The Meltdown 45

New music from Dynasty, Red, Mat Kearney, and Josh Garrels.

Sins

Sins is the side project of Aberlin's Joseph Milligan and it's the best music I've heard this year. Punk rock at it's finest. If you haven't given Sins a listen yet, you should.

Listen and enjoy!

Here & Gone by sinsmusic

Keep Quiet by sinsmusic

Please Take Me Home by sinsmusic

Lights Out by sinsmusic

Anti-Decompressionism by sinsmusic

Cut the Rafters by sinsmusic

Free Music Friday: Brett Detar - Bird In The Tangle

As a huge fan of the Juliana Theory I was stoked to hear that frontman Brett Detar was releasing a solo record. More stoked to find out he was releasing it for free. I didn't expect a country record. There are songs that are instant standout hits (Empty House on a Famous Hill, It's Only the Night) and songs that took a while to take hold with me. But overall the record is a fantastic country record worthy of you giving your attention to.

You can download Bird In The Tangle or free here: http://www.brettdetar.com/

The Meltdown 44

New music from Abandon Kansas, Sleeping Giant, and Sainthood Reps. Plus classic tracks from Every Day Life and Skillet.

Icon for Hire - Scripted

When I first heard Icon for Hire's debut single, Make a Move, my thought was that Tooth and Nail had found a nice Paramore sound-a-like band. It was probably an unfair judgment.

Scripted is a little all over the map and while gimmicky at times, you can hear potential. The band is cross of every female fronted act you've heard over the last 5 years. There are moments of Paramore, Flyleaf, the Letter Black, and Evanescence in there.

Theater kicks the album off and I like the song. At various points in the song you might think you're listening to Flyleaf and then Paramore. Nothing new but the song is super solid. Make a Move kicks in next and while I still hear a band that sounds like Paramore, I do like the song. The hook is super catchy and infectious and I love catchy tunes. Get Well is where Icon for Hire starts to lose me. The beefy krunk synth that intros the song and plays intermittently just doesn't connect with me. (I also realize I'm probably a good 10 years older then the bands intended audience). The Grey is a nice building ballad. There are some auto-tuned vocals on the album, something I loathe more then anything else in music.

Scripted isn't a terrible record and I did enjoy it more then I thought I would. But there's nothing special there to me. Fans of catchy female-fronted hard rock will like this record. Is it a must-own? Probably not. Is it worth a listen? Why not. The only thing awful about Icon for Hire’s T&N debut is the auto-tune.

Classic Album: Living Sacrifice - Reborn

I will state right off the back that I sleep on Reborn. It's a great record but it's not the Hammering Process and so I generally disrespect Reborn. But aside from just being a classic album, Reborn points to not only a shift in Living Sacrifice's career but also a shift in the Christian metal landscape. Reborn was genre defining and really paved the way for Zao's Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest. There was Solid State before Reborn and Solid State after Reborn.

Reborn Empowered kicks the album off and is really the only nod to the bands thrash days. Brooding, building intro that explodes into a circle pit inducing frenzy. As I've gotten older I've learned to appreciate the album a lot more. In high school all the songs sounded too similar to me. Now I notice the varying details in the riffs, the intricacies of Lance Garvin's drumming. While the guitar solos aren't the most impressive solos, they fit the songs. Reborn was Living Sacrifice trying to find a new identity, an identity they would define with the Hammering Process. If you had to ask people what song best described Living Sacrifice, I think most fans would point to Reject. The song is still a huge fan favorite live. And even though I was never a huge fan of LS before The Hammering Process, I loved Reject.

Reborn was a new step for Living Sacrifice. The first album with Bruce as lead vocalist, the first album on a new label. Reborn would take a largely unknown metal band and place them on the throne of Christian metal. No one these days argues that Living Sacrifice gets legendary status. But more then what it did for Living Sacrifice, Reborn made Christian metal more accessible. It made Solid State a more legit label and opened the door for every band that followed. It’s hard to think of an album more classic then Reborn.

