Brendan Manley

Contributions

The Chiodos - The Heartless Control Everything

Chiodos The Heartless Control Everything The third release by the Chiodos Bros. (now just Chiodos), 2003's The Heartless Control Everything is mostly another important building block in the still-young band's progression toward their 2005 full-length debut, All's Well That Ends Well. Although filled with promise, the band's better days were clearly still to come. One […]

Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends

Taking Back Sunday Tell All Your Friends At the risk of sounding harsh, there are two very distinct versions of the band that calls itself Taking Back Sunday: the lineup that recorded their 2002 debut, Tell All Your Friends; and then, every other group of players singer Adam Lazzara & Co. have cobbled together since. Truthfully, […]

Emarosa - Emarosa

Emarosa Emarosa You'd think that after releasing a solo album last year, as well as a much-hyped EP with scene supergroup Isles & Glaciers, golden-throated frontman Jonny Craig might be running a little low in the tank. Not so: If anything, the transplanted Canadian belter has saved his best for what's likely his final major […]

Isles And Glaciers - The Hearts Of Lonely People

Isles And Glaciers The Hearts Of Lonely People EP There's really no other “scene” record out there quite like The Hearts Of Lonely People, the debut EP by post-hardcore supergroup Isles & Glaciers, but after hearing it, you kinda wish there was. Built around the three-pronged vocal attack of Craig Owens (ex-Chiodos), Vic Fuentes (Pierce The […]

Amber Pacific - Virtues

Vagabonds You can't blame a band who can clearly write some inspired riffing for forging ahead when their vocalist bails for greener pastures, but for Amber Pacific, the loss seems devastating. After a solid showing on 2007's Truth In Sincerity, frontman Matt Young exited the ranks in order to admirably pursue a career in education as […]

Four Year Strong: Movies Get Remembered, Quotes Never Die

FOUR YEAR STRONG’s 2009 covers album, Explains It All, should’ve clued in everyone that this is a band who take their pop culture seriously. But when the group aren’t busy chugging through Third Eye Blind and Alanis Morrisette tunes, the titles of their own songs and albums keep the references flowing, in a cross between […]

Web Cover Story: Too many cooks in the kitchen--Should artists or their labels have the final say?

STORY: Brendan Manley Back in 2003, SoCal post-hardcore heavyweights THRICE were poised for a major breakout. After issuing two full-lengths on the indie imprint Hopeless/Sub City, the band had just signed a deal with major label Island Records, and right out of the gate dropped arguably one of their finest efforts, The Artist In The […]

The Bouncing Souls - Ghosts On The Boardwalk

The Bouncing Souls Ghosts On The Boardwalk The Bouncing Souls are capping off a year-long 20th anniversary celebration with the release of Ghosts On The Boardwalk, a compilation of the 12 tracks the band released in 2009 on their own Chunksaah imprint (originally, the Souls issued one new song each month for download, as well […]

Relient K - Forget And Not Slow Down

Relient K Forget And Not Slow Down Relient K’s latest, Forget And Not Slow Down, is easily one of the prettiest break-up albums you’ll ever hear. Coming off the creative success of 2007’s Five Score And Seven Years Ago, the band once again flex their compositional muscles, showing that even heartbreak is all a matter […]
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