Rival Schools - Pedals

2011 is the year of the reunion. Well, at least the reunion albums. Overcome's was great and the Get Up Kids' was... disappointing. The problem with bands reforming and releasing new music is I want it to sound like their old music.

Rival Schools have returned with Pedals, their second full-length and the long awaited follow up to 2001's United by Fate. And Rival Schools have gotten better. It's classic emocore. I haven't listened to United by Fate in many years but Pedals has a classic sound that trumps United by Fate.

From the first dischordant notes on Wring it Out, I'm instantly taken back to the mid-90's. Everything from the guitar riffs, the slightly off-timing of each song, and Walter Schreifels' vocals, all harken back to a different era in music. I get lost listening to Pedals and I find myself unaware that this is actually a new album.

From top to bottom Pedals is a great record and it's the best record I've heard this year. It brings back enough nostalgia for me to be absolutely in love with it and older music fans will also probably fall in love with Pedals.

The album does have some minor flaws. A couple of the songs don't pop (Racing to Red Lights, Shot After Shot) and so they come across as filler tracks. Good songs, but compared to 69 Guns or A Parts for B Actors, they don't catch my attention the same way. The album doesn't end on the strongest note either. The Ghost is Out There is a solid song but the guitar solo loses me.

Overall Pedals is a strong does of nostalic rock and roll for my soul and it's a killer album.

The Meltdown 23

New music from Craig's Brother, Eisley, Gideon, and Emery.

Abandon Kansas - As Astra Per Aspera

Abandon Kansas is a band name I've heard for a while and never heard any music from. So I was looking forward to giving their new full-length, Ad Astra Per Aspera, a spin.

Listening to the recorded yesterday I was pretty unimpressed. The record just didn't give me any reason to keep listening and honestly I didn't understand why people liked them so much.

But this morning the album revealed itself in a new to me. Nothing changed, I just heard it differently. It's not a fresh take on anything. It's just a clean pop/rock record.

Heaven Come My Way kicks the album off with a steady back beat and a clean driving guitar. The song doesn't appear to be catchy but I found myself singing the chorus late last night. It's a simple melody that finds its way into your brain. And that's the way most of the album is. Liar and Like It or Not continue the rock vibe on the album. Subtle catchy songs with nice hooks and a strong rhythm section driving the songs along.

But then the album takes a turn. The songs are still rock songs but these aren’t your driving rock songs. The Golden State, the albums first single, has a memorable guitar line the compliments Jeremy Spring's vocals has he sings "California's burning like a cigarette, flick the ash into the sea. California's burning, the whole state's gonna fall in, If you don't stop falling, for me."

The album is full of beautiful songs. Each song moving into the next, each one as beautiful as the one before. The song writing is strong and I didn't feel like I had been listening to the same song over and over. Each track has its own texture and movement.

Fans of the Fray, Mat Kearney, and Kings of Leon will love this album. It's a solid album.

The Echoing Green - In Scarlet & Vile

The last time I listened to the Echoing Green was 1998's self-titled release. And it's been a while since the band's last album, 2003's The Winter of Our Discontent.

In Scarlet & Vile starts off so well that everything after the opening track, Heaven (The Devil In the Details), doesn't live up to what I hoped for. Revenge has an interesting, almost Nine Inch Nails/Industrial verse, but then gives way to a happy electronica chorus that doesn't do anything for me. Dead Hearts is a killer song that reminds me of the Echoing Green of old. But then Crybaby kicks in and the auto alone turns me off. The cover of Fold Zandura's King Planet was a nice surprise but it's not nearly as compelling as the original.

In Scarlet and Vile has some great tracks and it has some nice songs but I don't know if this record is going to catch anyone attention who's not already an Echoing Green fan.

Craig's Brother - The Insidious Lie

There are certain bands that gain popularity after they're gone. I'm going to say Craig's Brother is one of those bands that has gained cult status since their departure from Tooth and Nail and their break-up. Lost at Sea is a christian punk classic.

So Craig's Brother is back with the Insidious Lie. And I'm going to dub it their best work yet. An updated version of the band's pop punk stylings.

Right out of the gate, Freedom kicks in with a catchy hook, and an infectious pop punk sound that hooks you. Thousand Yard Stare, Adaline, and The Problem of Evil are some of catchiest and best Craig's Brother songs ever while Mistake of Caring, Insidious Lie, Party Girl, and Closure are all solid pop punk tracks.

It's nothing new but it's pop punk done so well that I would argue it doesn't need to be new. The Insidious Lie is so infectious from the start and doesn't let up that I couldn't help but like the album. While there are only a handful of what I'd label as standout tracks (Freedom, Thousand Yard Stare, The Problem with Evil), there aren't any bad songs on the record.

The Insidious Lie is pop punk goodness. Another great record from Craig's Brother.

Gideon - Costs

Gideon is the newest band on Facedown records. Their debut album Costs impressed Jason Dunn so much that he moved the band from Strike First to Facedown before the album's release. Early reviews have been postive but I'm a little torn.

As stated in my Wolves at the Gate review, the intro track in metalcore is overdone and pretty pointless. Costs starts with an intro that, while not adding the record, at least is a hardcore track with some vocals. Not necessary but not as pointless as some recent intros.

The first real song, Unworthy, is a split persoanlity song. A great heavy hardcore track, but when the clean vocals come in on the chorus it takes me surprise. The song is so heavy and almost a standard hardcore track that the melodic nature of the chorus with the clean vocals works both for and against the track.

False Profits is a melodic hardcore song that reminds me of Your Memorial's latest, Atonement. The album walks the line between melodic hardcore, deathcore, and just good old hardcore. Guycheck is a circlepit song with killer gang vocals. All the clean vocals are solid and they don't appear as the hook on every song, so it doesn't become monotonous as is normally the case.

The riffs aren't the great riffs you'll hear this year but they aren't offensive. Gideon isn't breaking the mold, but they are delivering a solid record. And yes, as a drummer and engineer, the drum production does bug me slightly. But my issue with sampled drums will probably also be a point of contention for a long while.

Everyone's complaint with Costs is the same; The album is too short. 9 songs coming in at 28 minutes flies by for a full-length and the album is enjoyable to the point that you wish there was more.

I don't know if Costs will have a place as album of the year but it has a place in my cd player as a hardcore record I enjoy.

Eisley - The Valley

The Valley is Eisley's first record in 4 years. It's their first on Equal Vision Records. And it's awesome.

Eisley has matured musically without losing their charm. THe innocence from Room Noises is gone. Replaced a band that can still write beautiful pop songs that have bite. The Valley has a bunch of tracks the remind me of Sixpence None the Richer (The Valley, Oxygen Mask, Kind) but the real standout tracks are the real biting songs, the tracks with fight.

Smarter is a song that tells of story of bitterness and anger and it really strikes a chord within me. Sad doesn't have the same punch musically that Smarter does but the lyrics dig deep.

"You'll be left alone and broken, bleeding from the heart when he doesn't come home."

Better Love is a song about breaking free that has killer energy and is the catchiest hook on the album.

The Valley is an album about being broken heart and the need for healing. It's a beautiful album and by far Eaisley's best yet. There's pain that really comes through on every song keeping the listener engaged. There's no filler here. Just 11 of the best songs you might hear all year.