Free Music Friday: Spero (Ex-Trenches) - City of Tears

Todays free music Friday comes with some bad news. A confirmation that Trenches is no more. Luckily Joel and Eli have given us a great rock record. The describes themselves as being influenced by 90's rocks. Band likes Hum, Cave In, Foo Fighters, and Codeseven. It's a great record. It's actually one of my favorite albums this year.

Note: If you don't like profanity there's a couple time the word shit is used. You've been warned.

You can download Spero's full-legnth City of Tears for free here: http://spero.bandcamp.com/

The Meltdown 43

New music from Mat Kearney, Falling Up, Sainthood Reps, The Make, Believer, Brett Detar and more.

Classic Album: The Prayer Chain - Mercury

I would argue that Mercury is one of the most underrated and unappreciated records in Christian music. Where Shawl was an alternative record ahead of it's time, Mercury was the bi-product of creative differences and inner band tension.Chris Colbert has said "you can hear the band break up on the record, you can see them extend a warm and heartfelt middle finger to the industry." I don't know how to true that statement is to the average music fan. All I know is Mercury is a great record.

From the India influenced drone of Humb that opens records, it's obvious that Mercury was not going to sound anything like Shawl. Waterdogs, Grylliade, and Creole are all pretty standard rock songs and it isn't a jarring contradiction to the bands previous work. Sky High is where things start to shift. 8 minutes of stoner rock. Swirling guitars, sweeping vocals, great stuff. Mercury and Shiver are slow moving tracks with great percussion driving them. Shiver has a killer back beat with a great lead guitar line. Manta Rae is an ambient piece that goes right into Bendy Line, one of my personal favorite Prayer Chain songs. Sun Stoned ends the record the way it began, with an Indian influenced drone, as Andy Prickett takes over vocal duties. As the name would suggest, a very stoner-esque song.

Mercury might have been the downfall of the Prayer Chain but it was also a brief glimpse at what the members of the band would do going forward. Either way, one of the greatest and most underrated records in Christian rock history.

Free Music Friday: Crosses - EP †

Crosses is the new side project of Chino Moreno (Deftones) and Shaun Lopez (Far) and they're offering their debut EP as a free download. I haven't spent a ton of time with this EP but I've given it a couple spins and it's a great driving electronic record and Chino's vocals sound great.

You can download this album right here.

Sainthood Reps - Monoculture

As someone who grew up listening to Tooth and Nail Records and loving everything (mostly) that they released, it's been sad to watch the label change. And I understand that they're a business and being a business mean you have to make money. I got that. But as a music fan I do wish every band on the label was similar to great acts like Roadside Monument, Luxury, MxPx, Driver Eight... I basically wish it were 90's again.

But I still care about Tooth and Nail. I still root for the label. With each and every new singing, I make sure to check out the new bands coming in. I keep hoping for a turn. T&N has signed great bands recently. Children 18:3, Queens Club. MewithoutYou and Run Kid Run are both great bands. But overall I haven't been impressed with what Tooth and Nail is offering.

Sainthood Reps was promised to be a throwback. A band with a "90's" sound. Comparisons to Fugazi and Nirvana were thrown out there as well as mid-west emo staples like The Promise Ring. But being from Long Island you hear comparisons to Brand New and Taking Back Sunday. So who is Sainthood Reps?

Sainthood Reps is actually a good mixture of Fugazi and The Promise ring with a little bit of Nirvana thrown. They're also the best band Tooth and Nail has signed since mewithoutYou. Monoculture is a nice blend of odd time signatures, quirky guitar rhythms, half screamed vocals. The record is a bit all over the map but in a good way. It's not boring and music these days tends to get stale quick.

