The Meltdown 31

Summer Show featuring music from MxPx, The MIghty Mighty Bosstones, Fugazi, and Pax 217

So Far Away

I'm heading to Florida for the next week and so the music blog is being shutdown until I get back. Don't rock too hard while I'm gone. I'll be back to posting Tuesday May 31th.

Free Music Friday: Red Cord Records - Heavy Summer Meltdown

The label sampler is a great thing. Back in my high school days I would spend the $2 to get an album with 22 artists for me to discover and check out. It was an easy way to find out about new bands and new music.

Well cds are dead (expect to people like me who complain about the lack of music stores and buy all our cds online) and in place of the cd sampler is the free download mp3 compilation, of which I am also a fan.

Red Cord Records is a label I am just discovering with this sampler. It's a name I've seen but never checked out. Red Cord is a label for fans of metalcore/hardcore/metal. The label hosts bands like Phinehas, Your Chance To Die, and Not One is Upright. I've been spinning and digging the sampler and I look forward to checking out more from Red Cord Records.

You can download Heavy Summer Meltdown here: http://www.hailsandhorns.com/news/red-cord-records-heavy-summer-meltdown-comp-free-download/

A Storm of Light - As the Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade

I know people who read this blog would agree with me that metalcore is played out. We wish a movement of Christian stoner/doom/sludge metal bands would emerge in the current scene. But since it hasn't happened, we'll (I'll) continue listening to mainstream stoner metal.

A Storm of Light has been around a couple years and features former members of Neurosis and Red Sparowes. As The Valley of Death is the band's third full-length record. And if you have any remote interest in doom metal, you should pick this album up. Think along the lines of a less evil sounding Neurosis.

As soon as Missing kicked in, I was hooked. A very driving song with a sick guitar solo (and I love guitar solos). As the Valley never gets too heavy, relying on strong riffs, good melodies, and strong musicianship to carry the album. While not as proggy as Mastodon's Crack the Skye, it's a good reference for the textures on As the Valley of Death.

I don't know how this album compares to A Storm of Light's previous albums but on its own merit, it's a killer record. The solos are solid, the songs are strong and never too long. If you're in need of a good doom metal record, I recommend picking this one up.

Face to Face - Laugh Now, Laugh Later

Punk isn't a genre of music that's bee popular of productive lately. The same bands continue to make record and play Warp Tour. One time punk giants like Green Day and Blink 182 have abandoned their punk sound altogether. It's hard to think that there was a time when pop punk bands like New Found Glory, MxPx, and Good Charlotte dominated radio airplay. Punk gave way to emo and for the last ten years rock music has tried to find some footing and gain ground in a music scene that's constantly changing.

But change isn't always good and the punk bands that have lasted have made sure to keep it simple, and keep it good.

So Face to Face is back after 9 years with Laugh Now, Laugh Later and the band picked up right where they left off. You could insert Laugh Now, Laugh Later anywhere in Face to Face's discography and it would fit perfectly.

Top to bottom, Laugh Now, Laugh Later is a fun record. A great punk record from a great punk band. Face to Face knocked it out of the park on their return.

The Meltdown 30

New music from Blindside and Moving Mountains

Swimming with Dolphins - Water Colours

When I first read that Tooth and Nail had signed Swimming with Dolphins, my only thought was that T&N was trying to capitalize off of the popularity of Owl City. Finding out that Adam Young was once in Swimming with Dolphins only confirmed my belief. Now I enjoy Owl City and I like the Postal Service. It's not like I don't like electronic pop music. But my expectations for Water Colours were low. And when I heard the album's first single, Sleep to Dream, they remained low.

Water Colours is better then I had expected... At least to start the record. Holiday is a great opening track. Super upbeat and catchy with a great hook. Just a really infectious song. Easy has a nice synth line but there's not a lot to song that grabs you and makes you want to listen. Sleep to Dream has grown on me a little but its super 80's lead synth intro just doesn't make sense to me. Diplomat is upbeat and makes me think of sunshine and skipping through the park but in the end, the hook just isn't catchy enough.

The rest of Water Colours is pretty forgettable. And that's the problem with Swimming with Dolphins, they're forgettable. Minus Holiday, there are no great hooks on this album. A couple of decent melodies but the songs are empty and just don't have that charm or poppiness needed to make Water Colours a good record.

David Bazan - Strange Negotiations

Curse Your Branches was a great album. Bazan's return to personal, storytelling lyrics was great. His chronicled struggle with faith and his ultimate "break-up" with God was really refreshing. And even if you struggled with the lyrical content and with what Bazan was saying, as a long a long time Pedro the Fan, it was an honest album and a sot of getting back to what made Bazan a great songwriter.

