and sadisticness to their music and lyrics.  They’ve been made infamous for their references of sin (“Hell Yes”), failed love (“Blue In The Face”) and emptiness (“I Was A Prayer”).

    Alkaline Trio let on to Alternative Press Magazine that Agony and Irony would be a throw back to their older stuff.  I don’t think I can agree with that.  The lyrics are still self-deprocating, even including an acoustic version of “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire” on the iTunes bonus version.  However, the music lacks the darkness from Crimson, Good Mourning, or really much of their other stuff.  It has a much lighter, poppy feel that creates a much more genaric rock sound than I’m used to hearing from Alkaline Trio.  The vocals are still very unique and if you look past the music, you’ll find the sadistic and masochistic lyrics you love.  You’ll no doubt still be able to pick out a Trio song any day, but while I enjoy Agony and Irony, especially “Love Love, Kiss Kiss” and the single “Help Me,” I expected a little more from such a great band.

    Category Albums | Tags: | Comments Off on Alkaline Trio’s Agony and Irony

  3. Ingrid Michaelson with Greg Laswell and Arden of Eden

    June 30, 2008 by Steph

    Ingrid Michaelson with Greg Laswell and Arden of Eden at the House of Blues on June 23, 2008

    We arrived at the House of Blues at Downtown Disney on June 23rd just as the line began filtering inside the venue. We monopolized the shelf along the back of the sound booth for a good view and an easy place to get in and out.

    The show started even earlier than schedule and out on stage popped a bubbly woman with a huge perma-smile and her hair in pig-tail buns.  It was just her and a couple of guitars she exchanged between songs.  Her brand of ninetys-style girl rock seemed really dated.  Trying to pull up comparisons in my head, the only people I could think of were artists I listened to ten years ago – Joan Osborne, Alanis Morrisette, Jewel, Meredith Brooks… the list goes on.

    Her first song was for everyone there with their “really good friend” and the second was about the “fuckupedness” in the world.  With only a guitar and a pretty voice every song sounds the same however on her Myspace she has full instrumental on every song and the sound is completely different.

    Greg Laswell took the stage next.  Now this is the kind of indie acoustic rock that just makes a smile bubble up from the inside.  He started off on the keys with Brandon Walters on the electric guitar and Jon Titterington accenting the ballad with trumpet.

    Most of his songs had the twinge of sadness and loneliness.  “Sad songs are more fun” he said.  One of the saddest of the set started off as a happy one.  Greg explained to the crowd that his grandmother came to him in a dream and told him to write a happy song.  He demonstrated, “It started off happy” as he finger-picked a light melody on his acoustic guitar, but he slowed down the progression and as he did it turned into another heart-wrenching ballad, “Sing Teresa Says.”  He also sad-iffied (slowed down and made into a piano ballad) the age-old “Girls Just Want to Have fun.”  He did have a happy song, though and “How the Day Sounds” is a perfect interpretation of the feeling of a sunrise.  The set sounds like a downer, but his humor and light-heartedness counterbalanced the beautifully lonely melodies.

    The curtains re-opened and Ingrid Michaelson was sat familiarly behindthe keyboard and excitedly mentioned that this was the first time she’dhad curtains. To her right was Allie Moss onback up vocals and an acoustic guitar and to her left was Chris Kuffner playing the bass and a box drum. Her sound is clean and clear. You might genrize her as folk but saying that word would throw you into entirely the wrong direction. Her voice is soothing and intensely controlled creating a sweet melody for every compilation of instruments. Her vocals are the highlight and the sweet sincere lyrics are a close second with the instruments acting to accentuate the melody. She is one of the few people that sound fantastic on her album and three times better on stage.

