Boy Set Sail- We're Almost There

Boy Set Sail is a 4-piece pop punk band from South Wales. They've been making music since 2010, and released this EP this past summer on I Am Mighty Records. Boy Set Sail is Gareth Jones (vox, guitar), Chris Russel (vox guitar), Nathan Towell (drums), and Sam McManus (bass). RIYL New Found Glory, Take The Floor, Four Years Strong, The Rocket Summer

"Rewind" starts off the EP in the best of ways. It's very ADDICTIVE pop punk with a great beat and catchy melodies. The vocals are very classic pop punk vocals- cute and smooth, but still powerful. "Believe" has some awesome harmonies, and that's what sticks out the most to me on the track. I really like how well the instruments work together, it's a very well-oiled machine. "You Are" has some great lyrics and it's a great sing-along song. It's one of those songs you can just get into, you know? It's simple, but there's a lot to it. "All These Things" is my favorite. The music is interesting and explores with some different sounds, and it's a nice little "ballad." Lastly, "This Time Around" is an awesome way to close the EP. Like the rest of the tracks, it has a certain tone to it that you can't help but love.

Overall, We're Almost There is a great album. Boy Set Sail is a band to be looking out for, because they're only going to get better.

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Dan Webb and the Spiders - Much Obliged

If I could sum up the album 'Much Obliged' by Dan Webb and the Spiders in only one word, my job would be a lot easier. But, alas, I must use quite a few more words than that. I mean, not too many more words...don't expect that much out of me, guys.

Dan Webb and the Spiders are a punk band of sorts from Boston, Massachusetts (a state which has recently been a musical goldmine). The vocals kind of sound like if Tom Gabel and Tim Armstrong had their voices mixed together into some sort of gruff, accented hybrid. And the music pretty much varies song to song while maintaining to sustain this sort of antique quality to it. There's influences from all over the spectrum (excluding rap-metal, for some weird reason) that generally stick to a sort of pop/pop punk style as their primary sound. It feels like even when the rhythm section is playing a general punk type of song, the lead guitar does a lot to bring this classy feel to it, like in the song "Flyover Country". But there's also just songs like "28 Years" which just completely go for a strictly classy and bluegrassy feel and leave most of the punk vibe behind in the wreckage, while bringing along the gruff vocals for the ride.

Dan Webb and the Spiders kind of remind me of Signals Midwest from Ohio, and that's also pretty awesome. They also just have so much of their own sound being represented that I think it may be safe to assume that after listening to 'Much Obliged', someone could immediately identify a song as being by them without having previously heard the song in question. But hey, I also think my house is haunted. So you might not want to trust my opinion on anything. But, if you do happen to be one of the foolish/awesome few who trust my opinion on shit like this, you should probably take it to heart when I say that this album is fucking awesome and you should be getting your hands on it as soon as possible. Even if it's just your digital hands or whatever. They have a few of the songs up on their bandcamp page! That's pretty rad. But if you prefer your physical hands to their digital counterparts, you can order the vinyl from Gunner Records. It'll be one of the best decisions you've made this year; I guarantee it.

Check them out! They're awesome. Promise.

-Idle

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SWTHRT- Compact Disk

What started off as a senior graduation project for Becca High turned into one of the coolest bands I know... Becca (keyboards, vocals, percussion) and Karl Kuehn (guitar, vocals, bass, percussion) combine their indie, new wave, punk, and whatever else influences into making an interesting and fun sound for all to enjoy. It's also an interesting combination that we're seeing more and more often these days- the punk DIY work ethic and a shoegaze/indie sound. Based out of Southport NC, they released this album themselves on June 14th of this year. RIYL The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Joy Division, New Order, or the Cure.

"Good Omens" starts off with a great bass line. I love powerful bass- it makes me really happy. Then the rest of the music starts in, and I feel like I'm in a David Bowie music video. (For the record, I'd love to be in a David Bowie music video.) It's a really great song. Kuehn's deep voice mixes really well with the laid-back instrumentals of the sound, and I love when Becca joins in with a little harmony. It's a little repetitive, but it's interesting enough that I don't mind at all.

