Shine Bright Baby - Dreamers

Cheesy christian pop or great pop music? That's the line that Shine Bright Baby walks on their BEC debut, Dreamers. If you listen to Shine Bright Bay's previous work you hear solid emo tinged rock music that speaks to being influenced by band's like Paramore. Very solid and you can understand why BEC would sign them. A great young band.

And there's a lot of great rock and roll moments on Dreamers. But Dreamers is more. Somewhere between Paramore and Britt Nicole is where Shine Bright Baby falls. And that's pretty good company to be in and fall between.

Made To Glow is a great album opener that showcases both where the band came from and this new direction. An upbeat song to get kids dancing, with a nice anthemic hook. It's a killer pop song. Overcome slowly builds into a dance track. Beautiful Love is more bubbly. Still upbeat and catchy. The first three tracks set a nice groundwork for Dreamers.

Love Restores isn't my favorite song on the record. There's nothing to hate about the track, but it feels like a song I already heard Hyland record. A solid ballad to give Dreamers some balance. Just not my favorite song. But Shine Bright Baby jumps right back into pop goodness with Difference. The Brave Ones is the only all out rock and roll track. Never Too Far is a fantastic hook that has radio single written all over it.

Lyrically, Dreamers is shallow at times. Where the songs have great pop dance grooves, or strong rock hooks, the lyrics don't always progress past skin deep CCM themes. There's nothing inherently wrong with that but at times it distracts from how good the music is.

There is more good than bad and Dreamers is an extremely enjoyable record. It's solid bubblegum rock/pop. Shine Bright Baby have delivered an excellent debut. And I expect nothing but big things from them in the future.

Abandoned Pools - Somnambulist

It feels like Abandoned Pools just released Sublime Currency, but it's been over  a year since the album's release and a lot longer since the band actually finished the record. I loved Sublime Currency and the new electronic elements. But I've always been a fan of Abandoned Pools and their sound.

Leaving Tooth and Nail behind, Somnambulist incorporates a lot of the electronic of Sublime Currency, while digging a little deeper into their indie rock roots.

Focus has a quirky drum machine, that feels offbeat with the melody, while a symphonic electronic background plays. The melody and music are beautiful and while the drum machine feels weird at first, it quickly gets lost in the beauty of the song. Occupy chimes in more lovely than Focus, without the weird out of rhythm drums. Tommy Walter's fantastic falsetto voice carries it's way through the chorus. If Only has an explosive rock quality without losing any beauty. Arms Race is the most old school sounding sound, for fans who miss the sound from the band's first two records. Walking Disaster, despite it's name, sounds like a beautiful walk through a park with Mary Poppins.

Somnambulist is full of beautiful melodies and sweeping soundscapes. Each song as beautiful and enrapturing as the one before it. Somnambulist might not be as grand as Sublime Currency but it makes up for that in sheer beauty. This is some of the band's best work yet. I only there's more where this came from.

Phinehas - The Last Word Is Yours To Speak

Phineshas' previous record, The God Machine, was hyped. The band was the best thing in metalcore since... I'm not sure since what but people had high praise for the band and record. I didn't see it. The record was fine, but nothing special or earth shattering, or even that deserving of the hype it was getting. But The Last Word Is Yours To Speak found it's release with not a ton of attention. The music scene has shifted in the previous couple of years but you'd think that with all the attention The God Machine got that Phinehas' star wouldn't have dimmed so quickly.

Unlike The God Machine, I really enjoy The Last Word Is Yours To Speak. It's not that Phinehas has flipped their sound on it's head. But there's something in the songs that work for me.


Fleshkiller is a solid metalcore song, with a strong hook. It's a nice riff on the hook and the solo is brilliant. The movement from the solo back into the hook reminds me of Haste the Day in all the right ways! Blood On My Knuckles has a subtle southern twinge in the guitar riff. It's just enough to break whatever monotony you might be expecting. Dyson Sphere is a great building crescendo that expresses a sense of urgency that draws the listener in.

Tons of killer riffs, catchy hooks, and heaviness to boot. The Last Word Is Yours To Speak is the record I wish The God Machine had been. Heavy and catchiness. Enough variety song to song to keep the record from becoming monotonous and boring. Fans of Haste the Day, Oh Sleeper, and The Showdown (yep, you read that right) will love The Last Word Is Yours To Speak. I'm finally a fan of Phinehas.

Thirtyseven - This Is What I Want

I love pop punk. Catchy and infectious, pop punk. But it seems like the only people in the pop punk business are the same people who have been making pop punk for the last 10+ years. So I was pleasantly surprised my first listen through Thiryseven's new record, This Is What I Want.

This Is What I Want is full of catchy hooks, thought provoking lyrics, and fun times. Fans of New Found Glory, Side Walk Slam, and Slick Shoes should find a new favorite in Thirtyseven.

