Mayday Parade’s latest release, “Anywhere but here”, is an album that could have been a disaster,-to any long time fan of the band the disaster could start immediately. Derek Sanders has taken over as vocalist, and the change could have been brutal.  This is Mayday Parade’s first album without former front-man Jason Lancaster and it could easily have become a lamentation about the various rumors surrounding his departure.  The disaster is averted as this album clearly moves the band forward as a catchy look at maturing emotions. This is of course standard fare for pop/punk outfits, that wear their emotions all over their sleeves.

What sets Mayday Parade apart from the rest of the pop/punksters is a maturity in song writing that shows on Anywhere but Here, but was absent on previous album A Lesson in Romantics.  Although early in the album the tracks tend to blend together, starting with If you can’t live without me, then why aren’t you dead yet the blending disappears.  Lead guitarist Alex Garcia finally has a chance to shine through in the closing moments of this song, with a distinctive solo moment, which carries on in to the remainder of the album.  From this track forward the songs become more varied, with moments of melody, moments of bravado, and moments of depression.  It is this matured sound and stronger story-telling that make Anywhere but Here a pleasure to listen to.  3.5 Stars

TRACK LISTING :

1. Kids In Love
2. Anywhere But Here
3. The Silence
4. Still Breathing
5. Bruised and Scarred
6. If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?
7. Save Your Heart
8. Get Up
9. Center of Attention
10. I Swear This Time I Mean It
11. The End

- Reviewed by Colin Kramer 08/25/10

Hailing from York, Pennsylvania, Kingsfoil’s latest self-titled release is a breath of fresh air musically.  One can hear Kingsfoil’s influences, but they are mere sonic silhouettes in the backdrop of their shining originality.

While their sound is hard to categorize, I’d call it indie-alt-rock.  With pervasive catchiness, much of their stuff is radio-friendly but on the creative end of the radio-music spectrum to be sure.  Their song writing and melodies are the driving forces of their sound.  Jordan Davis has a Jon Foreman-like quality to his vocals and his melodies are often rhythmic, unpredictable and creative in nature.  He gets away with melodic concepts that few others could pull off well.  While certainly driven by melodies, it’s easy to tell that their song-writing is synergistic as it’s interesting and exciting on multiple levels: melodically, rhythmically, instrumentally and structurally.

Lyrically, this record could be summed up by the themes of struggle and love.  In some songs, redemption, hope and optimism win out.  Other songs seem to fall on the side of angst, hopelessness and darkness even though they’re wrapped in a light-hearted sound.  There’s certainly mature material present (a few sexual references and a couple mild to moderate cuss words), but there’s a lot of cleverly put profundity as well.  Said profundity and honesty will provide many connection points for many fans.

In summary, this is the kind of music that moves you.  It is catchy, but creative.  It is raw, but profound.  It’s progressive, but accessible.  Every single song will leave you humming it’s melodies and reflecting on it’s themes.

Written By: Jamin Cousins

Published By:  David Hitchcock

Track listing:

Dust Of The Cities                                

Give It Up Now

On Our Own Together

Summer Comes

Looking For Trouble

Love Is A Carnival Goldfish

Heartprints

Demons

Lions Den

Albatross

Savannah

Soldmate

Keeps Me Breathing

If You Love Something Push It Away

The pop-rockers of Seabird deliver a solid album of tunes that soar, groove and stick with you long after you turn it off.  Reminiscent of Coldplay, Leeland, and The Fray, this album is full of quirky creativity and hopeful lyrics that will have you tapping your feet from start to finish.

Aaron Morgan has a distinct voice that’s so characteristic of this genre.  His melodies are creative and unpredictable (almost bizarre at times) and his falsetto is beautiful and used tastefully.  Aaron’s tone and melodic creativity are definitely driving forces in Seabird’s sound.  The occasional non-conventional instrument (banjo, Glockenspiel, B3, etc.) adds greatly to the color of the album as well.  The sound ranges from upbeat, quirky pop-rock to beautiful, vulnerable ballads, often paying off with dynamic climaxes.  It’s obvious that Seabird is capable of great depth with their music.

The lyrics are full of hope and encouragement and most seem to be written to specific people.  There a few sweet love songs as well (“Baby I’m in Love”, “The Sound of You and I”, “Don’t Change a Thing”) that sound like they could be to his wife.