    The second song of the set she introduced with three hints: 1. It’s about a ship 2. It’s the name of a movie starring Goldie Hawn 3. It rhymes with cloverboard. The song—”Overboard.” One of the great things about the night was her stage presence, great sense of humor and ability to laugh at herself. She told the crowd a story about how she pinned her tights to her bra the night she performed on Jay Lenno but almost didn’t get out of them fast enough when an emergency arose. She also reenacted the remix of “The Way I Am” (by The Black Dice?) which led her to rap “Ice Ice Baby” and then the Fresh Prince theme song.

    Later in the night she pulled out a ukulele to play “Far Away” and some other tracks. She also introduced some new songs throughout the night. “The Chain” she introduced with a little anecdote – she was sitting in her friend’s apartment in D.C. looking out on the “phallic symbol” that is the Washington Monument and decided she wanted to write a round. It
    has three female parts and she spent a good amount of time trying to decipher if someone in the crowd knew it well enough to fill in, but ended up singing it in two parts with Allie. They also played another new song “Something More” with beautiful lyrics, “Love I’ve broken you, but you’ve broken me too and we’ve both got blood on our hands.” The last of her unreleased tracks was “Be Okay” on the uke. As part of the finale she invited Greg Laswell and his band to play a tear-wrenchingly beautiful “Keep Breathing” that debuted on the Season 3 Finale of Grey’s Anatomy. As her encore she did a cover of “Fools Rush In.” The set was probably one of the best I have ever seen or heard and if you haven’t heard Ingrid before, listen. If you haven’t seen her before, watch.

    Stay Saavy,
    Steph@A2S

    P.S. More photos from this show in the Ingrid Michaelson album on Myspace

    Category Live | Tags: ,, | Comments Off on Ingrid Michaelson with Greg Laswell and Arden of Eden

  4. The Spill Canvas with Ludo, Steel Train, and Liam and Me

    June 30, 2008 by Steph

    The Spill Canvas with Ludo, Steel Train, and Liam and Me June 25th at the House of Blues, Anaheim, CA

    There’s a difference between being influenced by the eighties and recycling them. Apparently Liam and Me didn’t get the memo. This became abundantly clear as we tolerated the first band of the night with mimics and impressions followed by chuckles and sneers. Sneering is generally something we try to avoid and really, we tried. This band deserved nothing more. Setting their hyper-electronic time-warped cliché eighties pop aside, their performance on stage was memorable, but not in a good way.

    Matt O’Dowd, front man of the band on vocals and guitar and piano (not simultaneously, of course) insisted on giving himself a nod of approval after every song as if to say “Yes, I know we are God’s gift to you ears.” His “killer moves” were an incessant side step back and forth that made him look like he was jazzercising and his attitude was less rock star and more snobby department store manager. Near the end of the set they decided to cover “Enjoy Yourself” by Michael Jackson and I thought “finally, something they can be good at.” When I thought that the set was finally leveling off in annoyingness, O’Dowd decided to twirl some girls in the front row like a pervy drunk. Their “workout” song sound sounded exactly like their “slow jam” and O’Dowd molested the keyboardist. Curtain. Thank God.

    Steel Train took the stage and relieved the bad vibes the previous band had put out. Their heavy bass coupled with light keyboard and hollow booming, bright vocals made for a really dance-y folk-y sound. On certain songs, they sounded like U2 fused with heavier beats but twangier. They did a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins’ song “1979” and pulled it off without a hitch. They had good stage energy and are a band to look more into.

    Ludo hit the stage running with 10 tons of energy. Andrew Volpe, front man, guitarist, and vocalist for this fine five-piece filled the set with Jack-Black-like facial expressions and gyrations into his guitar. Their keyboardist, Tim Convoy, also wanted to be a front man, abandoning his keyboard to do full-on finger-licking air guitar around the stage mid-song.

    Their sound is up-beat rock with heavy snare and fun guitar melodies. The lyrics are dark and sadistic in a somehow light, humorous, and sometimes romantic way in songs like “Love Me Dead” the single off their new release You’re Awful I Love You. “Lake Pontchartrain” on the other hand is a horror story in song version. The song “Go-Getter Greg” was introduced by Convoy as a song about, “a creepy stalker douche bag named Greg. It’s not that good, don’t get excited.” Their self-deprecating humor was entirely unwarranted as their set was interesting and exciting including their cover of Faith No More’s “Epic.”