"I Am In Misery" has some really cool melodies to it. It's got some awesome lyrics, and as per the usual, I love the tone of the music. Not one of my favorites on the LP, but still a great song.

"Long Hair Don't Care" is a favorite for me. First off, that phrase always has and always will make me laugh really hard. Anyway, the song itself rocks. Do you guys know what swthrt sounds like? It's one part unicorns, one part smoothies, one part bass, one part treble, and three parts happy. I think that translates better than any lame adjective I could find on thesaurus.com. Really.

"Boys With Problems" is maybe my favorite. I'm not sure. It's up there, though. The lyrics are definitely my favorite hands down, and I really, really like the percussion in this song.

"So Dumb" is the catchiest song on the album. Possibly one of the catchiest songs ever. 

"Maggie Valley" is a nice little instrumental in the middle. It is very pretty. Also, is that a tambourine? I love tambourines. 

"Aloha Y'all" straight up reminds me of my friend Olivia. It describes every time we hang out pretty much spot on.. And so I think I like this song a little more than the others just due to personal reasons. However, I enjoy it a lot too. The percussion is really cool (as I keep saying over and over and over again...) and the melody is really soothing.

"Terror Dread" is a really cool song. It's very unique and it's a song that you can really just close your eyes and relax to.

"No Holiday" is a badass song. I love it. I love it so much. The melody = wonderful. I want to dance to it FOREVER.

"I Hate This" has more Becca-singing than any other song. And it's great. They harmonize really well and her voice is really soothing. The keyboards are addictive as hell in this song.

Lastly, "Sunroof" really picks up the energy and I love it! The lyrics are fucking great and the intro is amazing... Overall, just a big thumbs up.

Everything on this record is awesome.

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Ghost Knife- Kill Shelter, Yes!

Ghost Knife (includes members of Riverboat Gamblers, J Church, High Tension Wires) is a great new indie group that I've fallen in love with! Kill Shelter, their debut album, was just released today and it rocks my world, like badass musicians are wont to do.... RIYL the Thermals, Marked Men, Spits, Scared of Chakra, and the Weakerthans.

Ghost Knife surprised me. As someone who's been listening to the Riverboat Gamblers (Mike Wiebe) and J Church (Ben Snakepit, Chris Pfeffer), I was expecting more of a punk sound from these guys. However, that is not what I got. I was, however, correct in assuming that this band would be awesome. Ghost Knife is very indie/ pop punk on quaaludes. Not that these guys are on quaaludes- they're just chill... Anyway.

"Omnipotent" starts off on a great foot with a catchy and interesting riff and awesome vocals. I love this song. It's very dance-y, and it's got a sweet bass line. All the instruments play off of each other quite a bit, and I love it.

"Pixiedust" is very similar, but a slower song. This song makes me laugh, because when asked about Ghost Knife, Mike Wiebe said that he wanted to push away from the punk sphere towards a sound similar to "more laid-back stuff, like the Pixies." Get it? Pixies? Pixiedust? Really though, Ghost Knife has a very unique sound that's super addictive.

"Bahamas Breeze" is probably my favorite song on the album. It's very feel good, upbeat, & has some awesome instrumentals. It's a great song, and describes the overall tone of Ghost Knife very well.

Skipping down the album a little bit, we get a different sound from "...And That's How We Get Nitrogen", which is a lot slower and more laid-back than the rest of the album. It's simple, but still interesting. 

"Frustrated Maths" definitely makes me think of some classic rock greats. It's got a very 70-ish feel and the lyrics are BADASS. Love it.

The last song I'll touch upon is "Ulcers/Milk", which is probably the most interesting song on the album. It's a slow, almost-bluesy song with lyricism that makes me smile.

Normally, I like to just list the best songs on an album... But for the record, I loved every song on this piece of work. It was hard to pick which songs to mention, really. This album gets the bear seal of approval, or whatever the hell I give to good bands.

Learn more about the band. Also, buy the CD.

--Bear

Restorations - Restorations

Restorations are one of those bands that when you hear them you can automatically name 10 or 15 people you know that would dig the shit out of them. They're kind of like a blend of Against Me!, Gaslight Anthem, and bands that all the fans of those bands fawn over. Their songs sound developed, powerful, and like pretty solid rock anthems that are derivative of various punk subgenres (e.g. folk punk, orgcore, badass unicorn juice).

