Contributions
The Ready Set - Feel Good Now EP
The Ready Set Feel Good Now EP After being plucked from relative obscurity by Fall Out Boy bassist/ emo tastemaker Pete Wentz, the Ready Set surprised the industry by striking it big with “Love Like Woe,” a smooth slab of electro-pop that bridged the gap between scene kids and R&B radio audiences and moved more […]
Cartel - In Stereo EP
Cartel In Stereo EP When Cartel vocalist Will Pugh sings, “I had a plan to start a band/But now it’s falling apart,” on the title track of his band’s fifth studio release, it’s hard not to feel a bit sympathetic. True, Cartel have seen their share of self-inflicted hardships over the years (the MTV “Band […]
Hawthorne Heights - Hate EP
Hawthorne Heights Hate EP After everything Hawthorne Heights have endured in their decade-long career—the tragic death of guitarist Casey Calvert and a manager, an acrimonious split from Victory Records and a brief, unsuccessful tenure with Wind-Up Records—it’s understandable that the quartet would have some things to get off their proverbial chest. The nine-song Hate marks […]
Butch Walker And The Black Widows - The Spade
Butch Walker And The Black Widows The Spade Butch Walker has worn any number of hats in his near decade-long solo career. One of the more remarkable aspects of his musical shape shifting is that these style changes occur naturally and without pretense. Instead of chasing the next big sound, Walker instead flips the calendar […]
We The Kings - Sunshine State Of Mind
We The Kings Sunshine State Of Mind We The Kings’ third full-length finds the band once and for all abandoning the pop-punk sound that put them on the map following the release of their 2007 self-titled debut. Not that this is terribly surprising: As was the case on 2009’s Smile Kid, the Florida quartet have […]
Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors
Fair To Midland Arrows & Anchors The fourth album by Texas prog-rockers Fair to Midland is undoubtedly their heaviest, often times to a fault. Over the course of these 15 songs, the quintet’s main focus seems to be radio-rock fare a la Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace (“Heavens To Murgatroyd,” “A Loophole In Limbo”) […]
The Swellers - Good For Me
The Swellers Good For Me The Swellers’ last album, 2009’s Ups And Downsizing, might have been one small step away from the skate-punk that dominated the Michigan quartet’s early releases, but the band’s second effort for Fueled By Ramen is one giant leap toward a fully realized rock sound. That’s not to say the group […]
Fight Fair - Broken EP
Fight Fair Broken EP After last year’s brief and embarrassingly awful attempt at surf-pop, Fight Fair have returned to the pop-punk sound they championed with their early release Settle The Score. Of course, this step backward seems like little more than an attempt to recapture the market they inevitably lost after California Kicks sank […]
I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business - Gold Rush
I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business Gold Rush At the turn of the new millennium, things were looking up for Ace Enders. The singer and his band, the Early November, were part of a jam-packed Drive-Thru Records roster that sold more than just music to consumers: During its golden years, the label marketed […]