FIVES: THE BEST WONDER YEARS SONGSThis week Lansdale, Pennsylvania’s The Wonder Years released their fourth album - ‘The Greatest Generation,’ a record that sees the pop punk quintet reach their creative peak in a number of ways. With a wealth of material in their discography, Already Heard's Sean Reid and Tom Knott took on the tricky task of picking out the five best songs from The Wonder Years. Find out what we picked and let us know if you agree or disagree?
INTERVIEW: MALLORY KNOXFollowing the release of their superb 'Signals' album, Mallory Knox have certainly become ones to watch in recent months. We caught up with the band to discuss joining Search & Destroy Records, how vital the festival season and touring are, what it feels like to be a part
of the expanding British rock scene and much more.
ALREADY HEARD RECOMMENDS: OVER THE OCEANOver The Ocean have crafted a compelling, brooding record with their latest effort ‘Be Given To The Soil.’ With intense specific precision and delicate accuracy that echoes the likes of Explosions In The Sky and Sigur Ros. Jesse Hill from the band to discusses how the
album came together, the importance of precision, being compared to post-rock pioneers and more.
VERSUS: BRING ME THE HORIZON - 'THERE IS A HELL...' VS 'SEMPITERNAL'After a top ten UK album and an outstanding UK tour with festival dates on both sides of the Atlantic to follow, Bring Me The Horizon are having a fantastic 2013 and are now featured in the latest edition of "Versus." It's ‘There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret’ vs the bands latest release, 'Sempiternal.'
ALREADY HEARD TRACK GUIDE: ALEXANDER - SAY HELLOWe catch up with Newcastle Indie Rock quartet Alexander to find out more about their debut album 'Say Hello' for a “Already Heard Track Guide” feature.
INTERVIEW: TITLE FIGHTHaving briefly returned to the UK for the Hit The Deck Festival before starting a European
tour, we caught up with vocalist/bassist Ned Russin to discuss the bands progression in sound, differences between UK and US festivals, their recent split with Touché Amoré,
having friends on tour and more.
Weekly US News Roundup (17/05/2013)
Even though we love our Stateside friends, our main goal here at Already Heard to showcase and highlight the best in established and emerging UK bands, news, videos, tours, and more.
As a result of this, each week we bring you a concise roundup of news from America.
Nevertheless we will continue to work with bands from overseas in a variety of other ways; reviews, interviews, live photos, acoustic sessions, features and more.
On this weeks roundup we have plenty of new music including albums from The Dillinger Escape Plan, Man Overboard, and NK whilst the likes of The Story So Far, Lemuria, The Front Bottoms, Hawthorne Heights, Drug Church, Gogol Bordello, Citizen and several others have premiered new songs online.
On top of that we have details of new releases from Defeater, Into It. Over It., Chiodos, A Wilhelm Scream, Palms and In This Moment. We also have details of the ridiculous line-up for Riot Fest in Chicago.
If you have any news to contribute to future US News Roundups, e-mail us at info@alreadyheard.com.
Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, AFI, Rancid, Rocket From The Crypt, Bad Religion, Yellowcard and many more have been announced for Chicago’s Riot Fest.
The Dillinger Escape Plan are streaming their new album - ‘One Of Us Is The Killer.’
Man Overboard are streaming their new album, ‘Heart Attack.’
Defeater have revealed details of their new album, ‘Letters Home’ which is set to be released on 16th July through Bridge Nine.
1. Bastards
2. No Shame
3. Hopeless Again
4. Blood In My Veins
5. No Relief
6. No Faith
7. Dead Set
8. No Savior
9. Rabbit Foot
10. Bled Out
Queens of the Stone Age have posted the video for ‘Kalopsia.’
The Story So Far are streaming ‘Clairvoyant’ from their forthcoming split with Stick To Your Guns.
Chiodos have joined Razor & Tie and will be releasing a new album later this year.
Into It. Over It. has signed to Triple Crown Records and will release a new full-length in September.