Much of the music in this genre hales from Nashville studios and tends to sound pretty generic and stale.  Is Seabird in a league of their own? I don’t know if I’d go that far, but they definitely have a good thing going.  With enough creativity and variety in song writing and backed by solid production, they definitely set themselves apart.

Rating: 4 stars

Tracks–

The rise of the hard music scene in popularity has given birth to hundreds of mediocre metal/hardcore bands that sound exactly the same.  That being said, it really takes something to set a band apart in such a saturated genre.  Bands like Underoath and August Burns Red have set the bar pretty high.

Blessthefall’s new album Witness is right in the center of this genre but has it’s head slightly above the sea of mediocrity.  After seeing several hardcore bands live (who shall remain unnamed for now), I’ve realized that the influence of Autotune in production has effectively spanned all genres.  Thus, one does not need to have a solid voice to make a great record.  However, Beau’s tone and melodies are great and it’s easy to tell that his singing voice is solid.  The chorus of “Hey Baby, here’s that song you wanted” is a great example.  The catchiness of this song could even make it radio-worthy.

A complaint that I often have with hard music is that there’s not enough space created in the music to make it as dynamic and powerful as this genre is meant to be.  By the end of many albums, you feel like you’re listening to the same breakdowns over and over again.  While there could be more space in Witness, the variety in their songs fends off boredom pretty effectively.

It’s pretty hard to tell where these guys stand with their message/music/mission.  While “What’s Left of Me” could easily be a song of redemption and salvation, mild profanity (included barely bleeped-out f-bombs) are occasional.  Unfortunately, this will be a deal-breaker for many listeners.  There is certainly some good lyrical content though (see above).  With the clever title, “God Wears Gucci” seems to be a song on religious hypocrisy.  It’s just that some songs exhibit redemption, and some exhibit nothing but angst and hopelessness.  I guess we’ll each be drawing our own conclusions as to where they stand and what they’re trying to say.

All in all, Blessthefall is certainly solid in their genre.  With enough interesting melodies, parts and variety to keep you listening, we can expect to hear solid tunes and see solid shows from them for a while.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Track Listing:
1. 2.0
2. What’s Left of Me
3. To Hell and Back
4. God Wears Gucci
5. Hey Baby
6. Witness
7. Last One Left
8. Five Ninety
9. We’ll Sleep When We’re Dead
10. Skinwalkers
11. You Deserve Nothing and I Hope You Get Less
12. Stay Still

Written by: Jamin Cousins

Published by: David Hitchcock

The eclectic nature of Superchick’s music has always been their M.O.  This remix album is no exception.  Few bands could pull songs reminiscent of Flyleaf (“Cross The Line”), Jason Mraz (“Let it Roll”), Muse (“Hey Hey”) alongside the power rock ballad “Still Here” and the sensitivity of “With You”.  But they not only pull it off…they somehow make sense of it.  With each new song seems to come a new sound.

The album is all remixes except for 2 new tracks.  Some of the remixes are drastically different, while some are just slight reinterpretations.  With albums like this, it’s obvious that Max, their DJ/keyboardist is a major creative force in their music and truly provides many of the distinguishing characteristics of their music.  This being their second remix album, they have definitely managed to evolve and change their music with the times.  A great example is the “Karaoke Superstars” remix, which is now a four-on-the-floor pop tune that screams “CURRENT!”.  There are one or two songs however that are remixed for the second time (first appearing remixed on “Regeneration”).  It’s few and far between that a reinterpretation of a song is worth a second or third remix and the jury’s still out on that one.

Any band that’s been around for a decade like Superchick faces the daunting challenge of staying current and relevant with either their sound or the sheer quality and accessibility of their songwriting.  This album achieves relevancy in both as they show few signs of slowing down.

Review written by: Jamin Cousins

1. Cross The Line (Box Office Blockbuster Mix)
2. Rock What You Got (Fight Underdog Fight! Mix)
3. Let It Roll – Matt Dally with Superchick
4. Karaoke Superstars (Shiny Car Advert Mix) - Superchick with ThumpMonks
5. Hey Hey (Vampires vs. Cheerleaders Mix)
6. One and Lonely (Chick Flick Mix)
7. Breathe (Don’t You Die On Me Mix)
8. Bowling Ball (Not That Into You Mix)
9. Pure (Brand New Day Mix)
10. Wishes (Teens Falling In/Out Of Love Mix)
11. Still Here
12. With You – Tricia Brock

These guys bring through speakers high energy pop rock.  One awesome unique guitar riff after another with a fast upbeat tempo mixed in with some sick synth!  ”The Secrete” is their most popular song on this album- total dance rock track that makes you wanna move.“Over and Over” is another great upbeat track you can dance to. Up beat dance isn’t all they can bring, “Recapture Me” is a real mellowed out worship song with some great strings and soft piano- its a definite cry from the heart.  Expect to see and hear your youth groups covering their music soon!