    The headliner took the stage led by a woodsy teddy-bear looking man named Nick Thomas, guitarist and vocalist.  Some of their tracks are heavy-bass and fast-paced electric guitar dance rock.  Their popular “Polygraph!  Right Now” off their 2005 One Fell Swoop got the audience shouting the lyrics.  A good chunk of their tracks however are acoustic-based and sincere slow-jams like “Bound to Happen” and “The Tide” with lyrics that are captivating and soulful.

    Their set included mostly songs off their older release like “All Hail the Heartbreaker,” “Lust a Prima Vista,” and “Natalie Marie and 1cc.”  They did play a couple tracks from No Really, I’m Fine from 2007 such as “Saved” and “Connect the Dots.”  Thomas explained that he’s always been a really big fan of old school R&B like Marvin Gaye and that they could say anything racy and make it sound smooth so when he wrote the lyrics to “Connect the Dots” he had them in mind.  They closed off the night with the heavy, heartfelt “Staplegunned” to an eruption of screams and applause.

    Stay Saavy,
    Steph@A2S

    *all photos taken from the respective bands’ myspace page or website*

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  5. Warped Tour, Pomona – June 20, 2008

    June 24, 2008 by Steph

    Warped Tour 2008 – Pomona, CA

    Somehow when Warped Tour comes through Pomona it always has the luck of falling on the hottest day of the year.  This year was no exception – highs at the Pomona Fairplex and plenty of cash was spent on water and Powerade to stay hydrated.  Even so, the heat seemed like an afterthought with such great bands all around.  After standing in line for almost an hour in what felt like a greenhouse, the line finally started to move and after jetting inside, we quickly picked out our stage schedule for the day and planned it out in our phones.

    12:05 Forever the Sickest Kids at the Smartpunk stage

    1:00 Mayday Parade acoustic set at the Myspace tent

    1:50 Relient K at the Highway 1 stage

    2:20 The Academy Is… at the Route 66 stage

    2:50 Cobra Starship at the Highway 1 stage

    3:20 Gym Class Heroes at the Route 66 stage

    3:45 Set Your Goals at the Smartpunk stage

    4:20 Anberlin at the Route 66 stage

    4:45 Charlotte Sometimes at the Ernie Ball stage

    5:35 The Maine at the Smartpunk stage

    6:40 Mayday Parade at the Hurley stage

    As you can tell, we spent all day running back and forth between stages and we sacrificed seeing some great bands in the hopes of seeing them when they come back around in August.

    For the first set of the day—and probably the band I was most excited to see—we headed over to the Smartpunk stage to see Forever the Sickest Kids.  This really fun dance-powerpop band was as awesome live as I’d hoped.  They were awesome performers and filled the set with fun scream-along songs. We even found ourselves jumping in the already sky-high temperatures.  Their set included (but probably not in order) “Believe Me, I’m Lying,” “Phone Call,” “Hey Brittany,” one of my favorites off their EP Television Off, Party On “I Don’t Know About You, But I Came to Dance” and ended with “She’s a Lady” from both the EP and their 2008 album Underdog Alma Mater.  They were one the highlights of this year’s tour – don’t skip them.

    Ducking into the Myspace tent, we were able to walk right in and take seats right at the front of the stage.  Apparently Mayday Parade is still a too-well kept secret.  By the time two members of the band sauntered on stage nonchalantly, the tent was comfortably full.  Derek Sanders—front man—took a seat behind the keyboard and Jake Bundrick—normally on drums and vocals—took a mic and a stool.  They opened with a passionate rendition my favorite featured on Punk Goes Acoustic II “Three Cheers for Five Years.”  Trying to ignore some sound issues, they started in on “You Be the Anchor That Keeps My Feet on the Ground, I’ll Be the Wings That Keep Your Heart in the Clouds” and then closed with the heart-wrenching “Miserable at Best.”  Sanders and Bundrick’s vocals complement each other in this perfect sincere and emotion-filled counterbalance so though they pull off their sound so effortlessly (smiling at other things going on in the tent and ignoring the “jump, jump, jump” going on from the tent next door”) it sounds desperate and sincere.  This set was fantastic and an awesome surprise.