‘Oahu Hawaii,’ a new song from Lemuria can be streamed here.
Pierce The Veil posted the behind the scenes video for ‘Bulls In The Bronx.’
A new song from The Front Bottoms, ‘Au Revoir’ can be streamed here.
A Wilhelm Scream’s new album will be titled ‘Partycrasher’ and is set to be released No Idea Records.
NK are streaming their forthcoming album, ‘Nothing To Be Gained Here’ here.
Hawthorne Heights will release their new album, ‘Zero’ on June 25th. Their new single, ‘Golden Parachutes’ can be streamed here.
Now.Here Premier ‘Hey Mark!’ Music Video
Italian pop-punk band Now.Here have unveiled their new video for ‘Hey Mark!’
The video can be viewed by clicking read more below, and the track appears on the bands latest EP, ‘This Is Who We Are.’
Woe, Is Me Announce UK Headline Tour
Although they’re currently touring the UK with Pierce The Veil, Woe, Is Me have confirmed they will be returning to these shores in late November for a full headline tour.
November
Wednesday 27 Norwich Waterfront
Thursday 28 Brighton The Haunt
Saturday 30 London The Underworld
December
Sunday 1 Manchester NQ Live
Monday 2 Newcastle Academy 2
Wednesday 4 Leeds Cockpit
Thursday 5 Glasgow Cathouse
Friday 6 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Saturday 7 Birmingham Asylum
Monday 9 Bristol The Fleece
Tuesday 10 Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Tickets are £10 and go on sale on Friday 24th May.
The Dillinger Escape Plan UK Tour Announced
The Dillinger Escape Plan have announced an October UK headline tour.
November
01 Cardiff, Solus
02 Leeds, Cockpit
04 Aberdeen, The Garage
05 Glasgow, Garage
06 Manchester, Academy2
07 Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
08 London, Koko
09 Nottingham, Rock City
Lemuria Reveal Summer UK Tour Plans
In support of their upcoming new album ‘The Distance Is So Big,’ Lemuria will be returning to the UK in July for a headline tour.
July
21 Sheffield Tramlines Festival
22 London Black Heart
23 Norwich The Marquee
24 Stoke On Trent Minister’s Bar
25 Leeds Cockpit
26 Kingston Fighting Cocks
27 Exeter Cavern
28 Bournemouth Burnout Festival
29 Bristol Exchange
30 Nottingham Old Angel
31 Cardiff Globe
August
01 Plymouth White Rabbit
02 Glasgow Classic Grand
‘The Distance Is So Big’ is set to be released on 17th June through Bridge Nine.
IRIS Release ‘Lights At Ten’ Music Video
Kent alt-rockers IRIS have premiered their new video for their recent single ‘Lights At Ten.’
The video can be viewed after the read more jump.
Brew Records Call It A Day
After 6 years and 27 releases Leeds noise/prog/rock label Brew Records have decided to call it a day.
The label released the following message:
“We’ve had the pleasure of releasing some incredible records over the years and have been fortunate to work with so many amazing people. We’d like to thank everyone that has ever supported us, bought a record or a t-shirt and spread our music in general. Humanfly’s ‘Awesome Science’ is our final release and we couldn’t think of a better record to go out on which sums up what we love about physical records both musically and aesthetically. The label will still remain active for a while as we wind things down and continue to take and fulfil orders.
To celebrate/commiserate we are currently running a big sale on our store where every CD/vinyl/shirt/poster (except the new Humanfly album) is now reduced in price. For the next 2 weeks all our releases are set to ‘pay what you like’ on bandcamp too (except the new Humanfly album) so feel free to explore our back catalog and if you feel like paying some money we won’t complain.”
Visit brewrecords.net to find out more, and a ‘Best of Brew Records’ playlist can be streamed by clicking read more.
New Hot Damn Video (‘Worn Out’)
Following on from the recent release of their ‘Sleep Alone’ mini album, Hot Damn have released their new video for ‘Worn Out’ and can be viewed by clicking read more.