Monoculture, Animal Glue, and No Survival are all songs that remind me of the great 90's DC post-punk scene. Nothing overly aggressive, but the guitars squeal and move from discordant note to discordant note, as the vocals come out less like a scream and more like a rant. DINGUS sounds like Nirvana if Nirvana had been from DC and Seattle. Telemarketeer, Hunter, and Hotfoot all have great melodies and the atmospherics on the guitar creates a nice effect that makes the difference between the driving songs and melodic songs really appealing. Widow is a great closing track. It's the one song where that Long Island emo sound comes through but it's in such contrast to the rest of the album that as an ending track, it sits so beautifully and there's nothing to hate.

Monoculture is going to find a place in the nostalgic hearts of a lot of older music fans like myself. Great debut from Sainthood Reps.

The Make - This Box

I always liked Number One Gun. Not my favorite band but there was always something nice about the band. So hearing that Jeff Schneeweis had started a new band, I was interested in what route he would take musically. Hearing Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers had signed The Make to his new label had me really interested.

This Box, the band's debut ep, is pop perfection. Five catchy, great songs. The album kicks off with Get It, the lead single, is an up tempo, catchy as hell song. The guitar work gets into your brain and Jeff's falsetto voice carries the chorus, which by the time it comes around a third time, you're singing along. This Box and Colors bring things down a little bit. Each song just as catchy as the last. Spin City will take some Number One Gun fans by surprise, as the opening line is "Get the hell out of my party". A line that I've already seen creating some buzz on the internet. Spin City is my personal favorite song on the record.

This Box is a perfect introduction to the Make, but I wish it were a full-length. The songs are so catchy and fun that five tracks is not enough. It's a great pop record. Dare I say for fans of Maroon 5? This has quickly become one of my favorite albums of the year. Good pop music still exists and This Box is proof.

The Meltdown 42

Cover songs from Thrice, Relient K, MxPx, Killswitch Engage, and Stavesacre.

Mat Kearney - Young Love

I loved There's Nothing Left to Lose. The song. The song was great. The album and me didn't really agree. After that I just ignored Mat Kearney. But there seemed to be a lot of talk about his new record Young Love. Enough talk that I picked it up. And I'm glad I did.

Young Love is far more enjoyable then I thought it would be. I was expecting a pop record and Young Love is a pop record but there is a deep hip-hop undertone to all the songs that helps keep things fun and upbeat.

Hey Mama, the first track and album's lead single, didn't grab me right away and even after several listens, it's still not my favorite track on the record. It's a fun, upbeat, minimal song, but just not my favorite. But then Ships In the Night kicks in and honestly, I was sold instantly.

To be honest, every track is some sort of variation on the first two. Minimal, upbeat, super catchy, hip-hop influenced, pop music. Even the songs that aren't upbeat, are so catchy, you can't help but enjoy them. Young, Dumb, and In Love is a great end of summer theme song. Rochester ends the record and it is a shift from the hip-hop influence as Kearney simplifies the song; just a guitar and his voice.

Young Love is quickly becoming one of my favorite records of 2011. If you hate quality, catchy pop music, you should probably avoid this album. But if you're looking for a fun record with great songs that are easy to sing a long to, then Young Love perfect. Hats off to Mr Mearney.

Debtor - Bloodseeds

Where I am constantly complaining about the current state of metalcore and my dissatisfaction with the Christian heavy music scene, there is a beacon of hope. Blood and Ink Records. Is it because I'm older? Probably. But Blood and Ink just seems to be putting out better hardcore records then anyone else right now.

Debtor's new record, Bloodseeds, is a perfect example of hardcore being done right. It's a combo of Zao's Splinter Shards and Strongarm. A perfect throwback to the old school Spirit Filled Hardcore scene. The songs are short and to the point, no filler. The first three tracks, Job’s Lament, Already Dead, and Through Death, play as one track. The record moves quickly, each track blistering into the next, slowing down for only a moment before taking off again. Which is also my only complaint. At 29 minute minutes the record is over way sooner then I want it to be.