It's clear upon listening to their self titled full length that these guys are pretty damn good at what they do, especially the drummer...I fell in love with the drums on this album. Especially that "Canadian Club" song on this release; you can't listen to that song and then say anything remotely negative about the drummer on this album. The only greivance I have with Restoration would have to be the fact that the songs are pretty much all between 4 and 6 minutes. It's ridiculous. I felt like by time I finished the album for the first time, I had read the entire Harry Potter series. Or even every Star Wars comic series ever released. Shit, dude. I mean, if you're into long songs, you'll dig it. I know it's not really proper to use "you" in journalistic endeavors, but I don't care, man. Forget you!

This album pretty down and dirty in terms of demonstrating a shit load of variety. The album takes some drastic changes from time to time and has songs that I wouldn't even know how to completely classify. I mean, the most present genres would have to be punk, obviously, and alternative. I don't really know what else. It's just some good rock music, and I guess we're supposed to rock out to it or whatever. That's all that really needs to be said or known, so that's good. So I mean, if you're into rocking out to long songs written by great musicians in a style that's pleasant to your ears, you should probably get your hands on a copy of this release. If you're into slaying unicorns and drinking their blood, you're probably he-who-must-not-be-named. If you're a great wizard who once wore grey but now wears white, and you identify as homosexual, you're probably Gandalf. Or Magneto. Well, regardless of who you are, you should definitely go buy this album now. Fact.

-Idle

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Half Hearted Hero - Running Water 12"

HOLY SHIT! WHAT DO THEY PUT IN THE WATER IN MASSACHUSETTS? 

That right there is the subtitled for this review. Seriously though, what have they been putting in the water in Massachusetts? All the bands I've been hearing from there as of late have been fucking awesome. Half Hearted Hero are not an exception. They just put out this amazing 12" called Running Water, and it's full of beautiful pop punk anthems with awesome guitar leads and it brings so much to the table that you might as well celebrate like 20 Thanksgivings while listening to this record. 

On top of the brilliant instrumental there are these infectious vocal hooks being belted out in a sort of Handguns like manner, but with a bit of gruffness thrown in for good measure. I mean, this band kind of sounds like a heavier and tighter version of Handguns to me, but I'm probably retarded and you shouldn't trust my opinion (I hope you choose to trust my opinion, otherwise I'm just wasting my time here). 

There's basically no possible way for you to not enjoy the shit out of this record. The guitars are relentless and riveting, the vocals are scathing, perfectly performed, and infectious, and the rhythm section pull it all together with some of the tightest playing I've heard in the pop punk scene. Each and every song on this 12" are the best song on the record. They're all just memorable and awesome. Listening to Running Water by Half Hearted Hero will probably change your life...or not. I mean, you'll at least enjoy the shit out of every moment spent listening to them. I mean, I know I'm burning a copy to keep in the Jeep after this review, so that I can listen to this shit while cruising around my shitty city pretending I'm way cooler than I am. Yeah, that about sums everything up!

Buy this record!

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Ghost Robot Ninja Bear - Ghost Robot Ninja Bear

Ghost Robot Ninja Bear is basically the creative outlet for musician Oscar Albis Rodriguez. He's accompanied by different dudes on occasion in an effort to rock his music out on a grander-than-acoustic scale, which is something I can relate to because that's also what I try to do. That's also kind of a Jeff Rosenstock sort of thing, and a Rick Johnson sort of thing. It's kind of just a common thing, but they're more accustomed to using iPods, whereas it appears that when Oscar doesn't have the bandmates to support him he just goes acoustic and rocks it out that way.

Ghost Robot Ninja Bear kind of sound like what it would be like if The Ramones grew up on 90s radio rock and picked up a metal guy to write some guitar and do some scathing vocals. I mean, honestly dudes, that's about the best way I can describe them. So basically, they're a little bit like Nofx in sound but definitely something I'd find myself listening to more often. This self titled EP or LP or whatever 8 songs turns out to be is a pretty awesome release for a young band.

