Single from The Never Setting Suns' new album!

So The Never Setting Suns is this awesome rock band from Cinci. Frankly, I have no idea how Idle and I haven't met them yet, being in the same town and all, but you know... Happens. Either way, they're really really fun. Their newest album, Time & Eternity, came out on March 24th (last Saturday) and I strongly suggest you invest in it.
Here is the single from the album. It sounds really great. It reminds me a little of Cheap Girls (<3) and a little of Only Thieves. The guitar melody is super catchy and I adore the vocals. It's very good at being mellow without being boring or slow. You can also feel the ending in your rib cage, which is the best feeling in the world.

Great guys, great music. BUY THE ALBUM. If you don't like it, I give you permission to punch me in the ovaries. (You'll like it.)

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-Bear

Tigers Jaw stream new song on Youtube

This is a pretty short post, really. Tigers Jaw have a split with Black Clouds coming out in April on Run For Cover Records and they've prematurely released one of the songs from their side of the split onto their youtube page:




If you like the song, you can pre-order the split over at Run For Cover Records' website.

-Idle

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Goin' Places - Relationship Sneakers

Goin' Places are one of those bands where you right away know who their major influences are. This record is full of snotty pop punk anthems, constructed for and by fans of Screeching Weasel and The Queers. It's not the most original album to ever happen, but it's definitely a lot of fun, pretty funny, and definitely catchy. A few songs into the album 'Relationship Sneakers', you pretty much know what Goin' Places are all about, and you've probably already developed your opinion on the band. Take it for what it is, or don't. I don't run your life.

The record kicks off with what is probably one of the most The Queers sounding songs in the world...other than songs written by The Queers. Well, actually it kind of surpasses some of the Queers songs as far as sounding like The Queers goes. It's even titled "Be With Me". Pretty pop punk. And partway through the song, there's suddenly organ parts. What the hell? I guess it's to make the listener feel as though they're at a hockey game. Right?

The title track "Relationship Sneakers" is pretty much one of the silliest, yet best things I've ever heard. It's just a simple song about the dude's girlfriend buying him new shoes and clothing to replace his unbecoming pop punk guy gear. This song takes an interesting direction towards the end with this cool vocal part where the backup vocalist was repeating every time the lead singer sang "night", but it kind of decides to head back into the standard formula with another iteration of the catchy-as-fuck chorus.

The rest of the album is littered with simple-yet-genius pop punk songs in the vain of  Mr. T Experience, The Ergs, and whatever else you can think of. But, I see it as a good thing. It's a fun album that I can see myself listening to a shit load, but I can also see that annoying the shit out of my friends who lack the same penchant as I for this sort of thing. So I guess this is one of those polarizing albums where you'll probably either like it or dislike it, love it or hate it. Whatever. I think it's cool, and if you do you should probably go over to their bandcamp page and check it out. You can stream it for free, even. You're all set.

-Idle

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Aspiga / Hanalei Split 7"

Aspiga and Hanalei are two bands from Jump Start Records. Aspiga is an indie punk band from New Jersey and this is their third release. Hanalei is an indie rock group from San Francisco. I think it might be just one guy, but the members have changed a lot so I can't tell. This record was released on February 28th.

Aspiga definitely has more energy than Hanalei on this split. The two tracks from them are very upbeat, addictive, and fun. "Laughing This Off" has relate-able lyrics and a super, super catchy guitar line. "Thanks, But I Can Throw Myself Out" follows the same trend. It sounds like if Mixtapes was a little tired when they wrote their music. It's pretty great. They do a good job of making you instantly add the rest of their albums to your list of albums to buy.

Hanalei is a lot more laid-back, but just as enjoyable. I really enjoy the vocals on this side. "Get Gone" was stuck in my head for at least 20 minutes after I heard it for the first time, which is fairly impressive considering my attention span. "Cut Dead (Jesus and Mary Chain)" is another great song with a super mellow tone. It's a really calming track, ha.

Overall, thumbs up.

Check it out!

-Bear

Mega Gem- Demo

First off, I am an awful reviewer. I listened to this stuff and it's been on my list for about 2 months now, and I'm just now getting to it. Sorry. Anyway, Mega Gem is this really cute quirky pop band from Denver. They have a rotating group of members that usually includes 7-10 people. This demo was recorded back in 2011, and they have a full length coming out this Spring. RIYL PS Eliot, Summer Salt, Radiator Hospital

They have a really interesting sound. They have just about everything going on in this demo- strings, horns, guitar, bass, drums, and everything in between. It's all very upbeat and catchy and you can tell they have a hell of a lot of fun with it. 

"Puddles" is a soft song with amazing horn lines and harmonies throughout it. The lyrics are very sweet, the drum beat is catchy as hell, and it's awesome. It's the kind of music you want to listen to while you're winding down at night. 