I don’t really have the words to describe what makes this album so enjoyable so you’re stuck with this half assed review. Old school hardcore fans shouldn’t miss Bloodseeds.

Classic Album: Newsboys - Take Me to Your Leader

There are records that lose their sex appeal over time. We look at and judge bands based on their whole discography or the scene and time in which they really flourished. The Newsboys were a growing band and Step Up To The Microphone put the band over the top and shot them to CCM Super Stardom.

Take Me to Your Leader was an in between record for the Newsboys. Not Ashamed and Going Public are weird early 90's records that at moments remind of a bad version of Fine Young Cannibals (a band I do love). There are great moments on both of those records but neither record is what I would call stellar. But Take Me to Your Leader is a shift. It's the band's lone real alternative record.

God Is Not A Secret blows the doors off any song the Newsboy had or would ever do in their career. A straight up head banging rock song. Breathe, Cup Of Tea, Miracle Child, and Lost the Plot are reflect that mid-90's alternative rock scene perfectly. It's All Who You Know is more of a quirky track and might have been a prequel to the disco phase that would come later but it's a stellar track. Even the ballad, Let It Go, is a wonderful song.

Of course the songs that made this record such a hit, Breakfast and Reality, don't showcase the band's alternative side and because those are the songs that are taken from this record as the band's best of, have probably painted Take Me to Your Leader as another CCM record you're trying to forget you ever owned.

Maybe pull this record up in iTunes and give it another spin. Most of this album holds up really nicely.

The Meltdown 41

New Music from Hands, Overcome, Falling Up, and As Hell Retreats

Interview: Hands

Give Me Rest is one of my favorite albums of 2011 and so I'm extremely excited that Hands is the first band interview on Patton on Music. Big thanks go out to Shane Ochsner for taking the time to talk to me.

POM: Everything I’ve read on Give Me Rest has been extremely positive. Are you surprised by the response to the record?

SO: I am very surprised! We love our fans, and we knew that they would be excited about it. But this album has drawn in so many new people to our fan base! And all of them have had nothing but really good things to say about how much they enjoy the music, or what it's doing in their life. We are blown away, to say the least.

POM: Give Me Rest is a pretty diverse record sound wise. Can you talk about the writing process a little? How did things come together with you guys living in different parts of the country, etc?

SO: It seems like every time we write and record an album, there is some sort of crazy story behind it. Well, "Give Me Rest" is no different. I do the writing in the band, and I live in Missouri. The other dudes live in North Dakota. So our drummer Josh made a trip down to my area, to do some writing with me. We nailed down a few songs, and then made plans to finish up the rest in a few weeks. He ended up not being able to make the trip, which put me in the position of having to finish it myself. So I locked myself in my basement every night for 2 solid months, and put the songs together. The great thing about our band is that all of us in the band are down for whatever. We write what we want to write. And what people may think of it, or how many albums we'll sell, has absolutely no influence on what we do. "Give Me Rest" comes from a different place than our previous albums, and considering we do another record in the future, I can guarantee it will be totally different than one before it.

POM: There’s a nice tension in the music that’s also reflected in the lyrics. Was there intention at making sure the lyrics and music conveyed the same feelings?

SO: I think since I had written the album myself, music and lyrics, it just kind of naturally turned out that way. All of the feelings and emotion I have were channeled into the writing of the music, and the lyrics for each song.

POM: The lyrics really strike a chord with me and I think it’s the same way with a lot people. The general theme seems to be an internal struggle with God and how to relate to him. Especially when seeing things in other Christians that you feel is contrary to who God is. Can you expand on the lyrics a little?