    After a quick bite to eat in the shade, we scooted over to watch Relient K’s set on the Highway 1 stage.  They played a lot of songs off their most recent release Five Score and Seven Years Ago.  They added a Kanye intro onto one of their songs that got the crowd pumped and they included one of my personal favorites – “Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been.”  They had a ton of energy and a huge crowd and really rocked out.

    The Academy Is… had a huge crowd since it was midday and we had seen them so many times, we enjoyed it from the back.  They played two new songs—the first sounded like it had a lot of Nirvana influence with a chorus that sounded like Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young.”  It sounds like a weird combo but The Academy Is… has always been a really inventive band and this experiment worked.  The other new track sounded like dance rock with 80’s influence with a hint at the melody of the hit “Take On Me” and the chorus repeated “I’m not in love” (I think).  Again, worked awesomely and I’m super excited for a new release from them.  They mixed in their Santi single “Big Mess” and Almost Here classics “Slow Down” and “Checkmarks.”  The set was a good mix and new and spurred excited for things to come.

    We jetted over to Cobra Starship across the Fairplex.  Gabe Saporta’s vocals got off to a rough start but he warmed up quickly and so did the crowd.  Cobra Starship’s Alternative Press cover says “Who needs cred when you’re having fun?” and these guys definitely have fun on stage (and probably off to).  Every song is danceable and the band doesn’t hold out – plenty of grooving and hip shaking happening on the stage.  They opened with the anthemic “The City Is at War” from their recent LP !Viva la Cobra!   They also played “Kiss My Sass,” “Smile for the Paparazzi,” “Send My Love To The Dancefloor, I’ll See You In Hell (Hey Mister DJ),” and their famous “Snakes on a Plane.”

    The entire Cobra Starship crowd rushed back over to the main stage to see Gym Class Heroes.  They started with an interesting new song about peace and peace signs and segued into “Cupid’s Chokehold” without Patrick Stump.  They played a couple of other new songs whose lightness with heavy fast bass reminded me of The Hush Sound, a fellow Fueled by Ramen band.  Next came “Viva la White Girl” followed by an announcement for my favorite “Taxi Driver.”  They started it the way I’ve always loved… but somehow turned it into a heavy metal axe battle with screaming?  I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t enjoy it.  They ended with the crowd and radio favorite “Clothes Off!”

    At first we were a little apprehensive of joining the Set Your Goals crowd—all rowdy guys—but we got over that quick and joined in on the pushing.  The sentiment came through loud and clear—rebellious fight songs with heavy bass, wild electric melodies, and gang shouting.  They played “We Do It for the Money Obviously,” “Mutiny,” “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Don’t Let This Win Over You,” and their single and my favorite “Echos.”  Their set was awesome and exciting.  DON’T MISS THEM.  That’s an order.

    We wandered over to hear the opening song from Anberlin but I’ve never really been much of a fan.  Even my friend who has been a fan for years said their rendition of “The Feel Good Drag” was more of a downer.  We decided to saunter over to the Ernie Ball stage to get up front and personal for Charlotte Sometimes.

    And by up front, I mean UP FRONT since somehow they didn’t drag much of a crowd.  As the set progressed, the band caught the interest of passersby’s and by the time they finished there was a little mob of wide-eyed gazers.  Front woman Charlotte dominated the stage and everyone’s attention with her expressiveness and powerful, controlled, and sassy vocals.  She flirted with her guitarist and practically frontally assaulted her keyboardist with her face… but I don’t think they minded too much.  Her set included sassy single “How I Could Just Kill a Man,” with “Army Men,” “This Is Only for Now,” “Toy Soldier,” “AEIOU,” “Ex Girlfriend Syndrome,” and “Sweet Valium High.”  It’s a rarity that such a vocally-based band sounds as good or better live as it does on the album, but Charlotte Sometimes is one of these gems.