"Onions" has the best lyrics. Honestly. The kind you'd get tattooed on your shoulder and not regret a week later. The song is also badass, though. It's really catchy and has lots of laughing in it. And who doesn't like laughing?

The next two songs are just as catchy. "Creepy Fingers" has an amazing guitar melody. The entire demo is really fun. I love it. You can tell they have a lot of fun playing together and that's always really cool when you can hear that in the music. Can't wait to hear the full length!

Listen and download! (Bandcamp)

Their facebook./Our facebook

-Bear

Archers and Arrows - Self Titled EP & Split w/ Bottle Knowledge

Archers and Arrows are a melodic punk band from Lausanne (Switzerland). I haven't really listened to much punk from Switzerland, but I went into this review assuming that they probably sounded similar to punk bands from any other country.

I was right.

Archers and Arrows sound like a punk band, and it's a good thing. The vocals are gruff, the melodies are catchy, the guitar leads are simple enough, and the energy is somewhere between moderately high and absurdly high. Archers and Arrows play the exact kind of music they should be playing, as they clearly know what they're doing.

Archer's and Arrows - Self Titled EP

The song "It's So Cool, We Will Die All Together," starts off the Archers and Arrows EP on a very good note. Well, on a lot of good notes, I suppose. This song features both incredibly catchy, hardly-possible-to-comprehend vocals and the coolest little repeating bass guitar intermission. It's pretty awesome. At this point, I have to say A&A remind me a lot of bands like Arms Aloft and Mayflower. Arms Aloft for the ability to make pop punk sound dirtier than a Sam Kinison stand-up act, and Mayflower for creating gruff-voiced vocal melodies that refuse to leave a person's head. 

This awesome first song is followed by a song I prefer even more, "The Support". I don't know what it is about this track, but it definitely hits every nail on the head, for lack of a cooler phrase. It's one of the more interesting songs on the record, which is saying a lot for this EP, because all the songs bring their own bit of greatness. I mean shit, this song managed to throw in some screamo vocals and I didn't suddenly dislike them or anything. 

This EP is pretty great from beginning to end, and I feel pretty lucky that it ended up in our e-mail. It would've sucked to not have been introduced to Archers and Arrows, because their shit is pretty great. You can find all the songs from the EP on the band's facebook page too, which is pretty convenient. Listen to this shit.

Archers and Arrows split w/ Bottle Knowledge

The Archer and Arrows half of this split shows us the band implementing far more pop and twinkly emo influence into their sound. All three songs for this split are awesome and worth checking out. They can be checked out over at their facebook page, as well. Do it.

Bottle Knowledge are another band from the same area as Archers and Arrows. They kind of sound like what Fugazi probably would've sounded like, had the band been started many year later. You can listen to their half of the split on their facebook page too, and it's definitely worth it. All three songs are pretty awesome.

Hey, there were two albums in this review post. Weird.

-Idle

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The Sidekicks - Awkward Breeds

Sometimes I get sick of Ohio; my whole life has been based around this hunk of Midwest and it can get tiring after so much time. But then stuff like The Sidekicks releasing a new album happens, and I'm back to being 100% in love with Ohio. If you haven't listened to 'Awkward Breeds' by The Sidekicks yet, then you're probably insane. Or just busy. It's one of those two things. This album is stuffed with excellent songs and a variety of unexpected musical choices. There's a lot of classic rock and pop rock influence, and it blends well with the pop punk overtones. With 11 absolutely perfect songs, it's very hard to argue against this album ending up being album of the year for 2012, or at least in the running for it.

It's seriously tricky to even try to pick a few songs out of the bunch to recommend to people who want to give The Sidekicks a chance. The album starts with the song "DMT", which is catchy and loud and excellent. It certainly sets the tone for the awesomeness that follows throughout the next 40 minutes or whatever. This song is followed by "Grace", which is a song I like even more. It has this slow, poppy intro which is broken in half with powerful vocals as the verse kicks in. There's some pretty sounding, "ooohs" going on at times throughout the song too, and that's always fun. Then the track "Peacock" comes on and the listener is absolutely convinced that they accidentally put on a Shins album by accident. Seriously. Try to tell me this song doesn't sound like The Shins.

The album is packed full of songs that are absolutely perfect. There's a lot of moments where you'll be like, "they were listening to a lot of Weezer when working on this one," or "is this Jimmy Eat World?" And there's other moments where you'll just know it in your heart that you're listening to some of the finest punk music Ohio has ever had to offer. The entire full length plays out like a seriously pleasant dream. Songs like "The 9th Piece" and "Baby, Baby" are 100% crucial to check out if you're interested in this record. 'Awkward Breeds' by The Sidekicks is a winner.

You can purchase this record over at the Red Scare website. Or, if you're not quite ready for that level of commitment, you can just head over to Alt Press and listen to all the songs while they're still streaming for free. It's up to you, dear reader! This album is like 5 out of 5 stars or whatever a legitimate reviewer would declare at this point in the process. It's great.

-Idle

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