SO: I had grown up in a Christian home. And I had spent my teenage years with other Christian friends, playing in Christian bands. I never had taken the time to actually find out who God is, why he is, and what my relationship is with him. Why I called myself a Christian. Towards the end of our time on the road, I was pretty jaded and bitter about a lot of things. I sort of fell into this deep hole of questioning everything I believe. It didn't take long for me to completely just fall off of the map. Eventually, I opened up my bible and started trying to figure things out for myself. You can ask all of the questions in the world, but you need to search for the answers. I spent too much time expecting God to just hand everything over to me. In this process of starting over, "Give Me Rest" was written.

POM: I’ve seen people say on various sites how they were saddened or upset by the lyric “God damn this place” on Cube. Why go with that wording and did Facedown have a problem with the line?

SO: If anyone had any idea what that song was actually about, or the "place" it was referring to, it would probably help with taking their minds off of the idea that I intentionally used the line to be "edgy" or to start any sort of controversy. In writing lyrics, I mean every word I say. I will someday look to these songs, and be able to understand exactly where my head was at. So in a way, this album is almost like a personal journal. How could I not write exactly what I feel? And in reference to the song, there is no other line I could have used to describe the feelings towards that particular subject. I discussed a few of the lines on this album with Facedown before it was released, knowing that some of them may raise some spark. But the album came out, and they are in full support of our band and the message "Give Me Rest" is sending to the listener.


POM: Hands really stands out in the current Christian hardcore/metal scene. What are your musical influences?

SO: All I have listened to for the past year is Jimmy Eat World, HUM, and One Republic. I'm not sure where they all tie into our sound, but I'm sure they do!

POM: You’ve gotten to play a couple of shows since Give Me Rest has come out. Is there any chance Hands will tour again?

SO: It's possible, but not very likely. We all have our own things going on in life, and they all take priority over this band. We will set up some stuff here and there, and hopefully continue to at least play the summer festivals. Keep an eye out, like I said, you never know!

POM: Back in May you guys posted a series of questions on Facebook asking your fans for their opinions on Faith, art, and worship, as well as asking your non-Christians fans, what drew them to your music. It’s the first time I’ve really seen a band use social networking to really engage their fans in a dialogue. What made you want to engage your fans in conversation like this?

SO: Like I had mentioned before, we love our fans. We like to keep the door open for anyone to communicate with us, or ask us questions. Facebook has provided a ground for us to do that. We are not here to tell anyone they are wrong, or judge anyone. And it is interesting to read people's thoughts and opinions on certain subjects. If all you have to do is post a status update to open a discussion between thousands of people all around the world, with different beliefs and opinions, then why not?

POM: What will be next for Hands? Is there more music in your future or is Give Me Rest the grand finale?

SO: Honestly, we have no idea. Will there be another Hands album? Your guess is as good as mine!

Classic Album: MxPx - Life in General

What makes an album work? What makes an album great? What makes an album popular? Right genre at the right time? Full of catchy hooks or something deeper like real meaningful lyrics that touch people in a deep way? Or is it something else?

In 1996 MxPx but all these things together and released Life in General, the album that would launch the band into the Christian and mainstream spotlight. Life in General is the first album I would designate as having that MxPx sound. Yes, both Pokinatcha and Teenage Politics had great songs but Life in General was solid start to finish. It was the beginning of MxPx's maturing without losing that teenage high school feel the band had created on their first two albums. The band was growing up and maturing right alongside their fans.

Sometimes You Have to Ask Yourself and The Wonder Years were really the songs lyrically that would be the pointer to what was going to come on Slowly Going The Way of the Buffalo. Tracks like Middlename and Move to Bremerton showcase the bands ability to write ballads. My Mom Still Cleans My Room, Andrea, Cristalena, and Do Your Feet Hurt are fantastic pop punk songs. Life In General has my favorite MxPx song and possibly my favorite song of all time, Doing Time. Of course we can't forget Life in General's big single, the one that made MxPx, Chick Magnet.

It might not be my favorite MxPx record (Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo holds that title) but Life in General makes me, and many more I'm sure, nostalgic for high school and my younger years when I would skateboard every day listening to Life In General.