Another cool thing about this release is that you can just stream the fucker on bandcamp. And if you're not really into using bandcamp, you can just download the album! It's free (if you're a cheap ass like me, it's really set to 'name your own price')! Actually, you should totally give them like 5 dollars for it, because it's totally worth your money. It's an eclectic piece of musical awesomeness with zero genre restrictions. Oscar does what he wants and he does it however he wants to do it and the result is some great punk-whatever music for our enjoyment. So yeah, check this album out. It's for your own good. You're just cheating yourself out of something great if you don't. So don't be an idiot. Best advice anyone could ever receive. I wish somebody gave me that advice years ago!

-Idle

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Polar Bear Club - Clash Battle Guilt Pride

Polar Bear Club are like the hard rock band that every hard rock band should aspire to be. The vocals are passionate and gruff, the lyrics mean something, which is completely optional in rock music, and the instruments don't pull the same shenanigans in every song. PBC keeps their shit fresh, interesting, and enjoyable as fuck to listen to. Oh, and just because they play with pop punk bands a lot, does not make them at all a pop punk band. I mean, it's pretty obvious they've listened to every Lifetime album a million times, but that influence hasn't created any kind of structure around their music. They just can't really be confined to one genre; it's just easier to call them hard rock to put the situation to rest.

Polar Bear Club just did the world a huge favor by putting out 'Clash Battle Guilt Pride' this week. Now it would just be rude to not return the favor by enjoying the shit out of it. I like it just as much as I like their previous releases, if not a little bit more. The songs are catchier than ever, and the band is just becoming more and more solid as a whole. It'd legitimately be a struggle to tell you which songs are the best on the album, too; they're all just so damn great. It's kind of like when you've assembled the perfect pokemon party, and you're about to fight someone who uses fighting types, and you can't decide on your awesome pidgeot or your badass Alakazam, because they're both ideal in this situation due to being super effective and super cool. Yeah, this PBC album is a lot like that. I'm not a dork, I swear.

So, if you like infectious vocals, semi-heavy rock music, and leads constructed perfectly to fit the overall tone and atmosphere of the music, then you'll like Polar Bear Club. And if you like Polar Bear Club, you'll like 'Clash Battle Guilt Pride." And if you like 'Clash Battle Guilt Pride', you should probably support the fine musicians by picking up a copy of the album from their label Bridge 9 Records. Oh, and if you like us, we like you too. Via con dios.

-Idle

P.S. This band is awesome and you won't regret listening to this album a thousand times. Unless that's the exact amount of time you have left to live...then you should probably listen to it on an ipod while you ride some sick waterslides and go skydiving and whatnot.

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Dude Jams - How to Abuse Everything

I've had a pretty difficult time finding out much about the band called Dude Jams. It seems like all I know about them is that they're either really into drugs (or just dig talking about drugs), that they definitely enjoy drinking as much beer as possible (Dopamines style), they have fun parodying Propagandhi album titles and cover art, and that they're located in Texas. That's basically what all my research has yielded...so there's your bio. That's what you need to know about the band...apart from what you'll learn about them in the next paragraph! And then the few after that...

Dude Jams have this habit of writing infectious pop punk songs...which I guess explains their band name. They basically sound like a mix between Off With Their Heads and a barrel of laughing gas. Something had to happen in order to make their main focus in the music world be a dark sense of humor and an awesome sense of melody. They play pop songs for the every day loser, stoner, and beer can crusher. They also play songs for anyone who just digs awesome music. They mostly just play songs for their own amusement though...I'm pretty sure of that.

My favorite part of this album, apart from the fact that every song has a sing a long element, would have to be that most of the songs time in at under two minutes, which is just perfect for my lack of ability to pay attention to anything. I seriously can barely listen to Fucked Up or Streetlight Manifesto; I don't need six minute punk songs, like at all. Nothing against Fucked Up, though. And whatever about Streetlight, nobody cares. Point is, Dude Jams are awesome and this album is rad.

If you were wanting to just take this album for a quick trial run, you'll probably want to listen to the songs "Don't Try", "Flower Eaters" (this one starts off sounding like a Foo Fighters song for some reason), "Drink, Drank, Panic" and "Disappointment is an Understatement". I mean, you should just listen to the full album right away, because it's awesome and short. But, if you feel like you must discover the best songs first, you can always just do it that way...and then follow it by rocking out to the rest of the album.