I only saw last week that David Bazan was back with his follow-up to Curse Your Branches and I was excited and curious to see what lyrical route Bazan would take on his new record.

Wolves at the Door is biting and has a hint of anger. As Bazan sings "You're a goddamn fool and I love", you start to wonder what the song is actually about. The song ends and the listener is engaged and drawn in, waiting for what's next.

But Wolves at the Door is the high point on the record and nothing else on Strange Negotiations comes close to being that engaging.

Level With Yourself sounds like a Pedro the Lion track from Achilles Heel. Lyrically Bazan is still addressing his lack of faith and trying to reconcile that with those he loves but still have their faith in tack. People seems like Bazan is taking a shot at Christians and how the church doesn't act like what Bazan believes the bible says they should be. It's an interesting song lyrically. Eating Paper is Bazan addressing fans and people who want to talk about his walking away from his faith. It's an angry song, an annoyed song.

Strange Negotiations is a little all over the place musically. It sounds more like a Pedro the Lion record then Bazan previous solo efforts. It's not bad, but nothing is super catchy or compelling outside of Wolves at the Door. There are moments in songs but not whole songs.

And with Bazan the focus is the lyrics and Bazan does a good job at keeping things pretty cryptic. I would love to get Bazan’s personal explanation for each song.

It’s a good record but after Cures Your Branches I was hoping for more.

Wolves At The Door by David Bazan

Classic Album: P.O.D. - The Fundamental Elements of Southtown

It's been twelve years since Southtown was released... TWELVE YEARS!!! I remember waiting and waiting for this record to come out. I know a lot of fans have a connection with Brown, and that Satellite was P.O.D.'s biggest album (which turns ten in September...wow). But The Fundamental Elements of Southtown was an album that exploded P.O.D. in the spotlight.


Southtown is an incredible record and an important record for Christian music. P.O.D. was the first band to really break through and rise above being just a "Christian band".

But outside of what the record did for P.O.D. and Christian music, the record flat out destroys. Yes, the interludes slow things down at times, but the every song is solid.

As Sonny screams "You'll never get the best of me" on the end of Hollywood, you know you're listening to something special. When Southtown kicks in and P.O.D. explodes, my world was rocked. Rock the Party is a super fun song and it's no wonder why it was the first rock video to ever hit number one on TRL. Lie Down doesn't get the praise it deserves. By far my song on the album. The change of pace on Set Your Eyes to Zion is a nice break in the record. The cover of Bullet the Blue Sky puts U2's version to shame. And the record ends with Outkast... Again, one of the strongest tracks on the album and all around killer song.

Not even taking into account the major impact the record had, the Fundamental Elements of Southtown is so solid a record from start to finish that it deserves all the praise it got and probably more. Southtown was P.O.D.'s coming out party and they delivered.

Free Music Friday: The Silent Ballet Compilations

The Silent Ballet is a site whose main focus is post rock, ambient, and electronic artists. For the last 4 years they've released compilations as free downloads and they're great. Through these compilations I've discovered great artists like Caspian, Magyar Posse, Gifts From Enola, pg.Lost, Signal Hill, Arms and Sleepers and tons more.

There are 16 Silent Ballet Compilations that you can check out here. http://www.thesilentballet.com/dnn/Compilations/tabid/53/Default.aspx

Moving Mountains - Waves

There are moments when an album captures your attention and begs for you to just stop and listen to it. When the music is beautiful and so compelling that you're instantly in love with it. Moving Mountains' Waves is that record.

In short I would say Waves is an ambient version of Thrice. I could leave it at that. While guitar lines and song structures at times remind me Thursday but Moving Mountains is so similar in sound to Thrice that the comparison is easy. But it's not so simple. I've never been so moved or compelled by Thrice to a point where I get lost in the music and am so enraptured and in love with a sound.... Moving Mountains have released something special.

The album starts with My Life is Like a Chase Dream (And I'm Still Having Chase Dreams) and it flat out rocks. A nice, dance style vibe on the verse but the chorus is so big that when the song ends, I don't even remember the verse. Where Two Bodies Lie doesn't have the greatest start. Its very Thursday esque and honestly, your standard post hardcore/emocore thing going on. But the end of the song, again, makes you forget the first half of the track.

Big, huge, open choruses flood Waves. The guitars move from ambient intros, to mathy riffs, into huge open chord choruses. Each song explodes onto your stereo and the dynamic range and shifts between the nice ambient quiet layers, to the loud, screamed choruses make for an enjoyable listening experience. The band claims Appleseed Cast as an influence and that comes out on The Cascade. But the tracks like Alleviate sound like the Thrice themselves could've preformed the song.

