SONS - Keep Quiet

There was some pretty big hype surrounding SONS before the release of Keep Quiet. People were ready for Keep Quiet to be the record of year and SONS were on the verge of having a nice 2012. It's a pretty tall task for a band on a relatively new and small label.

The hype is pretty well warranted though. Keep Quiet is a great record. My ignorance showed when after several listens through, I finally looked up info on the band and discovered that SONS is the same band as Sons of God, who's debut The Genesis Project is one of my favorite Come and Live releases. (It also explained why Doubt was such a familiar song to me).

SONS reminds me of a more indie/more post-hardcore version of My Epic. A little bit of a contradiction, I know. But Keep Quiet has a really nice subtle intensity to it. Where My Epic is all or nothing, big or small, SONS balances the two in a way you don't hear outside of post-rock very often. The quiet still moments are captivating and hold your attention until the music explodes. At times it seems like caged intensity (Under the Sun) but other times it hits you square between the eyes (Masters of Flattery, Doubt). Tracks like Believe In Something and Keep Quiet walk a fine line between full on explosion and beautiful melodies. The guitar riffs are captivating and the timely synth lines that flow in and out help build each track. The album flows like watching waves hit the shore. In and out, quiet then intense, each one beautiful and compelling.

I'd be lying if I said the record hit me instantly because it didn't. It took a couple of listens and some real quality listens before the songs really started to hit me. But once they did, they didn't leave me. The lyrics are thoughtful but the delivery of the words still makes it so the songs get stuck in your head.

Keep Quiet is a stellar record that deserves the hype it's gotten so far. This is one of the best albums I've heard in this young year.

The Meltdown 66

New music from Sons, Eisley, Ryan Blake Martin, Rosie Thomas, and more.

Nine Lashes - World We View

Hard Rock is a tricky genre for me. Bands start to run together and sound the same after a while. What distinguishes the good from the mediocre? How catchy are the hooks? How memorable or interesting are the guitar riffs? It's the little things that grab the listeners attention that make a hard rock record worth ones time.

Insert Tooth and Nail's latest signing Nine Lashes. For a quick description the band falls somewhere between Red and Thousand Foot Krutch. Trevor McNevan of TFk even has a guest appearance on World We View (The album also features a guest appearance from Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter). There are some great tracks on World We View. Believe Your Eyes is more a ballad but it strikes a nice note. Our Darkest Days has a killer guitar riff that reminds me of Red's Until We Have Faces (which I love). Plus the bridge features Ryan Clark.

The problem with World We View is it's just a nice record. I've listened to it at least a dozen times and every time it's a good rock record. But there's nothing that stands out to me. The hooks won't stick in your head so you're singing these songs for days on end. It's just not that type of record.

Nine Lashes have delivered a hard rock album. No more, no less.

Free Music Friday: You Can't Explain Logic - No More Waiting

You Can't Explain Logic was featured on Noisetrade's home page a couple weeks back and the art work got me interested enough to download the record. This EP is the solo project of Bryan Laurenson (formerly of Copeland) and it's composed of songs inspired by his new daughter. Fans of Hammock, The Album Leaf and other ambient/post rock acts will love this ep.

You can downloaded No More Waiting for free here: http://www.noisetrade.com/youcantexplainlogic

Eisley - Deep Space EP

The first time Marvelous Things graced my stereo and hit my ears, I was an Eisley fan. The Dupree sisters make beautiful pop music and each record has been a continual progression and maturation, lyrically and musically. Each record more beautiful and deeper than the one before.

Deep Space is another musical progression for Eisey that I'm absolutely in love with. Where The Valley moved the band forward into pop/roc perfection and was really a band becoming comfortable in their craft and making something great, Deep Space is a move forward into something different.

Deep Space is a move away from pop rock. While the sound is still clearly Eisley, Deep Space has a shoegaze/indie rock vibe. That sound made minor appearances on Combinations but wasn't as fully fleshed out and explored as it is on Deep Space. And don't take the word shoegaze to literally. This isn't a fuzzed out, massive reverb attack. But it's airy and open. Think Ride. Lo-fi my comparison to the Valley but lo-fi can sound like a dirty word and Deep Space is an excellent ep.

The guitars on Lights Out and Deep Space have a warm, open air quality to them that makes it sound like the guitar is sitting in the room with you. The guitar solo on the title track is the best solo the girls have cranked out ever. 192 Days shifts where the first three songs have taken you and goes with a more folk direction, which caught me off guard my first time through the record. The quirkiness (by comparison to the rest of the album) is quickly forgotten because Eisley still writes some of the best melodies and harmonies in music. It must be a sister thing. One Last Song closes the album out on a more familiar note but the song is so lush and reminds me of what band's like Ester Drang did so well.

It's clear that Eisley chose to try something different with Deep Space and it works perfectly. The record is so lush and open that it sounds like the band is performing in your living room. My favorite record of the year so far.

The Meltdown 65

New music from The Fray and Blessed By a Broken Heart. Plus tracks from Mxpx, Project 86, and Sunny Day Real Estate.

Rosie Thomas - With Love

Rosie Thomas is an artist I absolutely love but don't really like many of her songs. I know, it's backwards. Her Christmas album is one of my favorites and songs like Wedding Day and Farewell would rank as some of my favorite songs period. But as a whole, her discography is a little underwhelming in my book. I will go see Rosie Thomas live any time she's in town but her records just don't click with me.

With Love is her fifth full-length and her first since These Friends of Mine (which came out in 06). It's her best record since her debut (When We Were Small) and is my favorite record to date. The songs are stronger. That draw that's always made Thomas such a great live performance seems to finally come through on a record (that's not her Christmas album, which is full of charm).

With Love is just good pop music. Which is probably what separates this album from the rest of Thomas' discography. While the singer/songwriter folk element is still in tact, there's a distinct change in sound on With Love. Over the Moon is the perfect example of the change in direction for Thomas. A sugary sweet love song that's catchy, memorable, and extremely enjoyable. On the flip, In Time is a song that feels very familiar to what Thomas has produced before. And that balance is what helps move Rosie Thomas forward into new territory without abandoning what fans have come to love and enjoy.

With Love is the album where Rosie Thomas clicked for me. Just enough a departure in sound for me to get it but not enough where long time fans of hers will freak out. Great pop songs about love. Who can hate that?