So, yeah. You should by this album from ADD Records (Tampa). Because...that's the American thing to do. And everybody's being really American this past couple of days...not so much today. But maybe we can make everyone be American today. It will go down in history as the day that everyone decided to purchase 'How to Abuse Everything' by Dude Jams. 9/12/2011. Never forget.

-Idle

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-Idle

The Bear interviews the girls of Through The Static!

Read more about Through The Static and their first EP here. I didn't proofread this because I'm lazy, get over it. Through The Static is an AWESOME pop punk band from the east coast, and the girls are like the best friends I always wanted but never had in school. Who can beat that?


Jess- guitar
Amie-vocals
Kashmir- bass

What bands would you say have inspired your music the most? 

J: Definitely old Green Day, Bad Religion, Bikini kill, The Clash, Pansy Division,  The Ramones- tons more, but I'll cut it off there for now, haha. I'm pretty much into everything punk. From old school, hardcore, pop punk, easycore...you name it.

K: I'm big on Flipper, early green day, The UK Subs, Regan Youth, X-Ray Spex, The Queers etc. Definitely more old school punk influences.

A: Eve 6, Bayside, Heathers, Bomb The Music Industry!, Paul Baribeau, Andrew Jackson Jihad.. Glen Miller. HA just kidding.I definitely bring the alternative/acoustic/folk punk side to this band though. If that's even a side.. I'm not sure.

K: That's a lot of sides,

J: And when you combine everyone's influences..

A: It's like they had a big orgy!

J: Yeah! It's like they have a big orgy and then out pops us .                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Was it a conscious decision to be a female pop-punk group, or is that just how things worked out?

J: It wasn't a conscious decision in the beginning when TTS first started out. We just wanted to play -- the very first bass player we had was a dude. He was only around for a month though haha. At some point, probably after that fiasco, we decided it was much cooler/unique to be an all girl band & I haven't given up on the idea since. I think Amie & Kash really like the idea of it too.

A: Yeah, but it turns out female musicians are really hard to come by in the L.I. music scene

J: I feel like finding a chick drummer is the worst - unless you live in Brooklyn of course.

Are there any fun stories behind the nicknames?

J: Oh god. You had to ask.

K: Just to get things straight my real name is Kashmir!

A: Yes it is but we actually call her KashMoneyKash..or Kash

J: I don't believe her check her birth certificate!

K: I feel like there is a story behind every nickname.

A: We come up with names for everything. There is a story behind my name.."Amie 2.0"
The old singer of this band was also named Amie..with an "i e" too. Kinda freaky.

K: Amie 2.0 because she is the better version of the other Amie - get it?

J: Yeah its fucked up but it fits. I also have two names "Jess Fresh" which people have been calling me forever..long story short, someone called me a "fresh bitch" & my friend I was with started calling me jess fresh cause it rhymed together well - very fitting, no?

A: Yeah that's because you are an asshole

J: haha fuck you! I know. I am. Oh..& Amie calls me "Jessnut" every time we play "Chestnut Ave."

K: I like Jessnut, it's also very fitting.

J: I guess I'm just one crazy asshole.

A: Ew for some reason I just visualized that

Why nicknames instead of real names?

A: Why not? Giving nicknames to people is fun!

J: I agree with that statement.

K: Our name's on facebook are always changing.

J: I think it's funny

A: Asshole.

J: Guilty.

On Facebook, you list both past and present members. Who is currently in the band?

K: I'm in the band!

J: I recently changed that! muhaha Sorry about the confusion!

A: I think I'm in the band too. Currently it's me, Jessnut & Kashmir. We have a temp drummer at the moment.

K: Drummers are a pain in the ass to find here.

J: Fuck you Brooklyn! Just kidding I love the shit out of Brooklyn.
Good music coming out of there these days.

How has the music progressed?

J: Hm. Well I'd like to think we've gotten better.

A: Oh definitely.