From start to finish Waves is an incredible record and Moving Mountains should be proud. They've created something really great.

Blindside - With Shivering Hearts We Wait

It's been 6 years since Blindside's last full-length, The Great Depression, and 4 years since the band's last ep, The Black Rose. Fans have been waiting years for word on what Blindside was up to. Well this year, the much anticipated new album, With Shivering Hearts We Wait was unleashed on fans.

Pre-orders of the album came with an early download and I'm glad I pre-ordered this record. Waiting another month for an official release was going to be too long.

With Shivering Hearts We Wait was my second most anticipated new album of 2011 and it doesn't disappoint. Fans of the band since Silence should be excited about this record. While almost all post-hardcore elements have vanished from the bands sound (minus a few screams here and there), the album is Blindside through and through.

The opening guitar riff on There Must Be Something In the Water is similar to the guitar work on the Great Depression but the quality of the recording is so much better. My Heart Escapes is really the framework in which WSHWW plays. Blindside playing rock music. Just like Silence and About a Burning Fire, great vocals on a down verse into a high energy chorus. Fans weren't thrilled with the premiere of Monster on the Radio but in the context of the album the song works wonderfully. While lyrically it might be a tad on the cheesy side, the band is clearly singing about past major label experience and there's nothing wrong with the song.

It's All I Have is a sort new of sound for Blindside. A big bombastic rock and roll song but Christian's vocals never let the band stray far from who they are. Our Love Saves Us is my favorite track on the record. A little more dancey and electronic then we're used to hearing from Blindside but the song is freaking amazing. For those hoping for a heavy song, you are in luck. Bring Out Your Dead is a full throttle, full throat; scream your lungs out song. Withering isn't a ballad but it might be the "ballad" of the album. It's got a beautiful chorus.

With Shivering Hearts We Wait is amazing and Blindside fans shouldn't be disappointed. Yes, their sound has moved farther away from their hardcore roots, but Blindside might be an even better rock band then they were hardcore band. This is another most own record.

The Meltdown 29

New music from Emery, Eisley, Wolves at the Gate. Plus tracks from Sleeping Giant and the Great Commission.

Ark of the Covenant - Seperation

Every once in a while a record comes out and I get all old man and yell at the damn kids to get off my lawn and take their skinny jeans, flat billed baseball hats, and deathcore elsewhere.

Ark of the Covenant’s Strike Fist Records debut ep, Separation, is one such record.

It's not a terrible ep. But I feel like there are a lot of things going on. The Introduction (that's the songs name) is straight up Deathcore in the vain of Emmure or the Acacia Strain. The Book of Life is ok, until we hit the "hook", which is only awful because of the guitar squeals. Not sure why these are popular. And then halfway through the song, our ears are assaulted with a terrible, high pitched vocal. I understand what they were going for but Ark of the Covenant just can't pull it off.

All Inhabitants of the Earth is a solid song. The super low pitched growl is a minor annoyance but it doesn't kill the track like the high pitch screams do on The Book of Life. The clean vocals are just subtle enough to not take away from the track, although they do come out of left field and make you do a double take. Locusts Look Like Horses is the best track on the album. While there's nothing groundbreaking, it's the most solid and straight forward track on the album.

Separated ends the record, and it's a head scratcher. A low key, mostly spoken word track. It's a nice worshipful moment at the end of the album, but it again just seems to come out of nowhere.

It's not my favorite record Facedown/Strike First has put out in the last two years but you can hear the potential that's there. Some more focus and Ark of the Covenant could be a great band.

Classic Album: The Dingees - Armageddon Massive

Certain albums speak to places in my life more then others. The Dingees’ Armageddon Massive could be a time capsule for the 1997 version of me. The perfect blend of punk and ska. The soundtrack for a kid just learning to skateboard, skank, and mosh.

Ghetto Box Smash is punk perfection. Fun, upbeat, super catchy. Chaos/Control is punk with a ska swing. Another great tune to dance too. And then Bullet Proof comes swinging in, horns blaring. One of my favorite ska songs to date. Could Be Worse has a great west coast hip-hop feel, but its all ska. It's dark and just enough of a change of pace to keep the record interesting. Rebel Youth is a great sing-a-long song.

Armageddon Massive might be a little all over the board musically but it's a perfect picture of the mid-90's punk and ska scene. It’s my favorite Dingees record. It has their most memorable songs and in my opinion their strongest record, start to finish. The songs are catchy, upbeat, danceable, and all around just fun. A great record for the summer.