    While we were waiting for The Maine to take the stage, we caught of bit of wacky Katy Perry.  Did you know she kissed a girl and she liked it?  How many times can you say that in one song?  ANYway, the Maine came on stage full of eff-bombs.  Yeah, I mean fuck.  But he was cute and entertaining which masked their slightly generic sound.  Their style was like Forever the Sickest Kids meets Cute is What We Aim For without the comb-over.  They opened with “Girls Do What They Want” which front man John O’Callaghan introduced saying “because they are.”  They also played the song they included on the Warped Tour compilation “The Way We Talk” and Akon’s “I Wanna Love You” off of Punk Goes Crunk.  Also, “If I Only Had the Heart.”  One of the songs he explained, “This song is about peace. Actually, it’s about pussies. And cute girls. And guys like me.  And masculine boys.  And…moustaches.”  The vibe and energy of the band was what made watching them so fun.

    Last band of our day was Mayday Parade (again) who was a little late getting on stage.  They finally met the crowd to a ton of excitement (maybe they aren’t really a secret?).  Their sweet vocals mixed with the heavy drums and excited power-chord guitar makes for the perfect combination.  Sanders seemed like an unlikely front man as the guitarists were better at attacking the stage and standing front and center but his sweet raspy commanding singing made him worthy of the role.  Their set included a handful from their LP A Lesson in Romantics such as “When I Get Home, You’re So Dead,” “Black Cat,” and “Jersey” and they were joined on their final song by Travis Clark of We The Kings.  Unfortunately Sander’s call for everyone to crowd surf especially anyone who hadn’t before detracted attention from the band’s awesome performance as people were falling through the crowd right and left (not really the experienced-crowd-surfer-type crowd) the set was pretty excellent.

    We managed to escape this year exhausted and without too much of a sunburn only looking forward to doing it all again in Los Angeles at the end of August. Hope to see you guys there.

    Lots more photos up in our Mypace album.  Check them out.

    Stay Saavy,

    Steph@A2S

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  6. Augustana, Wild Sweet Orange, and Patrick Park – June 15, HOB Anaheim

    June 19, 2008 by Steph

    Augustana, Wild Sweet Orange, and Patrick Park on June 15 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California

    It was bright and sunny on Father’s Day afternoon when we arrived at the House of Blues Disney way too early. We sat on the edge of the fountain watching dads swing around their toe-headed tots and lines slowly grow in front of the venue. Something about this show already seemed different.

    The queue had more people wearing sandals than shoes and other than ours, there wasn’t a pair of converse or vans in sight. Even more impressive – we spotted two girls strut by in pink stilettos. The crowd-to-be was 3/4ths female – primped and styled to the T. The small number of guys seemed to mostly be dads and boyfriends.

    We got in about 2 hours later without a hitch and chatted and waited for the opener to take the stage.

    A lone minstrel walked up to the center mic with a guitar and a harmonica and we looked around expecting more people to follow and fill up the stage.  Nope.  Patrick Park performed a solo acoustic set.  When he started playing I was instantly impressed – his vocals are soothing and he created a rhythm with his voice using a repetition of crescendos and decrescendos.  The harmonica interlude got plenty of cheers and his guitar playing was delicate and sweet especially in the song “Something Pretty.”

    The problem was that the songs seemed to have little variation. Some
    of the keys were different and the rhythms changed but his voice hardly
    altered in style or melody and for the most part his set could have
    been one long song. This is a problem if you’re already tired and every
    song sounds like a lullaby. The best way to describe his style is “soundtrack music.” It’s
    exemplary of folk and any one of his songs could have come straight out
    of Garden State or Elizabethtown. So if you’re looking for background
    music to add to the soundtrack of your life, use Patrick Park to play
    during the montage of you traveling cross-country.

