“RUN” by Rival Town | Song Review

Rival Town is a heavy pop punk band from Ontario, Canada 

They are gearing up for a new album and their first single “RUN” was just released! The song starts off strong with a theme- like intro. The lyrics feel very relatable to anyone struggling with mental health. The music video has very interesting lighting that matches the vibe of the song and band. It’s a good song to release as their first single due to how easily you’ll be able to dance and sing to it. Some really cool timestamps include 1:24 they switch it up and highlight the piano for a solid moment and at 1:37 the bridge slows down the song and the band does a really good job building up to the chorus again. The ending hits hard with a scream that really solidifies what I think the song is trying to represent. All in all, I cannot wait for what else they have in store! 

Review by Quinn Hall

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Frank Iero & The Future Violents “Heaven Is A Place, This Is A Place”

Over the course of the past few years, Frank Iero has released quite a lot of solo material under a variety of different monikers and projects. The most recent of those is The Future Violents, and to follow up the project’s 2019 debut LP “Barriers,” Iero has returned with a brand new EP for this project, titled “Heaven Is A Place, This Is A Place.”

The EP kicks off with “Violence,” which opens with a memorable guitar riff before more instrumentals come in to finish out the intro. The first verse begins on a softer note, the darker guitars make the song feel a bit eerier, and the charismatic vocals get to take the reigns leading up to the song’s harder-hitting chorus where the other instruments return. “Sewerwolf” brings dynamic vocal performances in the verses, which are accompanied by the bass and drums leading up to the choruses, which are a lot more aggressive both vocally and instrumentally and easily some of the highlights of this track.

The second half of this release begins with a cover of R.E.M.’s smash hit “Losing My Religion,” and this cover has a much more simplistic beginning led by softer vocals and a ukulele at first. The added vocal harmonies are a nice touch, and the drums help drive the rhythm to make the song much more upbeat when the second first comes in. This song fits Frank’s voice very well, and I feel like it’s one of the stronger tracks on this EP. Another highlight of the EP is its closing track, fittingly titled “Record Ender.” The bass opens the song with a simple riff before more guitars and the drums kick in, and the more laid-back verses consist of softer vocals and instrumentals that build the song up to its much bigger choruses. The added piano was a very nice touch, and the bridge later on contains one of the best vocal performances on the whole EP.

Frank Iero once again showcases his virtuosity as a musician and performer with “Heaven Is A Place, This Is A Place,” an emotive, passion-filled and overall solid EP release from him and The Future Violents.

Review courtesy of Megan Langley | Instagram

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Ryan Cassata, Skylar Kergil, Mae Krell + April Rose | Instagram Live virtual concert review +Premiere of Ryan Cassata’s new single artwork!

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Last night via Instagram Live on Ryan’s account all who joined the live stream got a taste of what we’ve all been missing most during this quarantine; live music and togetherness.

First, Ryan and Loren performed – with background barks from Geoffrey.  They opened the stream with singing one of my favorites off of Ryan’s newest album  The Witches Made Me Do It called Bamboo Plants. Following that he played a new song called Gender Binary (Fuck You) , which will be released in honor of Pride Month on June 5th + I’m so excited for you all to hear it. Below is the premiere of the cover art for the song, it’s beautiful.

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Between all performances, Ryan set up a cute light up Stay Safe sign!

Next, Mae Krell joined the live stream. They opened with a new song called garden followed by Monster, between songs they spoke a bit about garden and how it was written when they were in a dark place but surrounded by so much beauty.

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Following Mae’s performance, April Rose Gabrielli of The Rose Monarch and Jacob Kulick of Kulick joined the live stream to play two songs for us as well. April is currently writing songs and making music for her solo record – and I am so beyond stoked to hear it in  full. She sang her song called Do You, beautifully. As well as a song that was inspired by busy and crowded New York City streets on days where EVERYONE bumps into you – I believe the lyrics went somethin’ like ” Hit me with your f – – – – – g car, cause nothing really moves me anymore.” and I can’t wait til she releases it.

 

Seeing as tour and concerts are on hold for the foreseeable future April has started doing art commissions and created an Instagram just for that @lifeisjustlines – go check it out!

To close out the hour long show, Skylar Kergil joined the live.  He sang Lost & Found, which is a love song, then Tell Me a Story, which was a fan requested and is an all time favorite for most of his followers. Keep your eyes peeled for a new single coming from Skylar soon.