Free Music Friday: Come & Live Records

Come & Live Records is run by Chad Johnson, who in a former life ran my favorite label Takehold before being bought out and working for Tooth and Nail. From their website:

"Come&Live! is a 501(c)3 non-profit community dedicated to proclaiming the good news of Jesus.
By joining hands with artists {musicianaries}, we provide them with guidance, direction and accountability to model a life of genuine faith. Our focus is in promoting the only true enduring treasure - loving others and living like JESUS. We choose to share music and profit as a humble example of radical generosity. We live simply to give generously, encouraging others to do the same. Our prayer is that God would use us to Give. Love. Share. and Revive."

All the albums are free downloads and Come & Live has some excellent releases. My fvaorite include:

Holding Onto Hope - Of the Sea (Post Hardcore
Everett - Destinations (Instrumental)
The Sleep Design - Not All Music is Silence (Post Rock)
Lovelite - Nearness (Indie)
Ascend the Hill - Hymns (Indie/Worship)
SHowbread - Who Can Know It (Indie/Post Punk)

There are tons of other albums, all free. Check them out. http://comeandlive.com/downloads/

The Meltdown 28

New Music from Hyland, Hope for the Dying, Propaganda, Explosions in the Sky, Cool Hand Luke and Thursday

Hyland - Weights & Measures

Which each new band and release from Tooth and Nail, my standards drop. At the moment when T&N signs a new band and they put out an album I hope that it's decent. If there's potentialfor the band to be awesome, I call it a win. A far cry from the days when every T&N release was a must own and found it's way into my collection.

Can I grade Tooth and Nail's 2011 releases so far?

I Am Empire - Kings: B
Hawk Nelson - Crazy Love: B
Aaron Gillespie - Anthem Song: B
Emery - We Do What We Want: A+
FM Static - My Brain Says Stop But My Heart Says Go: C-

See, mostly decent. One great record and one clunker. So I wasn't sure what to expect with Hyland. There was a lot of hype surrounding Weights & Measures but hype doesn't always equal a great record.

Hyland is your average pop rock band in the vain of Anberlin, Run Kid Run, and Jimmy Eat World. But Hyland isn't at the same level as the bands mentioned... Yet. Weights & Measures took a couple of listens for me to start to enjoy it but the third and fourth listen brought more enjoyent and I can hear potential for greatness.

The album opener, and first single, Jumping the Gun has all the makings for a nice poppy spring and summer hit but the chorus just isn't catchy or memorable enough to grab the listeners attention. Although right from the get go, I'm reminded of Anberlin's debut. The One That Got Away was so similar to Anberlin that it came as no surprise to find out that Stephen Christian from Anberlin lended his vocal talents to that song.

It's not until track four, Crying Out, that the recrd starts to take form. It's a nice track, that isn't a cookie cutter Anberlin song. Then comes the worshipful This Love is Free. Powerful lyrics without being uber cheesy, which can be hard to do with worship songs. Fireworks is the best song on the album. The song has the most energy of any track on the record. While it does remind me directly of Ready Fuels, the hook is catchy and different enough to be enjoyable on it's own. Heart to Life is another notable, standout track.

If I had to grade Hyland's debut, I'd give it a B. It's a decent record and there's tons of potential for this band going forward. I imagine this being one of T&N's new big sellers. It's worth a listen.

Classic Album: Blindside - A Thought Crushed My Mind

A Thought Crushed My Mind is Blindside's best album. Ask.... Well anyone really. A chaotic post hardcore hybrid similar to fellow Refused and Selfmindead. A sound developed and perfected by the Swedish hardcore bands in the mid 90's.

A Thought Crushed My Mind was a huge step forward to Blindside's self-titled debut. The chaos was still there but amped to a new level. ATCMM had a new level of beauty as well. The melodies don't shine through as they do on later Blindside records and part of that is due to production of the record.

Vow of Silence kicks the album off with a bang. Instantly, the album was more intense then Blindside's debut. King of the Closet was the perfect lead single for the album. Christian screaming I'm a Vampire for the chorus was so catchy and easily memorable without being super poppy. My Mother's Only Son isn’t your traditional melodic song but the melodies on the chorus are so nicely done and make this one of my favorite tracks on the record. Nara is a beautiful track done in the band's native Swedish language.

Listening to this album now you can hear hoe Blindside got from A Thought Crushed My Mind to Silence. There are those nice melodic moments in the songs and the band's transition doesn’t seem so far fetched now. Yes, Blindside is no longer the chaotic post hardcore outfit they once were they are still one best original bands making music.