    Next on the night’s agenda was the band who’d received such rave reviews – Wild Sweet Orange. From start to finish they were simply captivating and completely lived up to incredibly high expectations. Lead vocals Preston Lovinggood jammed on an acoustic guitar while to his right (our left) Garrett Kelly grooved to a loud bass rhythm, Taylor Shaw on stage left played with heavy distortion and reverb on the electric guitar, and Chip Kilpatrick on drums filled the melodies with light beats and plenty of cymbals. In every song, the vocals seemed to convey intensity and urgency without being over the top, ranging from whispers to full-on screams. Every song had a unique flavor and put the audience on their toes waiting for each new recipe.

    Songs like “Ten Dead Dogs” had an acoustic-ballad feel whereas “Wrestle with God” had a stronger Johnny-Cash sound with heavy drums and gained intensity as it progressed like a freight train rattling into the venue. Nothing but love love love for Wild Sweet Orange – their whole set was a smorgasbord of musical deliciousness.

    The headliner of the night was quick to follow – Augustana. We’ve all heard “Boston” right?  After the album (and iTunes single) that made them popular All the Stars and Boulevards they finished their 2008 release Can’t Love Cant Hurt for which we can thank this fine tour.  They opened with heavy steady beats, simple catchy melodies, and soft and rugged vocals peppered with sweet falsetto.  Dan Layus made the perfect front man – attractive, intense, and a gifted musician.  John Vincent on the keys (who vaguely resembled the Geico caveman) added a startlingly sweet harmony creating a near-perfect vocal balance.

    For “Fire” Layus went very Elton-John-status soloing on the piano creating a gentle ballad.  Later the four gathered around a vintage microphone for “Sunday’s Best” (for which the audience had been shouting all night) with two guitars and a five-part harmony that sounded how the Dixie Chicks would if they grew balls and toned down their country influence (that is in no way a diss but a profound compliment).  Plus they added “Orange County” to the lyrics – how could the audience be less than in love?  Dan prefaced the song “Reasons” by explaining “This song is about the ups and downs of love and all the stuff that comes with it.  Mostly the downs, of course.”  This song had a bit of a country twang coupled with one of the sweetest harmonies I’ve ever heard with simple and cold but somehow heart wrenching lyrics:

    “You have your reasons, lord I have mine
    Don’t call me baby, don’t even try
    You have your freedom, lord I have mine
    Don’t call me baby, don’t waste your time”

    When they finally gave in to “Boston” it became an instant crowd sing-a-long.  Their set overall was a triumph at showcasing their ability as musicians but somehow their capability of engaging the audience was lost.  Except for those that were singing along to every word like Augustana was N*Sync in a convention center circa 1999, the rest of us were left trying hard to pay attention.  It didn’t help that there wasn’t much audience interaction from the band.

    Overall, I’d say the night was an interesting sort of success. It was definitely not lacking in talent or passion, but simply low on the excitement scale – something that I’m not too used to.

    Stay Saavy,
    Steph@A2S

    More photos can be found in our Augustana album

    Category Live | Tags: ,, | Comments Off on Augustana, Wild Sweet Orange, and Patrick Park – June 15, HOB Anaheim

  7. Joan of Arc, 31 Knots, The Sweet Hello, Lemon Drop Kick, and Hyacinth at Chain Reaction

    June 16, 2008 by Steph

    Indie Night at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California

    I have never seen Chain Reaction in Anaheim so empty than June 6, 2008.  All night a few fans and friends for each band would come, stay for the set, and leave right after.  My friend and I were the only ones there all night.  I guess that’s what happens at “indie” shows.  That said, instead of littering this review with the phrase “for an indie band” I’m just going to make a blanket statement that this phrase applies to the entire review.