There's a slight hardcore tinge in the gang vocals on songs like Everyday, I Hate My Job Way Too Much To Not Do That, and Story of The Year that will reminds people of Close Yours Eyes or Stretch Arm Strong, but Thirtyseven is pure pop punk. The catchiness out of the gates on You Made Your Beard, Now Lie In It, all the way to Best Of Me is infectious and a dozen or so listens through the record, it's just as enjoyable now as it was when I first hit play. Called Out is a great punk "ballad". Moving On is a great surprise at the end of the record, the offers a hardcore side of Thirtyseven. It's a well done track that doesn't feel awkward or misplaced.

This Is What I Want is a thoroughly enjoyable record, perfect for the end of the summer. Great, catchy, memorable hooks. Pop punk perfection.

The Meltdown 2.1

Last night the Meltdown premiered on the GRok radio network! I'm stoked to be a part of the GRok family and am excited to see what's next for the Meltdown. There's a couple glitches in the Broadcast and some things I'm still working out, but I'm proud to bring you the Meltdown 2.1!

This week we have new music from Extol, Number One Gun, and Thirtyseven. Plus music from Demon Hunter, leach, and Alert.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio

The Meltdown 123

New music from The Burial, Soul Embraced, and Paramore. Plus big show news.

*Fix - Mars Ill's Sound Off is from the album Pro Pain, not Backbreakanomics. 

Flyleaf - Who We Are

When Lacey announced she was leaving Flyleaf, I wasn't sure what to expect from Flyleaf going forward. When Kristen May from Vedera was announced as the new vocalist, I gave Vedera a listen. And honestly I wasn't sure how she was going to fit in with Flyleaf. Lacey's passion and vocal style was Flyleaf. 

Unless you've seen Flyleaf live, Who We Are is the first chance to hear the new look Flyleaf. 

The only new song on the record is Something Better. The song features Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. and if you were worried that Flyleaf's sound was going to change, this song will have all sorts of bells and whistles and warning flares going off in your head. 

Something Better is a great song. Extremely catchy and the play between May and Sandoval works beautifully. It's more of a rock song, but Flyleaf has slowly been going more rock than hard rock over their last two records. It doesn't have the same bite lyrically or vocally as the band's previous work, but new vocalist/lyricist will do that. A great song but it marks a huge shift for Flyleaf, which is natural. 

The rest of the ep is the band live. Call You Out sounds great vocally. May does a pretty good job capturing some of Strum's vocal nuances. Fire Fire and Sorrow option sound good but May's voice is without a doubt, sweeter sounding than Strum's. The same grit, pain, and passion isn't felt. 

Who We Are is an enjoyable ep, and a good glimpse for Flyleaf fans at new vocalist Kristen May. Something Better is a great song that I see having a lot of radio playability. If fans freak out or love it is yet to be seen. But I think there's still life and hope in Flyleaf. 

Soul Embraced - Mythos

It's been five years since Soul Embraced released Dead Alive. Dead Alive was a masterpiece. Technically appealing with lots of great melodies fueled by anger driven lyrics. But it also marked the end of a chapter. Lance Garvin would step down as the band's drummer to focus on Living Sacrifice and Rocky Gray would give up guitar duties and become the band's new drummer. It also marked the end of the band's relationship with Solid State Records.

New era, a new label, and a new record that took far too long to see the light of day. But Soul Embraced, with the the help of Kickstarter and Rottweiler Records, have finally given us the long awaited follow-up to Dead Alive, Mythos.

There's a tinge of disappointment when I listen to Mythos. Just a tinge. The melodies from Dead Alive are gone and I do miss Rocky Gray's guitar work. (Thank goodness there's a new Living Sacrifice record coming out this year). A lot of what I loved about Dead Alive isn't on Mythos. And a lot of why I was never a huge Soul Embraced fan from their earlier records, is back on Mythos.

Mythos is a brutal, punch you in the face metal record. There's more blast beats on Mythos than on any other Soul Embraced record. Transhuman features guest vocals by Bruce Fitzshugh and it's my favorite track on the record.

Mythos is a top to bottom, solid record. The songs are heavy. I think Soul Embraced fans will absolutely love this record. It's more of a throwback to Immune and This is My Blood. More death metal. I just thought Dead Alive was this grand next step for Soul Embraced and Mythos just doesn't live up to that record. Not that it should, but as a personal preference, I wish Mythos had been more like Dead Alive.

Regardless of my personal wants and opinions, Mythos is still an excellent death metal record that Soul Embraced fans will love.

The Burial - In The Taking Of Flesh

I'm a huge fan of the Burial. I loved the band's debut, The Winepress, and I was even more enamored with their tech metal follow-up, Lights and Perfections. The progression and maturity between the two records was wonderful and even if the Burial released Lights and Perfections part two, the album would be brilliant.

In The Taking Of Flesh is another musical progression, further into tech metal goodness. Full of riffs, solos, complex time signatures and time changes, In The Taking Of Flesh should make any metal fan happy. But my favorite thing about In The Taking Of Flesh is the rawness.

As much as I love Lights and Perfection, there's something about the raw sound of In The Taking Of Flesh that I love so much more. In fact, it's so raw that when The Burial released he lyric video for Wretched Restless Forms, I wasn't sure I was going to like In The Taking Of Flesh. It's a solid metal song but there are more hardcore elements in the opening riff and the song, on it's own, seemed lacking and a little uninteresting when compared to Lights and Perfection. Lucky, in context, the song works a lot better.

