MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2010 WEB EXCLUSIVES

In AP 258, we spotlight a ton of albums expected to drop in 2010 (you’ll have to pick up the issue to find out which ones). But as a web exclusive, we’ve got 10 "Also Anticipated" albums you should make preemptive room for on your iPod.

 











ANGELS & AIRWAVES


AS I LAY DYING


BAYSIDE


CRIME IN STEREO


JACK’S MANNEQUIN


TRAVIS McCOY


MINUS THE BEAR


SECONDHAND SERENADE


SENSES FAIL


VAMPIRE WEEKEND
   



ANGELS & AIRWAVES


EXPECT IT: Feb. 14 (Self-released; modlife.com/angelsandairwaves)

“This is a mixture of the most excited and most stressed I’ve ever been in my life,” says Angels & Airwaves leader Tom DeLonge regarding his upcoming schedule, and not without good reason. In between reconnecting with his Blink-182 bandmates and launching one of the summer’s biggest tours (try to tell us Travis Barker’s flying drum solo wasn’t the coolest thing ever), DeLonge still found time to work on Love, AVA’s third studio album, and the accompanying film of the same name. “We started writing two years ago, but it’s really taken us five years to get to this point to be able to do these kinds of things,” he says. “A lot of the songs have multiple movements, and a lot of it is kind of avant garde.” The album, which will be released for free download on the band’s website, will also be given away through media outlets including AOL, LiveNation and Facebook. Although he declined to reveal any song titles, DeLonge was frank about the album’s lyrical message: “Love is not necessarily at all about a boy and a girl,” he says. “It’s about humanity and social awareness. All the songs lyrically deal with the many facets of what that word means and the idea that the only way you can truly live is through your connections with other people. That’s what we’re using to define what the word ‘love’ means–outside of delivering chocolates to your girlfriend.” — Evan Lucy



AS I LAY DYING


EXPECT IT: Spring (METAL BLADE; metalblade.com)
With a seemingly neverending stream of wannabes glutting the metalcore scene, As I Lay Dying are once again charging into the fray to prove that when it comes to visceral yet melodic metal, everyone else is playing catch up. An Ocean Between Us, released in 2007, saw the San Diego five-piece explore a more somber side delivering the most aggressive, neck-snapping music they’d ever penned. The currently untitled follow-up is primed to continue their growth. “There’s more variety in the tempos on this one, and there’s a little more groove to it,” says vocalist Tim Lambesis. “It’s also a little bit darker overall. While the melodies are less poppy and obvious, they’re actually stronger within the music, if that makes sense.” Having set themselves a recording deadline, the band entered the studio with eight songs in the bag, including the merciless “Beyond Our Suffering.” They plan to write three or four more while producer Adam Dutkiewicz is on the road with, his band, Killswitch Engage. Although As I Lay Dying have been destroying stages and eardrums for a decade now, this will mark the first time they managed to feature the same lineup on consecutive records. “It’s been great having Josh [Gilbert, bass/vocals] contributing to the songwriting,” says Lambesis. “The interplay between his clean vocals and my screaming is more natural and integrated this time around. This really is a band effort.” — Dan Slessor



BAYSIDE


EXPECT IT: Spring (Label TBA)

Bayside frontman Anthony Raneri is surprisingly upbeat considering his band’s current situation. “We don’t have a label, title, producer or anythng,” he says. “The way we’ve done it before, we would have needed cover art before the songs were written because of the tight deadlines.” Having fulfilled their contract with Victory, Raneri is excited about his band’s newfound freedom and is celebrating in true Bayside fashion. “I’ve just written a song about an hour ago,” says Raneri, matter-of-factly. “We’re always writing because time has always been an issue.” After writing all of their previous records on the road, Bayside rented a house in the middle of the woods of Pennsylvania to work on new material. “We just want to make a big, over-the-top record,” says Raneri. “Sort of a rock opera, but not in the classical sense. More like [Green Day’s] American Idiot or [My Chemical Romance’s] The Black Parade. The Walking Wounded was big, then with Shudder we stripped it back down a lot. With this one, we want to go back to what we did with Walking Wounded, but even bigger, with some hard left turns.” Conceptually, Raneri says the new record is bound to feel more sincere because for the first time in his career, he’s got personal issues to draw from. “I feel that in the past, I’ve had to dig a little deeper to find subject matter,” he says. “I wrote a little more on theory, like questions I had in my life. This time, I have actual experiences to write about. There’s a lot on my mind and a lot I want to get out.” —Oakland L. Childers



CRIME IN STEREO


EXPECT IT: Feb. 23 (BRIDGE 9; bridge9.com)