    When I showed up, Hyacinth was on stage – a four piece indie band from Long Beach, California with a girl named Harvey as vocals.  Coming from the lead mic was a soothing alto with a clean melody and the lyrics were profound, from what I could tell.  (Chain Reaction has never been a place to showcase vocals very well).  The guitars produced intertwining ambient melodies (sometimes void of a drum beat).  Somehow I had the impression that the band and the vocals could have both benefited by the loss of the other.  Harvey seemed like she belonged in a band centered around her vocals where the audience could hear her subtle vibrato and sultry swank and the band could use vocals that could fade into the background.  All in all though, they were my favorite of the night…it mostly went downhill from here.

    Lemon Drop Kick came up next and I was already worried before they played a note.  Their lead was a Japanese girl covered in scull clothing with her hair-black and blonde-piled on her head like a make-shift beehive.  I tried to keep an open mind but for the first 15 minutes of the set all I could do is stare with my mouth open and try to figure out if they were speaking English.  I concluded that they weren’t.  I have to hand it to her though, her voice was relatively controlled and she was a great performer on stage.  The band however was messy and unimpressive with entirely too many guitar solos.

    Towards the end of the set, they did a No Doubt cover, which they seemed to perform better than their own music.  When they finished I was still severely confused but slightly enlightened when I listened to the Warped Tour ’08 compilation yesterday.  Apparently there is an audience for this sound since they sound a lot like the band ORESKABAND and ORESKABAND is on the entire Warped Tour this year.  Maybe I’m wrong and they’re actually good?

    Now The Sweet Hello… they’re just obnoxious.  Is this a good reason to dismiss relatively talented musicians?  I think so.  The entire time I was so off put their annoyingness (I made this word up) that I couldn’t even focus on their music.  This is besides the fact that their brash and inharmonious vocals were making my ears mad at me.  These guys basically exemplify the kids everyone hates in high school (except for the skanky cheerleaders/dance squad girls, who were in the audience shaking their bare backs and size 0 booties). The only difference was that they learned how to play instruments and make fools of themselves on stage.

    All of my criticism is probably overshadowing the fact that I thought they were pretty good musicians and their brand of dance indie rock was not entirely cliché… but that was hard to focus in on.  However, I did notice that their drummer was particularly talented.  Hurray!  I said something nice!

    31Knots was a three-piece from Portland and another shining light in the grayness of the night’s line up.  They were exciting and inventive – vocals were smooth as honey, expressive and extremely well controlled.  The guitar and bass intertwined in light and dancing melodies and the drums were forceful and demanding.  My favorite of the songs they performed was “ManBecomeMe” which you can check out on their Myspace.  I spent their entire set thinking “I’m glad I stayed for the headliner” before realizing that we still had one more band…

    Joan of Arc. They had none of these good qualities that I just lavished 31Knots with. They weren’t inventive, entertaining, or attention-grabbing. They weren’t even memorable. I’m also pretty sure that their singer was completely out of it. About 3 songs into their set I realized I hadn’t heard a single note and I had been staring at the stickers on the wall. With no hope of the set improving, I left.

    *all photos are from thei respective band’s myspace

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  8. Nightmare of You with The Graduate, Paper Rival, and Edison Glass at The Knitting Factory

    June 10, 2008 by Steph

    Nightmare of You with The Graduate, Paper Rival, and Edison Glass at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, CA

    So I show up at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood about 7:45 p.m. and am totally confused. We were turned away from the Main Stage door and ushered over to the other entrance. This was the first time I had ever been to Front Stage and I like it a lot better. There are arm chairs, a big bar, and a small stage—a venue designed for intimacy.

    Edison Glass had already finished half their set but I was immediately entranced by their style.  The beats weren’t too dance-y, but made me shake my hips.  Melodies were obvious but intriguing.  The vocals were sweet and melodic but not heavy and were peppered with the occasional gang singing and brash sing-shouting.  One of my favorites of the set was a simple ballad “When all we have is taken” because of the honesty and sincerity the dragging vocals and heavy beats created.  I was definitely sad that I had missed a good chunk of their set and will be buying their new LP Time is Fiction pronto.