Rawkzilla magazine’s David Hitchcock

“Hearts of saints”

1. The Secret (3:52)
2. Over And Over (3:31)
3. Nothing Else (4:06)
4. Hello Grace (4:07)
5. Angels Light (3:17)
6. Recapture Me (3:36)
7. Monster (3:43)
8. Beautiful Mystery (3:38)
9. Breakdown (4:11)
10. Emmanuel (4:23)

Robbie Seay Band “ Miracle”

Robbie Seay bands brings cool contemporary worship to your church, not to edgy that an older crowd wouldn’t like it ….at the same time just enough rock/pop to keep you younger generations interested.  Robbie has a one of a kind voice- lets call it “raspy smooth.”

More than likely you’ve heard Robbie’s song  “Song of Hope” from his album “Give Yourself Away“on the radio,  even more likely -your church’s worship team covers it on Sundays.  “Song of Hope” is more rock influenced than the majority of the other tracks in “Miracle” and has a catchy rhythm I find myself bobbing my head to.

A great song from his latest album “Miracle” on the other end of the spectrum is “Beautiful Scandalous Night,” which brings a mellow melodic feel with accostic guitar, keys, female harmany vocals, and soft backround voices.  “Beautiful Scandalous Night” is a great track to have for those total chill out moods or slow dance.   “Crazy Love” (track 4) on Miracle is defiantly an upbeat cruising with the top down jam!

Robbie Seay brings a buffet of style and melody for every tasteful mood your in.

Rawkzilla Magazine’s David Hitchcock

Robbie Seay Band  ”Miracle”

Love Invades (4:32)

Awaken My Soul (3:28)

Kingdom And A King (5:46)

Crazy Love (3:59)

Miracle (4:23)

Your Love Is Strong (6:39)

Let Our Faith Be Not Alone (6:29)

We Are Not Alone (3:49)

Long Way Home (4:04)

Lament (We Cannot Wait) (6:17)

Oh, Love That Will Not Let Me Go (4:47)

Fades Away- live show review

“You’ll Never Take Me Alive” is an album/show that flip’n rocks (literally) ! They start off with a dramatic and dark track intro that builds suspense and excitement all on its own. The track appeared to be news clips and a speech compiled together on top of a heart beat and music that gets louder and louder. Lights are low, strobes are flickering, fog fills the stage – drummer (Matt), guitarist (John) and bassist (Steve) take the stage and the crowd cheers ….a few seconds after lead singer (Dave) appears fashionably late from back stage, the crowd uproars into screams as the intro track climaxes the band greets and welcomes the fans. A brief and complete silence (except the roaring crowd) arrives and they crash hard into the first song (You’ll Never Take Me Alive) as lights come up and the stage is visible !

Experiencing “Fades Away” was captivating. Their live show is full of mind-blowing sounds and back flips. Their stage presence alone paints a story of passion and aggression. This album “You’ll never take me alive” is full of hard rock guitar riffs and solos mixed with piano, synth and tracks….I love it ! Their clean and positive lyrics are full of emotion and stories of real life experiences, but more importantly the main objective of the album (I think) is that with God – you can overcome.

My favorite song is “Bury Me Alive,” I can’t get enough of the dramatic piano and harmony. The lyrics are “Break me apart from the inside so the only thing left is you.” How can you beat in your face heavy guitar, bass, and drums infused with dramatic piano, electronic synths and tracks? I will tell you, by doing it again! I was fortunate enough to hear a sample of their new album that is being recorded now.

“Fades Away” can be compared to “Linkin Park,” but with a much better message.

David Hitchcock- Rawkzilla Records & Magazine

Anointed is the first word that comes to my mind when I listen to Unhindered !  There latest album “Be” has one new favorite   track after another!  ”Be” offers us listeners a song for every mood were in- high energy pop/rock you can dance along with to soft intimate worship you can sing all day long.  I directed my worship leader to this album and my church is already using their songs for praise and worship!  The whole album is awesome but………

My favorite track on this album is “Father will you come,” I get lost in the presence of God when I Listen to this song.

Rawkzilla Magazine’s  David Hitchcock