J: The 3 songs on our first EP, "We Can Do It!" were the first three songs I ever wrote for this band. They're ancient..
I wrote Chestnut when I was 14, 15. We have more songs up that alley that haven't been recorded yet, we play them live.

A: There is new stuff Me & Jess have been working on that is heavily Bayside-y, Heathers influenced

J: huh. Wonder why

A: Shut up. There is pretty harmonies in some of the new stuff!

K: Yay Pretty!

J: Here are some song titles of the new shit with Amie:
 "Full Time Peanut", "Alcoholic's Make Shitty Friends", "Apple or Nausea?"

A: Jess usually does most of the song writing, so expect similar sounds from the old EP on our next EP with a taste of something different.

J: dundunDUN!!

What have been your best/worst experiences playing shows?

A: Jess GO!

J: Worst: Choking/Failing miserably like B-Rabbit in 8 mile in front of a bunch of pre-teens at a show with a unexpected turn out also I hate when my cable falls out of my guitar. It's really awkward.Someone buy me a wireless connection!

Best: Playing a battle of the bands at Santos Party House back last fall!

A: Kashmir GO!

K: Fucking up at shows just plain sucks. My favorite shows are the ones where I don't fuck up, or if we have an energetic crowd.

J: Amie GO!

A: Worst Show: Zebra Club. Acoustic Show with Jess, we were just off, but we got paid that night!

J&K: Band fund!

A: Best show, first show ever playing with Through the Static

What are your future plans for the band- what should we expect from Through The Static in the next few years?

K: Us continuing to be a band! I hope.

J: I want to play Warped Tour! That's a personal goal--any festival is fine. A more realistic one is to release a legit full length. I don't think i'm answering the question.

A: We want to release another EP/or full length (if we have the funds) in the near future

J: We have 16 songs in total as of this very moment!

A: Yep. We're playing these last two shows that we have in September,

J: One's in Dirty Jerz!

A: possibly playing one or two Halloween shows in October and then slowing down on shows to concentrate on tying up loose ends, writing new songs, and recording.

K: ..don't forget we also have to make the studio look pretty

J: Yeah we need to give our studio a make over.

A: Hopefully in the next few years you will still be hearing about Through the Static, we will have at least 2 new releases out, 1-2 tours under our belt, (hopefully) clothing endorsments, and if were not signed by then, well definately be represented by a management company.

J: Yep we're already talking to a few management companies. YAY.

Any tours planned anytime soon?

J: we might do a very short mini-tour stint in the fall if Amie allows it. Which isn't very likely actually...

A: Look out for us summer '12! At the very least we will be touring the east coast!


J: Make sure to STAY TUNED to the static! Check our facebook page for updates on shows!




IATB facebook.
TTS facebook.
Bandcamp.

-Bear

Twitter contest to win a Make Do and Mend test pressing!

Hey dudes, if you have a twitter account you should totally follower @paperplastick, @makedoandmendyo, and @exit384media and retweet this for a chance to when a test pressing of a Make Do and Mend record. Sounds like an awesome deal since that band is pretty awesome. I saw them not too long ago with Fireworks, Mixtapes, and The Wonder Years. It was pretty fucking rad. You should go for it!

-Idle

P.S. If you get a chance, you should check them out on tour!

Tour Dates
With Polar Bear Club:
9/8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
9/9 – Orlando, FL @ The Social
9/10 – Pompano Beach, FL @ Rocketown
9/11 – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
9/13- Austin, TX @ Emo’s Alternative Lounge
9/14 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live Studio
9/15 – Dallas, TX @ The Prophet Bar
9/17 – Mesa, AZ @ The Underground
9/18 – San Diego, CA @ Soma Sidestage
9/21 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction

Australian dates:
9/24 – Brisbane, AU – Counter Revolution (Brisbane Riverstage)
9/25 – Sydney, AU @ Counter Revolution (Big Top Luna Park, Sydney)
9/30 – Melbourne Vic, AU @ Counter Revolution
10/2 – Adelaide Sa, AU @ Adelaide Showground
10/3 – Perth, AU @ Counter Revolution (Challenge Stadium)

With Senses Fail:
11/4 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
11/5 – Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
11/6 – Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
11/8 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
11/9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
11/11 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
11/12 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
11/14 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
11/15 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
11/16 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile
11/18 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s East
11/19 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
11/21 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
11/22 – Covington, KY @ Mad Hatter Club

ATTN: Hardcore Kids of the World

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day was removed from a Southwest flight due to his pants hanging too low. Let this be a lesson to all the hardcore kids I see at shows these days, showing your ass off doesn’t pay.

