SEPTEMBER SHOUT-OUTS
Sharp Tongues-No Rescue
On this eight track LP, Gothenburg, Sweden’s Sharp Tongues have delivered "the goods" with their mixture of posi-core, youth crew, and melodic hardcore, and vocals that remind me a little bit of the criminally-underrated Canadian hardcore band Grave Maker. This is a record that is going to kill live, with tons of energy and gang vocals; as a representative example, "Take It Back" closes with this anthemic part that should have a bunch of sweaty hardcore kids putting their arms around each other and chanting along whether in the pit live or in spirit as I was stuck in the parking lot known as I-95 on my morning commute. The album flows really well and the tracks both form a coherent whole and stand on their own merits individually; I was left with the impression of the band wearing their Have Heart on their collective sleeves. The breakdown at the end of "One Minute Left" is the perfect way to close out the album. Reinforcing the rousing, call-to-arms style of the music are the lyrics, which found a lot of resonance with me in their passion and uplifting nature. Highly recommended.
Many Eyes-The Light Age
The contentiousness of Every Time I Die’s break-up along with the measuring stick of that band’s greatness seem to be what is driving most of the criticisms of this record I’ve seen. In a vacuum, the reception would probably be a lot warmer, but with vocalist Keith Buckley’s lyrics much more stripped-back and direct than those of prime ETID coupled with the fact that "it’s not Every Time I Die," The Light Age seems to be more of a lightning-rod than it might otherwise. The Light Age is, though, an album of recovery and faith, and with completely different personnel, so of course there are wont to be differences. Having said that, there actually are a lot of vintage Every Time I Die moments on here, most notably those of The Big Dirty variety. There is a riff in "Servant," for example, that is very reminiscent of "Cities and Years." Elsewhere, the band works in some 90s rock influences of bands like Spacehog. "Future Proof" is a straight rock song and a major highlight for me with its catchy chorus. I go deeper into the context of the band and Buckley’s personal journey’s resonance with me in my review of the first two singles, but given I place a premium on concision in my Shout-Outs series, I’ll close here with the comparison that it’s sort of like Van Halen’s 5150 "versus" 1984 but with the band rather than the frontman substituted. Is 5150 1984? No. Is it still a really good record in its own right? Yes.
Bad Neighbour-Millions
Brisbane, Australia’s "sad rock" outfit Bad Neighbour’s debut record Millions is an intriguing blend of emo, indie, alternative rock, and punk with a healthy dose of melodicism; according to the band’s website, their formative influences included PUP, Modern Baseball, and The Menzingers. There were some moments in songs like "Carried" that reminded me of another Australian band I recently covered in Sunbleached, and in some ways, Bad Neighbour has the feel of an early Title Fight. "In the Car" sounds like a marriage of The Cure with early 2010s-style pop punk, and "20,000 Knife Fights" is probably the "biggest" song on the record and one of my favorites, an anthemic singalong track that positively soars. With its deeply personal lyrics married with the music hitting an emotional chord, the primary thing that stood out to me about this record was its realness. This is an authentic band that actually has something to say, and that animates a listening experience defined by its intimacy and said realness.