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For everyone who was planning on going to their show in Brooklyn, NY pre-quarantine they announced it WILL BE  rescheduled when everything is up and running again. Until then support these artists in any way that you can. Listen to & share a song with your friends, buy some merch, give them a follow/like on social media, anything !!!

Ryan Cassata| Mae Krell | April Rose Gabrielli | Skylar Kergil

Review courtesy of Cristine Trimarco

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Sleepsculptor Interview

 

In a genre like metalcore where so many bands fade into the back, patterns often repeating, and a lot of songs falling into a similar sound, how do you make yourself stand out? Sleepsculptor’s answer is to create intense, chaotic music that will leave your jaw on the floor. Of course many bands fall flat by doing too much. Sleepsculptor has done the opposite, taking a huge hold on the scene they’ve become a part of. I talked with Ben Pypiak and Hunter Derr, lead vocalists of Sleepsculptor to ask about what makes the band special. 

What inspired Sleepsculptor and the sound you guys were going for?

Hunter: Definitely bands like the Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Arsonists Get All The Girls, IWrestledabearonce. We were going for a more mathy approach to metalcore.

Danza was a metalcore giant that had a huge influence on the scene with the same sporadic, chaotic sound Sleepsculptor achieves. The band regularly covers them in their live shows, giving insanely impressive performances of Rudy X 3 and The Alpha The Omega, a song that the TDTE never played live themselves. Their cover of Rudy X 3 can be seen here: https://youtu.be/h8gE8z82Xc

The inspiration coming from bands of the same genre brought me to my next question. 

Is that where you pull inspiration from while writing. Is it solely mathcore/sporadic metalcore based or do you pull inspiration from other genres?

Hunter: I feel like we most definitely pull from a lot of genres. I mainly listen to Captain Murphy and Earl Sweatshirt. Everyone else listens to some pretty niche stuff I’d say.

Do you ever worry about how your music will be received based on how unique it is?

Hunter: Nah not really I feel like we just write what we want to write and if people like it, that’s cool. If not, I don’t really mind because I make music for myself at the end of the day.   Ben: It’s pretty cool to hear that people like what we make anyway. 

Sleepsculptor isn’t for the faint of heart for sure. The live shows feel claustrophobic in the best way possible. The constantly changing guitar, the vocalist’s fast and angry tonal changes. It’s enough to make anyone want to get moving, and their shows certainly deliver. It’s amazing to see them move as a unit, which is difficult for bands so large sometimes. Along with two vocalists, they have two guitarists, Jake Moyer and Kuyler Massam, who offer intensely technical playing along with the classic breakdowns everyone knows and loves. To help with the fast paced performances, James Slattery as drummer, and Travis Antoniello on bass, are both well versed in the metalcore scene, both being in the Wilkes Barre local band Toothless. With so many amazing creative minds, I always wondered who took the reins while writing. 

Is there any difficulty having 6 member’s input while making music?

Hunter: I don’t think so, we’re all generally into the same stuff. It’s easier to get weirder ideas.    Ben: We’re all pretty connected. 

Do you two (Ben and Hunter) ever disagree on where to go vocally/lyrically or does it work best when you bounce your ideas off of each other?

Hunter: Not that I can think of, we’ll usually write in chunks and then go back and dissect/ split parts up.  Ben: Not really, sometimes we swap lyrics.  

Their first album, Untimening, was well received, but their most recent album, Entry: Dispersal, was beyond unique. 

Entry: Dispersal was different than Untimening, do you plan on leaning towards more of a drastic change with your next release?

Ben: We all decided to get pretty experimental, but not straying too far. 

Hunter: It’s definitely gonna be a lot weirder than anything we’ve released yet. 

Weird has turned out to be an amazing thing for Sleepsculptor. The band constantly works and writes, which explains why in seemingly less than 2 years, they have grown into a force to be reckoned with in the Pennsylvania metalcore scene. Entry: Dispersal was a fantastic album in every sense of the word, every song having the same vibe, but every one felt insanely unique. Every piece of music released by Sleepsculptor has its own personality and own breath of life, making them an absolute joy to listen to. It’s exciting to support them, and I cannot wait to see what they do in the future. 