"Just got kicked off a Southwest flight because my pants sagged too low!” 

                                                  - Billie Joe Armstrong, via Twitter.

DC Fallout- Serfs Up

DC Fallout, friends and some of Idle and the Bear's favorite musicians, released a new album this past June- Serfs Up. If you haven't heard it yet, you need to get around to it. DC Fallout is a great blend of political intelligence, energy, and fun. RIYL Antillectual, Propagandhi

The record starts off strong and fast with "The Great Contradiction." No corners are cut with their brutally honest lyrics, and a lot of effort clearly went into the music. Ricardo Luna is a fabulous drummer (yes, fabulous) and Scott Hallquist's voice is like... really badass butter. Yeah, so similes aren't my best talent. Either way, I love it. The energy behind the music is raw and I get really into it. 

"A Man Without A Country" is a softer song, but still awesome. Very guitar heavy, but no complaints there. DC Fallout does something great for all of us- it takes the anger we have for the government and modern society, and puts it into brilliant words. They aren't just angry punks without a cause (hello, James Dean)- they're educated and know that something isn't right here. It doesn't hurt that the music rocks, too.

"Disconnect" is the best song on the album. It includes a lot of Thoreau-esque thoughts, which I adore. The music is also extremely addictive and impressive. The guitar outro is amazing.

"Poverty Blind" follows the same trend we keep seeing with these guys. Lyrics? Check. Vocals? Check. Bass? Check. Guitar? Check. Drums? Check. Everything has been checkmarked for audibly delicious. Yes, audibly is a word. I really love what the guys do with guitar harmonies, and the bass side of the song is interesting and abstract.

"Alien Nation" is a super catchy song. It throws in some nice background harmonies, the drums are fast as fuck, and the bass is showcased for once! I love hearing raw bass. It just sounds so badass. A+.

The title track, last but not least, is "Serfs Up." The most important thing about this song is that the title is a pun. The pun is both intelligent and hilarious. The song is also great. I spent a lot of it giggling and making feudal system jokes about the beach with Idle, but this song really makes WAVES. 

Buy it! Or just stream it. But really, buy it.

Merch

Facebook.

Also facebook.

--Bear

Boy Set Sail (I Am Mighty Records) - EP Preorder

Boy Set Sail are a couple things...they’re the only band I’ve ever listened to from South Wales, and they’re also an awesome DEFENDPOPPUNK style pop punk band. If you don’t know what I mean by that, you probably need to listen to Set Your Goals and own a machine gun or whatever. Point is, Boy Set Sail make awesome music, and I Am Mighty Records just put the preorder for their upcoming EP ‘We’re Almost There’ up. Not yet convinced that you’ll be into it? Well, you can check out the EP sampler right here:

Boy Set Sail - We're Almost There Sampler by I Am Mighty Records

And if you think it’s as awesome as we here at Idle and the Bear do, then you should definitely order yourself a signed copy over at I Am Mighty’s website!

-Idle

Candy Hearts debut new song!

Candy Hearts have posted a new song for everyone to check out, and it’s pretty damn awesome. You can listen to the new song right now!

Tongue Tied by candyhearts

You’ll most likely dig it, and therefore you should head over to Kind of Like Records’ webstore and preorder their upcoming album ‘Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy’ now! It’s totally a Louis CK quote, too.

-Idle

The Bear interviews Dave Beaudreau of Our Lives In Motion

Our Lives In Motion (Worcester, MA) is one of the recent obsession-bands of Idle and I. I got ahold of their last EP, Stages, recently (read here) and we've been addicts ever since. It's like Trainspotting, but without the baby and heroin. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk to the vocalist, Dave Beaudreau about the band's past, present and future. Read away, my dears!

Get Stages on iTunes

Big Cartel.

Twitter.

YouTube.

Their facebook.