    Up next was Paper Rival who was even more intriguing. They were the same genre of tap-your-foot rock as Edison Glass, but with more intensity. I was worried the lead singer was going to crack at any second from the pressure of musical genius (or other substances?). The vocals were a Say-Anything type earnest with the beats ranging from dance-y-Nightmare-Of-You to indie-Guster style. The
    eeriest of the songs they played was called “Blue Birds” for which lead
    singer Jacob Rolleston gave an unforgettable introduction. He claimed that June’s Alternative Press magazine had “sensationalized” the story but reaffirmed that the song was about a friend Phillip who had made some mistakes and, “killed a few people” but he still loves him. The lyrics tell the story

    “Home, here with your family. Home, to hell with the rest. I knew you were crazy, never thought you would do this. Blood, there’s blood on the carpet. Blood, there’s blood on your hands. If the two are connected I’ll know where we stand.”

    Rolleston sings this lavished with hopelessness and melancholy and then the song breaks into a dance beat. If you want to know the whole story… well I’ll leave that to AP‘s June issue. The band is mind-blowing live and almost as good on their full-length Dialog which was released this past Tuesday and I quickly logged into iTunes to purchase. You might be hard-pressed to find a physical copy in stores (which I say from experience) but the digital copy is worth your ten bucks.

    Next band on stage was The Graduate, who weren’t very memorable. The musicians were cute and the guitarist was INSANE with his fast-fingered filler but on a whole, they weren’t anything too special.  Their filtered, heavy-bass dance rock was typical.  They were good musicians and the vocals were spot-on but there wasn’t much about their set that caught my ear or my eye.  Several songs caught my attention on their intro (like “Surround Yourself”), but the more the song progressed the more I started to look around the room and wonder what was going on in the crowd.

    Nightmare of You finally took the stage and by then the venue had filled completely.  Their dance rock with sexual, sickeningly sweet, sadistic lyrics mixed with Brandon’s melodious vocals makes Nightmare of You one of my favorite bands.  The band’s self-deprecating and admittedly abnormal humor only makes them more loveable as they break out into drunken covers of ska and metal.  They even invited the other bands on stage for a massive dance party. They played some songs from their new EP Bang which they put out themselves because they “don’t trust anyone” but mostly filled the set with the fun renditions of their self-titled full length from 2005.  Unlike when I saw them tour in 2006 at this same venue, Brandan skipped on a lot of his signature “yelping” but was still sensual as always.  Ending with “Heaven Runs on Oil,” Nightmare of You was the icing on a spectacular show.

    *More photos can be found in the Nightmare of You album on our Myspace

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  9. Lunar Fiction

    May 28, 2008 by Steph

    Lunar Fiction is an Orange County disco/funk band formed of former Johnny Was members who happen to be pretty chill guys.  At first listen to the title track “Destiny” off their new album Does Anybody Remember Laughter? I felt pretty apathetic.  Generally this funk-disco stuff doesn’t do it for me.  I didn’t grow up on 70s rock and I have neither the nostalgia nor desire for it.  But as I let it play I ended up muting the TV and my head developed a slight tick also known as the beginnings of dancing.  The vocals are impeccable and the melodies are infectious.  The lyrics are salacious and viciously sexy.  Songs like “She’s a Killer” and “Speakeasy” rocked some fun guitar riffs which were fantastically mixed with dance-y beats.  Others like “All I Wanna Do” and “Get Ready Now” more on the dance-disco end of the spectrum.  No matter which you prefer, you might find yourself begrudgingly shaking your money maker to these fun tracks, even if they’re not what you’re into.  And if this electro dance rock is your beat of choice, you might find yourself confessing “Hi my name’s ____ and it’s been 10 minutes since I’ve listened to Lunar Fiction.”

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