Follow them on Instagram , you can listen to & buy their music on ITunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, and other streaming services

Interview + Photos courtesy of  Emily Sulkowski  –Instagram| Twitter

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New Artist : Juwan Rowan

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Juwan Rowan is a hip-hop artist from Berkeley California.  Growing up around violence and through struggle, his hope is to connect with his community, and others around the world who may be lost; to be the inspiration, and motivation to keep them focused. He hopes to connect with his listeners through real life situations that they can relate to. If you’re a fan of J.Cole, and Logic you may also find a new favorite with-in Juwan.

You can listen to his music on Spotify, Itunes, and Soundcloud ; as well as follow him on Twitter, and Instagram.

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Photos by Tyvon Spivy

Artist Alert – Raul Del Moral

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Raul Del Moral is a bilingual singer and talented guitarist whose genre influences include reggaeton, acoustic and folk. ‘Quedate Conmigo’ is definitely a club tune and is easy to dance to. The verses are sung in Spanish and the chorus in English, making it easy to remember. The accordion sound in the background is very distinctive. It’s definitely my favourite of his Spotify selection. Campeón is made up of guitars and trumpets and has a strong beat throughout. I loved the trumpet fadeout at the end. It was all in Spanish so I had no idea what the song was about but it sounded really good! The third solo song, Where is My Home? has a very different sound and feel. It tells a story about Del Moral unwillingly leaving his home and questioning where he now belongs in the world. The lyrics emphasize his feeling of displacement. The sprawling electric guitar solo that begins a couple of minutes into the seven minute song and lasts nearly as long as the remainder of the song is moving.

Courtesy of India-Mae Alby

You can follow Raul on all his socials – Spotify  | Instagram| Website

Upcoming Artist MEÏA’s ” Down by The Water” Music Video OUT NOW!

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 MEÏA is a singer-songwriter from Barcelona recently relocated to NYC. She won over the hearts’ of her audiences’ by singing in her own unique way. She’s an eclectic songwriter whose themes explore love, dreams and social issues embracing both an introspective and an electric performance.  You can find her songs in both spanish and english.

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Toothless | 8/24/18

Toothless | House show | Photos by Emily Sulkowsi

Emily – Facebook | Instagram

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Flint Eastwood on tour w/ PVRIS now

12038303_982345658496462_1150323648857277881_nWed 02.21 – Providence, RI @ The Strand 

Thu 02.22 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE 

Fri 02.23 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues 

Sat 02.24 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection 

Mon 02.26 – St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall 

Tue 02.27 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave/Eagles Club 

Wed 02.28 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre 

Fri 03.02 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 

Sat 03.03 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot 

Mon 03.05 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox 

Tue 03.06 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre 

Wed 03.07 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom 

Fri 03.09 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore 

Sat 03.10 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues 

Sun 03.11 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre 

Tue 03.13 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre 

Thu 03.15 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre 

Check out Flint Eastwood

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“Good Times” by All Time Low | Music Video Review

 

As a bisexual Jewish girl I know what it means to be a minority. It is unbelievably hard to be looked down on by others including our own president. It’s disgusting that people see people who are “different” as a problem. What is even worse is that our own president sees it as a problem. It is important that people who are considered “different” stick together and fight against all the hate that is in this world. No one should ever feel like being different is a problem. Love is love whether it is between a man and a woman, a woman and woman, a black man and a white woman or anything in between. We shouldn’t be discriminating anymore and it is sad to see we as a nation are not past that.

That all being said, when my favorite band of all times, All Time Low released their newest video for “Good Times” I was completely in shock in the best way. The music video brought light to all these issues that are so important right now. They hit racism, homophobic behavior and so much more all in one video. To say I didn’t tear up by it would be a lie. For someone like me the importance of this video is even stronger considering my background. Unfortunately, we live in this world filled with hate. Luckily, I know I always have music to turn to when I need to ease the pain of watching hate take over love. With that being said, I still never expected to see such a powerful music video from a band that has made such an impact on my life. I can’t turn on the news without seeing one story after the next with the most upsetting headlines. It is important now more than ever that bands reach out to the next generation of leaders and teach them what is important in this world. The current fan base of All Time Low consists of a lot of those future leaders, so a music video like the one they just released is exactly what we need to shape our future generation, and help rid the world of the hate. Thank you so much All Time Low for the extremely impactful video. There is no other rating to give this video other than 10 out of 10.

 

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Photos & Review courtesy of Rebecca McKay