Our facebook.

What is your favorite part of being a musician?

 My favorite part of being a musician is having the ability to express myself through music. I love creating songs that tell a story and giving others the opportunity to connect to. There is no better feeling than playing a show and looking out seeing fans singing along. That's when I really feel that I’ve made a connection and impacted someone's life positively. Music is a huge outlet for me.

When can we expect a full length from you guys?

Funny you ask. We recently released up our second EP “Stages”, which has done really well since it’s release on May 3rd. Days before finishing up the EP, we all started talking about writing new songs, semi-jokingly, because Stages wasn’t even finished. So to cut this story short, I think we were gone from Florida and heading back to MA for about an hour before Tony started working on new ideas in the van. I predict we will be demoing out new ideas in the next couple weeks and hopefully will have a full length out by Spring/Summer 2012! We are very progressive in our ways and like to keep the songs rolling. We never want our fans to get bored with the same old songs.

How long have you been a band? Are you all original members?

Our Lives in Motion has been a band for little over 2 years now. Since our formation in late 2009, we have had our fair share of member changes. To date, Tony and I (Dave) are the only original members. Member changes are never easy but it seems every band since the beginning of time have had to cross the path. As much as I’d like to say our days of shifting members are over you, can never be to sure. As attitudes and desires change, you never know what surprises lie around the corner. One thing I can say for sure is that I am here to stay.

Have any fun Warped Tour stories? 

Too many to tell, honestly- both personal and with the band. So I’ll choose one. 2010 Massachusetts Warped Tour is one I think we will never forget. This story is more tragic than fun but we have all found humor in the situation. Being rookies to the larger music festivals, when we arrived and dropped our gear we sorta allowed our guitars and amps to be mixed in the sea of gear that lie behind the stage. Being a little naive we thought nothing of leaving our gear hanging unattended and went straight to our tent, sold some merch, and connected with some fans. As our set time rolled around we scurried over to the Earnie Ball Stage to get our gear in line, only to find that Tony’s guitar had gone missing. Soo to make a long story short we had to borrow a guitar from one of our friends that was not set up to our specs and the darn thing would not stay in tune, this made for a really rough set for us. No worries though there is a happy ending to this story! By the end of the day Tony was reunited with his baby and to this day no piece of gear we own goes unmarked. Anyone reading this please take note to this tip! ALWAYS have distinct markings on your gear that are easy to identify!

Who writes the majority of the songs? Is it a group effort, or a particular leader?

The writing of our songs is definitely a group effort. One thing I can without doubt say about our newest record “Stages” is that everyone did their part. Tony, more times than not, builds the foundations to our songs and from there we all contribute from there. We work as a team and that is one of the greatest things about our band. 

Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

Ten years is a really long time but ideally, I'd love our band to be as big as we can possibly be at the time and still growing. I believe we all have our ideas of where we’d like to be but I think we can all agree that it wouldn’t hurt to be playing arenas and making our mark! The music industry is a tough thing to tango with but as I’ve always been told... “ If you really want something bad enough and believe you can have it, you will get it”

How has your sound evolved?

As the member of Our Lives in Motion grow and existing members change so does our sound. We at the core will always be OLIM and we will always carry a certain stamp but our individual influences are what allows our sound to evolve. I hate to say each song we write matures from the last but it is very true. As we grow as musicians our minds expand and with each song we write we learn more and more how to mix our many influences together to create different sounding, better songs.

Do you plan on continuing to release music independently, or are you looking for a record label to sign you?

We will continue releasing music independently until the RIGHT opportunity presents itself. As I previously mentioned, the music industry is a tough place right now. With a terrible economy and extreme over-saturation, it has become harder and harder to be a band and even harder for labels to do their jobs as labels. Our Lives In Motion, like most other artists, is looking for success and is seeking support and if we are presented with the right opportunity, we will certainly take it. Being an independent artist is no easy task.

What are your favorite bands to play live with?

Honestly, we love to play with any band with great attitude and any band that truly loves what they are doing. Its all about attitude and how bands carry themselves both on and off the stage. We love having fun and really enjoy playing with real musicians that just love what they are doing. It's all about the passion!

Thanks Dave!

-Bear