May
21st Retro Bar – Manchester w/Landmarks
22nd Soundcircus – Bournemouth w/ Man Overboard + Transit
23rd The Shipping Forecast – Liverpool w/ Man Overboard + Transit
Paramore Add Second Wembley Arena Date
Due to popular demand, Paramore have added a second date at London’s Wembley Arena for 28th September.
September
02 Dublin O2 Point
20 Manchester MEN
21 Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
23 Birmingham LG Arena
24 Nottingham Capital FM Arena
27 London Wembley Arena
28 London Wembley Arena
Something For The Weekend: Count Your Lucky Stars Special
This week the lovely people at Count Your Lucky Stars Records put everything they’ve released on their Bandcamp for pay-what-you-want download. So we absolutely had to delve right in and pick some of our favourite releases from CYLS for this weeks “Something For The Weekend.”
We have Ann Arbor favourites, Brave Bird. Chicago’s “feel good sad jams”, Dowsing. And last but most definitely not least we have Merchant Ships, a dead Midwestern screamo band.
If your label, band or company would like to become a guest writer for Something For The Weekend - contact Sean Reid to find out more information.
Brave Bird
For Fans Of: Cap n’ Jazz, Brand New
I honestly have no idea how I came across Brave Bird originally but it was love at first listen. ‘Ready Or Not’ was released in November 2010 and it was on constant, and I mean constant, rotation for months of my life. Then came about the full length ‘Maybe You, No One Else Worth It’ and it was like all my indie-emo musical prayers had been answered. The record to me is just a perfect example of the “emo” revival done well – because it isn’t just a revival, it’s almost an invention. The youthful exuberance, the jarring vocals and melodic guitar work all add to the layers upon layers found within this band and record. I genuinely cannot stress enough how much I love this record & band – so I’d advise you go grab a copy and see what I’m talking about!
Album Review: Lay It on the Line/Arizona - Split EP
London based melodic-hardcore group Lay It On The Line have teamed up with Belgian rock boys Arizona to bring out this ‘Split EP’ - two songs from each group, taking on passionate emotive hardcore to an acoustic number.
Starting with Arizona, their two tracks is melodic rock with undertones of hardcore and metal, they also provide the acoustic track giving the EP a chilled out closing.
‘I Knew A Girl At School Called Pandora, Never Got To See Her Box Though’ is a mouthful of a title to say the least, combining heavy guitar lines and clean vocals it is a pretty standard rock tune, towards the ending however you see it pick up with a heavier feel, the guitars are still ferocious (a bit cliché in terms of riffs) and the vocals step up to the heavier instrumentation.
Album Review: Ben Marwood - Back Down
Instrumentation has never been the forte of folk bard Ben Marwood, who prefers the austerity of recording alone in a room with an 8-track. In fact, despite the simplistic quality of his songs, a lot of debut album ‘Outside There’s A Curse’’s charm came from the grainy, lo-fi quality of its sound. However, converted critics were largely convinced by the cynical troubadour’s distinctive brand of angsty and observational brand of lyrical work. Marwood made a name for himself for his effortless ability to jump back and forth between themes of personal turmoil (largely fuelled by self-hate, it appeared) and scornful examinations of “extra-personal” subjects.
The application of a more polished, studio-formed, sound is the biggest change on sophomore album ‘Back Down’, as Marwood does away with the more forgiving “Bon Iver” aesthetic. A brave move from the thirty-something minstrel, whose somewhat monochrome voice consequently suffers from sounding, on occasion, a little off. However, not only is Ben Marwood’s bitter lyricism left unscathed from the transformation but it is also applied on a greater variety of soundscapes (though not to the extent that Frank Turner has on recent albums). Note for example this diverse handful of tracks: the sweet minimalism and touching wordings of short opener ‘For the Skin and the Bones’, the tastefully country-tinged ode to aging ‘We Are No Longer Twenty-Five’, and the rockier full-band foundations of ‘I Promise That It’ll Be Okay’.