When we wrote about Crime In Stereo’s upcoming full-length in this section last year, no one expected that we’d still be anticipating this year. But the realities of touring, writing and recording, as well as sharing a producer (Mike Sapone) with Brand New pushed the release date of the band’s fourth full-length into this February–and they couldn’t be more excited about the result. “We made a really experimental record with Is Dead,” says vocalist Kristian Hallbert of the band’s 2007 full-length. “This record is much more live-oriented. It has the experimentation of Dead along with the raw feeling of our older material.” Melding the powerful hardcore assault of their youth with a mature approach to songwriting and sonic exploration, Crime In Stereo have evolved from creating mosh-ready ragers to thought-provoking anthems, and Hallbert is looking forward to pushing the band in both directions with their still-untitled latest offering. “The recording process is my favorite part of being in a band. I love creating something new,” he says. “I feel like this is the most well-rounded record we’ve done to date. It encompasses our past work, and it has a bunch of new things to offer. I think this is going to be a real record–more than just a bunch of cool songs.” — Sam Sutherland



JACK’S MANNEQUIN


EXPECT IT: Late Fall (SIRE)

The last time Jack’s Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon began writing a record, there was no question where he would likely be pulling material from. The band’s 2008 sophomore album, The Glass Passenger, was based largely on McMahon’s battle with leukemia and lengthy recovery process. But now that the vocalist/pianist has a clean bill of health (and even a movie out about his journey), McMahon feels it’s time to move on. “The last record was obviously so heavy,” he says. “Now that the movie is out, it sort of cleared the table of a lot of the intense baggage that was traveling with me for so long.” So for inspiration for the band’s upcoming third LP, McMahon went back to the fist place that inspired him to write music–the beach. “My gut just said to go back to the place where I feel the most satisfied and plugged into the universe,” he says. “So I rented this little house in Laguna Beach to start writing again.” Using the same piano he used to write Something Corporate’s 2002 album, Leaving Through The Window, McMahon is getting back to business as he previously knew it. “I’m gravitating back toward the analysis of my relationships and things like that,” he says. Though the timeline for a release date is still up in the air, McMahon will hunker down for the bulk of the recording this spring. “I don’t think it’s gonna be a huge departure,” he says. “But it’ll be more cohesive than the last album. There’ll be an earmark from song to song that says, ‘This is definitely the new Jack’s Mannequin.’” —Tim Karan



TRAVIS McCOY


EXPECT IT: Spring (FUELED BY RAMEN)

After the deaths of several friends, recovery from pharmaceutical addiction and the end of a very public romance with singer Katy Perry, Travis McCoy decided the only response was to go South, young man. The Gym Class Heroes frontman left the Big Apple for Miami and is finishing an album under the alias the Lazarus Project. “Lazarus” is a reference to McCoy’s own middle name and also to his sense of personal and creative rebirth. “It seemed like the storm was never gonna stop,” McCoy says of his recently turbulent personal life, “but now I’m just playin’ in the rain.” As Lazarus, McCoy is playin’ with several collaborators, one of them the top-hatted T-Pain. “He’ll give me a ‘Hah-hannhhh!’” says McCoy with a laugh, “and I know I’m onto something good.” Examples include the ridiculously funky “Dr. Feelgood,” with vocals from Cee-Lo and a message promoting natural highs, and “Gettin’ Critical,” a rocker which finds McCoy in full croon. “There’s a lot of singing on this album,” he says, noting that his 2008 appearance on idol Daryl Hall’s live webcast “really gave me the confidence to do that.” But McCoy’s solo endeavor doesn’t signal a downturn for Gym Class: The band’s own next album is already underway and represents a return to their roots. “Us in a room,” says McCoy, “no producers, just playing shit until it turns into something recognizable. I can’t wait.” —Dan LeRoy
 



MINUS THE BEAR


EXPECT IT: Spring (Label TBA)

Minus The Bear are leaders, not followers. In their eight-year career, they’ve cultivated a fine brand of indie that is willfully disregarding, lacking in the rigmarole of genre convention and joyously devoid of dull-influence repetition. With their fourth studio album slated for a spring release, the quintet are making no plans to deviate from this progressive agenda. “We did some fun stuff in the studio,” admits keyboardist Alex Rose. “We had guests on the record, Spanish vocals on one song, Flamenco guitar on another and a track with toy instruments. Things like an omnichord and a stylophone got in the mix.” Recorded in Seattle with Joe Chiccarelli (the White Stripes, the Shins) over a four-month period, it’s MTB’s first offering in several years not to be produced by original keyboardist Matt Bayles. “Recording with someone who was not in the band was a different social dynamic,” Rose says with a laugh. “I think we all got our asses kicked on some level or another, but it was good to have an objective third party do it, as opposed to our bandmate. We also tracked a lot of the record live, so in that respect, it’s going to be a step up for us.” Speaking of posteriors, as the band decide whether to self-release or get in bed with a label, Rose is sure of one thing. “In my opinion, this band is on top form, and we’re going to tour our asses off in 2010.” —Andy Kelham



SECONDHAND SERENADE

EXPECT IT: March (GLASSNOTE/WARNER BROS.)