As soon as I hit play and En-Hakkore started, my fears about In The Taking of Flesh vanished. A nice haunting strings and keys intro before the Burial bursts into epic riff upon epic riff. The song is so enjoyable that I don't even notice when Itching Ears starts. There are some of those hardcore elements that make their appearance early in the song but Itching Ears is a full on metal assault. Both the title tracks (named Theanthropos and Diakonos) are absolutely fantastic tracks. The songs feel both more and less technical than Lights and Perfections. There's more riffs and less guitar wankery.

As different as In The Taking of Flesh is at times, there's nothing about this record that will disappoint fans of The Burial. The band is one of Facedown's best and brightest. This is another step in a positive direction. It's pure metal, through and through.

The Meltdown 122

New music from Skillet, Spoken, The Ongoing Concept, and Relient K.

Ska Lives Volume 3

The third edition of Ska Lives hit the web this week. Ska fans everywhere rejoiced. Volume three is easily the best compilation so far. The album features tracks from ska veterans (The OC Supertones, The Insyderz, and Christafari), the next generation of ska bands you might be familiar with (October Light, Atombender, Sounds of Salvation) and brand new acts (Bombshell Academy, Draw the Parade, and The Big Fix). Plus an unreleased track from the Dingees. (Track is from 1996. The original line-up).

This 28 track collection will have you skanking for almost 2 hours.

You can download Ska Lives: Volume 3 for free at http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2013/06/30/ska-lives-vol-3/

Relient K - Collapsible Lung

I've been waiting for Relient K to follow-up Forget And Not Slow Down. The maturity and craftsmanship on that record made me a fan of the band.

While it's easy to say Relient K has come along way since Marilyn Mason ate their girlfriend, but Collapsible Lung is an entirely new chapter for Relient K. Matt Thiessen has stated that he wanted to make a purely pop record and that's what Collapsible Lung is. To be honest, it's probably not as big a shift in sound as many, myself included, will make of it.

The album's opener, Don't Blink, is an absolutely fantastic song. Super catchy and upbeat with a great hook. It's an enjoyable song and I wish more tracks on the record were like it. Boomerang instantly shifts my perspective. I might be more inclined to like Boomerang if there were real drums on the track and not just programmed, computer drums. It's not a terrible song but it feels different. Lost Boys feels like it could just as easily be a Katy Perry song. Take that as you will.

I Could Take You Home has a great 80's vibe. Another one of my favorite's on the record. Can't Complain is a song I've heard on multiple occasions from the likes of Train and Francesca Battistelli. Upbeat, island type song. Gloria wants to be a punk song but Relent K won't let it get there. Where the song should explode into pop punk goodness, it's reined in and becomes this catchy pop rock song. It's feels like the verse and chorus are disconnected. PTL (Part-Time Lover) is a weird song. I'd imagine hearing Carly Rae Jespen singing it. And lyrically... It would have some spiritual correlation or be a spiritual analogy, but it feels like a weird song for Relient K.

There are some things to like about Collapsible Lung. And the knowledge that the band has said their next record will be a rock record, maybe even a punk rock record, is something to look forward to. But after how great Forget And Not Slow Down was, Collapsible Lung feels like a letdown. It's not what I was hoping for and I'd imagine a lot of Relient K fans will also be disappointed. I hope Relient K finds whatever they hope this record does for them. Because it leaves me feeling empty.

Christ's Sake - Christ's Sake

Thumper Punk's newest band is Christ's Sake and the label has released the band's 2012 self-titled record.

Christ's Sake feels like new ground for Thumper Punk. While the label has a variety of bands and none of them play the same style of punk. But Christ's Sake is has something else going on. The band is less punk than you'd expect from Thumper Punk.

Christ's Sake is a great record. Fun music and faith-filled lyrics. Jesus is Calling and Lift Up are rock song with some minor country sounding elements. They remind me of Tragedy Ann. 23, My Jesus, and Revival are good old fashioned pop punk goodness. I Pray is straight forward punk rock. Find My Way Out has some killer ska elements. Fill Me Up and Set Me Free end the record on an acoustic note. It might sound like the album is a little all over the place but it's the diversity that helps make it such an interesting and good listen.

Christ's Sake might not be what you'd expect from Thumper Punk Records, and I like that. Christ's Sake bring something different and fresh to the table.

Palms - Palms

Just hearing that the members of Isis were going to do a record with Chino Moreno on vocals was enough for me to give it a record of the year nod, without hearing a note. The music of Isis with Moreno's vocals... How could that be bad?

And Palms is exactly that. Isis with Moreno on vocals. Maybe a little less metal than Isis but Isis none the less. Palms self-titled record is calm and soothing. Even when songs crescendo and explode, Moreno's voice is a constant calm.

The balance between beautiful ambient guitar work and crescendoing peaks is perfect. It's a great soundtrack to get lost in. There aren't layers upon layers to discover. Just well done, beautiful music. It's not complicated, and that's what makes Palms such a great record.

Palms works on every level. It's just good music.