Foals did what The 1975 claimed they were going to do, put out two records in one year. Where The 1975 failed, Foals succeeded! And Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2 was by no means an afterthought, or a group of leftover songs. This record tells it’s own story while still keeping with a similar tone to Part 1.
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Fan Art Friday: Highly Suspect
In honor of Highly Suspect finally releasing new music today in the forms of singles, “16” and “Upper Drugs,” off their upcoming third full length, MCID, which is due out November 1st, here is a pretty ambitious pen drawing I did of Johnny Stevens from back before he had his face tats.
Read moreAlbum Review: Bear Hands, Fake Tunes
One of my favorite alternative bands, Bear Hands, finally released their latest full-length album, Fake Tunes, nearly three years after one of my favorite records ever, You’ll Pay for This was ironically (or not) released on tax day. This album was a strong follow-up and I’ll certainly be listening to this in the pool all summer long!
Read moreAlbum Review: Motionless in White, Disguise
I know I was slow to become a Motionless in White fan, and I credit my sister 100% – she’s obsessed. I also grew to like them after some chance encounters with the members; all of the guys were genuinely nice! It seems like they are constantly touring, so I’m always surprised that they manage to put out new music every couple of years. And it’s good music, too! Not a lot of bands can say that really. So it comes at no great revelation that the new album, Disguise, is a strong one. It’s very eclectic for them, so there is something everyone should like.
The two singles that debuted before the album’s release last weekend were solid, and would appease old and new fans alike. Title track, “Disguise,” was gritty and intense, much like most of their catalog. I was a bigger fan of “Brand New Numb,” as it was still heavy, but a lot more clean vocals which I’m a fan of from them. The rest of the album goes to all corners of creativity, most evident in the techno efforts of “</c0de>” (my personal favorite), and “Legacy,” which was a much slower paced song. For those die-hard old-school fans, “Undead Ahead 2: The Tale of the Midnight Ride” is a nice nod back to their first record, and my sister’s favorite, Creatures.
Like I said, there is a lot to like here in Disguise‘s ten tracks! I also appreciate that the band has evolved in small steps over their past five full length releases. If you change too much from one record to the next you’ll get ripped to shreds like Bring Me the Horizon, but bands get bored of doing the same old thing, so I think they’ve mastered the art of mixing their new interests with fans’ old ones. Bravo!
Album Review: Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride
It’s been nearly six years since we’ve heard new Vampire Weekend material, and since then they’ve lost eclectic member, Rostam Batmanglij. No lie, I was a little nervous for this release. Even with the onslaught of singles released in the past couple months, I still wasn’t convinced this record would wow me.
Read moreFan Art Friday: Bastille
In honor of Bastille finally announcing everything we need to know about their third full-length album, Doom Days, and a North American tour, here are some drawings!
Read moreAlbum Review – AFI The Missing Man EP
What I would consider to be an early Christmas gift came on December 7th in the way of new songs by one of my favorite bands! That’s right, AFI released a five track EP on the heels of 2017’s eponymous Blood Album. That’s a pretty quick turnaround considering there were four years in between their last two albums. Overall though, I wasn’t super impressed by this EP. Of the five new songs released, I really only liked “Trash Bat” and the single “Get Dark,” mainly because they they were quick and punky in nature. The other three songs mixed acoustic guitar and almost detached sounding vocals. Regardless of what I thought of this EP, I’m still glad I got some new tunes so soon and in an interview with KROQ the band promised new material from Blaqk Audio (Davey and Jade’s electronic side project) early next year and that they’ve already started work on the next AFI album – fingers crossed for a 2020 release! Go give The Missing Man EP a listen and let me know your thoughts.