I've always hated Mondays...

Hey Monday, an emerging Alternative band, just released their new EP, Beneath It All, in mid August. Cassadee Pope can pride herself in her vocals - the lack of electronic enhancement in her tracks gives the band a very clean sound that seems to be on the verge of extinction within the Alternative music industry. Under Sony Music Entertainment, the same label that signed like bands such as Avril Lavigne and Boys Like Girls, Hey Monday has released one album, Hold On Tight, prior to the release of Beneath It All. Hold on Tight’s poppy, electronic sound did not seem to click with Hey Monday’s preteen audience; however, Beneath It All takes on an edge that focuses more on vocals and raw instruments than it does on the elaborations of electronics. With this, the band should see a much larger fan base surface than ever before, giving them a reliable shot at fame.

Beneath It All fails to take on a sound of it’s own. Instead, it is very easily compared to – and possibly even confused with – bands like Paramore and Avril Lavigne. Inevitably, the album will be classified as just another CD submerged in a bubblegum pop sound with lyrics that fail to breach the shallow subject matter of boys breaking hearts. Beneath It All comfortably snuggles into the 21^st century stereotype of alternative rock bands. Accordingly, that’s exactly where the album will end up – forgetfully placed amongst the hundreds of other teen angst artists of it’s time.

Hey Monday, though successful amongst it’s 21^st century preteen fan base, fails to distinguish themselves from any other day of the week. Accordingly, it becomes quite obvious that Beneath It All will fall extremely short of making any type of impact amongst the world of music. Sure, the vocals are bearable and the rest of the band (for the most part) knows how to play their instruments in time and together, but the album lacks any sort of substantial meaning and the lyrics contain no real message. The most one could get out of listening to this album is learning some of the symptoms of a hangover thanks to the track, “Hangover”: “Oh my god, what's wrong with my head? Sweating with the chills, still in my bed…” Despite the fact that America just elected it’s first black president, the country is at still war, the gulf is full of oil, and Tiger Woods cheated on his wife with multiple women, Hey Monday continues to find various ways to sing about getting broken up with. Not that anything is wrong with this tactic, it’s just not the type of material that will be talked about years from now and noted in history books. 

Superbs

Arcade Fire did the world a favor with the release of their new album, Suburbs. Much like previous albums, the listener is exposed to the atmospheric voices of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne. Together, this dynamic duo creates a sound that breaches the barriers of the ordinary and, instead, fashions an ambient experience that gives Arcade Fire it's unforgeable sound. 


The band makes all of the right moves in the album, picking the perfect moments to lead the listener on and never succumbs to the temptations of premature climaxes [haha]. For example in "Modern Man", the listener is repeatedly teased with faulty bridges and a chorus that never really peaks correctly until the end of the song. The anticipation that forms is the same force that keeps the listener captivated throughout the duration of the song, making the last 1:30 beautiful and the clapping that overcomes the snare back beat much more complex. It's all about timing and makes this Suburb anything but Stepford Wives.


This album contains tracks that feature components so saturated in simplicity, the listener becomes enthralled in a different kind of complexity - the eyes closed head bobbing type. "Rococo" is a song that repeats the same lyric multiple times throughout the majority of the song. This lyric just happens to be the title of the song [creativity at it's finest?]. Instead of becoming a monotonous annoyance, "rococo" takes on it's own roll in the instrumentals of the song - it becomes apart of the harmonious beat that ties together with the melody. 


In short: Arcade Fire has done it again. Suburbs is another great album that you definitely don't need a gate code for. 


...but that's just my opinion.

Infinite Loops

I always think it such a shame when a band that distinguishes itself through unique elements succumbs to the overwhelming push of the mainstream. A great example of this, Band of Horses: Infinite Arms. The band released it's new album in May of this year and made sure to rid of almost every folky component of their work and replace them with excessively boring loops and tonal monotony. 


The beginning of "Factory", the first track of the CD, gives the listener false hope concerning the entirety of the album. We're first reacquainted with Brooke's familiar vocals that cover the listener in that same folky twang prominent in previous albums. However, as the track progresses, it becomes clear that the only thing that seems to change is the lyrics. Besides that, the listener is forced to listen to the same orchestral riffs and snare-bass simplicity loop over, and over, and over, and over again.  


Unfortunately, the monotony "Factory" exposes the listener to seems like a creative godsend when compared to "Evening Kitchen". If this really were a kitchen, the only thing to be made in it would be rice cakes. Sure all the crunch is there, but they succeed in lacking any desirable flavor... At least they're only 35 calories and thank God "Evening Kitchen" is only 3:57 minutes.


"Laredo," unlike Factory and "Evening Kitchen,"  takes on an upbeat personality and the listener is taken back when the guitarist plays more than two notes. However, amongst the upbeat drums and changing guitar chords, Mat Brooke looses his unique sounds and the listener is suddenly forced to check to make sure that they're still listening to Band of Horses and not just another struggling alternative band.


Hopefully, this album is nothing more than an awkward, pubescent stage of growth. 


...but that's just my opinion.

Oh, hey...

Consider this our awkward introduction. The kind where you're introduced to someone knowing that you will most likely never speak or run into them again. However, in this case, (though we may not ever meet) I hope that you'll stick around and find my opinions not only insightful but entertaining as well.

With that said, I'm Jordan. Hi.