Album Review: Press to Meco - Affinity EP
Press To Meco certainly have an innovative unique style and sound. Their instrumental talent is infallible with their catchy sweeping melodies and influential heavy beats. ‘Affinity’ is a hard-hitting rock EP that certainly packs a punch or two.
The band has two vocalists, Luke Caley and Adam Roffey, the two overlap and entwine with one another throughout the tracks to create an upbeat angelic sound. However, I have to admit I am slightly uncertain if this technique works, by using backing vocals it just makes it plain cheesey. The vocals just don’t compliment or work in harmony with the heavy instrumental rock vibe.
The EP begins with the title track ‘Affinity’, which has a fantastic profound fast-paced beat with electrifying riffs. The tune is captivating and creative, with powerful strings and drums. Next is ‘Wasting Time’ which has a slower-pace, but still using those inventive thrilling riffs and extensive melodies. The chorus is fantastically catchy; however we have more angelic vocals that simply clash against their heavy rock sound.
Album Review: As It Is - Blenheim Place
As It Is are a pop-punk band (yes, another one) hailing from Brighton, England although judging by their sound and their penchant for John Hughes films they probably wish they had grown up in a suburban neighbourhood in America. ‘Blenheim Place’ is their new EP and follows up the early demos the band recorded after forming in May 2012 (Happy Birthday, by the way).
The EP opens with ‘Every Year Gets Better’, a pop-punk track that veers across the spectrum. There is a hint of The Story So Far in the pace and delivery of the lyrics of the song, but with a more refined style.
Already Heard Track Guide: Page 44 - All That Changes, Stays the Same
Recently Birmingham rockers Page 44 released their new album ‘All That Changes, Stays The Same.’ Funded by the bands Red Bull Bedroom Jam win in 2011 and PledgeMusic, ‘All That Changes…’ sees the pop rockers take on issues such as depression and breaking up with a loved one and mixing it with soaring, hook-y guitars and upbeat harmonies.
Lead vocalist Adam Vygus recently spoke to Already Heard to give an in-depth account of each track on ‘All That Changes…’ in our latest “Track Guide” feature.
If your band would like to set up a ‘Track Guide’ feature for Already Heard, email Sean Reid.
1. Growing Pains
This is a newer track and started out just as the chorus riff. We wanted a song that was a bit quicker tempo and you could bounce too so had experimented with a few Drop D riffs. Stanny (Adam Stanford) brought this one into the rehearsal room and we liked it, started jamming it out and eventually the words “Grow Up, Grow Up” came in. I then worked on the lyrics after just seeing how immature people were on social networking sites, constant bickering etc and worked it around the context that people seem to find it harder to grow up these days and become mature so its, kind of like giving advice to them.
2. Watch Me Fade
This is probably the oldest song on the album, we have had it for a long time, but it completely changed shape when we recorded it at Red Bull Studios. We had the hooks in place but the structure was a bit messy, a bit too stop starty, John Mitchell and Ben Humphreys pretty much rearranged it and it is so much better now! I wrote this many years ago, when I had my first bout of depression. I found that people around me didn’t understand it and started to distance themselves from me or weren’t themselves around me and that some people seemed to get upset themselves, as if they blamed themselves for my depression. So this song was wrote as a way of self therapy to get all that out.
3. Now That We’re Older
This song was again written recently, we were playing around with Drop D tuning again and Stanny came in with practically the whole verse and chorus section straight into the rehearsal room. We loved it, it starts off slow and builds up to a big shout along chorus! It just needed some bits to join it together and Zach obliged with the prechorus chord progression. It’s about growing out of a relationship. Stanny’s previous relationship was a long one and took him some time to realise that it wasn’t good for him. Relationships that were good when you were younger don’t necessarily carry on through as people mature. So now that we’re older we realise it wasn’t good for us.