Secondhand Serenade fans might be surprised by the decidedly un-“Fall For You” direction of the band’s upcoming album. “It has a lot more upbeat, aggressive songs than the last record,” explains vocalist/guitarist/pianist John Vesely. “I think it’s overall a lot more dynamic. It definitely isn’t the same song over and over again.” The band wrapped up two months of recording with Aaron Johnson (Cartel, the Fray). “Aaron was the perfect fit,” Vesely says. “It was really fun to work with him because there’s always give and take, which I was looking for. But he always respected exactly what I was trying to do. It was a perfect situation.” Secondhand Serenade’s previous releases, 2007’s Awake and 2008’s A Twist In My Story, differed drastically in approach, with the homemade feel of the former and the full-band approach of the latter: While Vesely continues to use other musicians to flesh out his songs, he also composed many alone. “I actually wrote a lot more of the songs on piano this time around,” he explains. “I just started playing piano a month or two before [writing ‘Fall For You’]. It was literally the first song I learned on piano.” Vesely’s musical maturation and confidence stretch throughout the upcoming album, which he considers his finest work yet. “I just love this record,” he says. “I fell in love with it the second I started talking about it conceptually, and I think it turned out exactly how we wanted it.” —Casey Boland



SENSES FAIL

EXPECT IT:
Late Fall (VAGRANT; vagrant.com)

Four albums into a career defined by thoughtful, emotionally raw lyrics and anthemic post-hardcore melodies, Senses Fail are reaching a turning point in their lives and art. “At this point in our career, I think we need to come out with a record that makes people say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that’s Senses Fail,’” says frontman Buddy Nielsen. “We can’t be safe with this one.” The group’s earned a reputation for brutal honesty as well as for writing albums based around an overall theme, whether it be the spiritual explorations and self-doubt of 2006’s Still Searching or the emotional devastation tinged with hope on 2008’s Life Is Not A Waiting Room. This time out, Nielsen says he’s been thinking a lot about life and the passage of time, and how the cyclical nature of being in a touring band can blind you to what you may be missing. “I think it’ll be about growing into adulthood, realizing that your life isn’t what it was and trying to find your place as an adult in the real world in times that aren’t necessarily the easiest,” he reveals. “One thing people go through when they hit their late 20s is, ‘Shit, I’m really an adult.’ It’s not, like, fake and pretend, ‘just got out of college and can fuck around for a little bit’ adult. You know a lot of people who are married, you know a lot of people who have had kids, and you know a lot of people who are dead. You look back, and you’re like, ‘That’s crazy. Real shit actually happened.’” —Phil Freeman



VAMPIRE WEEKEND

EXPECT IT:
Jan. 12 (XL RECORDINGS; xlrecordings.com)

Vampire Weekend may have worn out some of the goodwill they accrued with their self-titled debut. A smart and charming collection of West African guitar sounds, orchestral chamber pop and Talking Heads-style art punk, the band jumped to mainstream exposure while an outspoken critical backlash formed in their wake. Now with their sophomore album, Contra, on the brink of release, the young band have a lot to prove. “I don’t think this album would be really considered a reaction to what people said about our first record,” says bassist Chris Baio. “We knew we didn’t want to repeat ourselves or make a worse version of our first record, but we also didn’t want to make a rejection of our first record.” Fans will rejoice when they hear the familiar soaring vocal melodies of “Horchata” and “White Sky,” but permeating through Contra is a rambling expansion of song styles and instrumentation, embracing third-wave ska (“Holiday”), electronic beats (“Giving Up The Gun”), and even samples from Toots And The Maytals and M.I.A. (“Diplomat’s Son”). “I think people will have a bigger picture of us as musicians and know that there are so many possibilities with what we can do with our sound.” World beats and marimbas aside, Contra has a chance to cement the band’s status in the current pop culture lexicon and turn haters into believers. “Hopefully people will think that we’re an adventurous band and we’re not getting complacent as musicians,” says Baio. — Jesse Raub







Electronic skins from Angels and Airwaves, As I Lay Dying, Jack’s Mannequin and more available now at the AP/DiNG Life store!





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