Sent By Ravens - Mean What You Say

Our Graceful Words was not my favorite record. There are some songs that I really like on the record and some good songs that showed that Sent By Ravens could be a great band. But the record seemed to lack clarity. The songs didn’t flow and each song wasn’t strong enough on it’s own to make flow a non-factor. The potential was there but there was no wow factor.

Mean What You Say has that wow factor. Prudence comes blazing in and grabs your attention and then hits you with a punk style chorus. Listen and Rebuild, Release have huge guitars on the chorus that compliment the hooks. It’s hard not to notice how huge the record is. It’s socially more interesting than the band’s debut. Learn From the Night takes things down a notch, but just slightly. The songs play more like a song from Our Graceful Words but the energy is more evident.

Mean What You Say record isn’t just sonically impressive and loud. Yes, Sent By Ravens have given us a great rock record but it’s a memorable record. Each hook is just as catchy as the last. Never Be Enough and Best In Me help showcase the band’s diversity (a little). Never Be Enough is a great piano ballad and Best In Me plays like a great early 2000’s radio rock ballad.

Sent By Ravens sophomore record is a huge improvement and shows tons of growth. From the first time you push play to, to the time you hit stop, Mean What You Say is a compelling album and great listen. Every song is solid. And at 10 tracks, 32 minutes long, Sent By Ravens doesn’t waste time with filler or super long songs that lose the listener. Mean What You Say will for sure be in the running for one of the best albums of 2012.

The Meltdown 67

Music from Everdown, Wish For Eden, and Audio Adrenaline.

The Way - Helpless But Not Hopeless

I think Christian punk can be a little one tracked at times. Songs can be all about having a good time with friends and songs about girls. Lots of songs about love and girls. ANd when you get spiritual punk lyrics, they can be cheesy or just played over super fun punk music. And when bands tread on deeper lyric topics they get thrown into a category of being one of those "controversial" bands (Craig's Brother).

The Way don't veer into controversial territory but the band uses their music to make a lyrics statement. I don't know if I would say they're super political or theological with their lyrics but the band isn't shying away from making a point with their music. Great punk rock in the vain of Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and Pennywise (a sound that's largely been missing in Christian punk).

Helpless But Not Hopeless is another great release from Thumper Punk Records.

Damien Jurado - Maraqopa

2010's Saint Bartlett was a weird release for Damien Jurado. Not bad... Just odd. His first time working with producer Richard Swift created an album that felt disjointed. Half the songs played like Jurado singing Swift songs and the other half sounded like Sift playing on Jurado songs. It created an interesting record and was really new ground for Jurado who's signature haunting folk songs were none existent on Saint Bartlett.

The duo's second record together, Maraqopa, is a much better marriage. Swift and Jurado have grown and have created a record that I think better fits Jurado's musical stylings without abandoning the production that Swift brings to the table. The quirkiness isn't gone, it's just changed into something that fits together better.

Nothing Is The News kicks the record off and shows instantly how the two have grown together. Acoustic guitar and heavy reverb on Jurado's vocals kick off the song before Swift comes in with a dirty rock guitar riff that slows over the rest of the track. It's not an indicator has to how the record sounds but it's a distinct change from most of Jurado's discography. Life Away From The Garden is a fantastic track that reminds me of an updated version of Waters Ave South. The title track is about as close to sounding like anything Jurado's done previously in his career as you get on this album.

Maraqopa is full of great songs. Swift's production is almost always perfect. It's lo-fi at it's best. A step forward from Saint Bartlett but still stepping away from the Jurado I fell in love with. A great record nonetheless.

Ryan Blake Martin - Fragile EP

Whenever an artist does a solo album, it's always interesting to see which direction they go and how far removed it is from whatever band or genre they normally play. And for Ryan Blake Martin, who's normal gig is playing guitar for A Plea For Purging, Fragile couldn't be a further departure. (Ok, I guess country or hip-hop could be a further departure but that's not the point).

The past two Plea records have featured Martin's singing voice. So it comes as no surprise that Ryan is such a great vocalist. But the songs on Fragile are heartfelt... Almost innocent, coming from the soul. It shouldn't be a surprise when people involved in heavy music branch out and do something completely different.

Each song is simple. Just Martin's voice and guitar. It draws the listener to the lyrics of each song (which honestly can be hard to understand at times). While The Controller features a stellar electric guitar lead blues line, it's out while Martin is singing. While Martin's work with A Plea might keep some away from this record, Fragile is an album that fans of Denison Witmer and Gary Murray will enjoy.

The production is strong and the songs are all quality. Martin has transitioned from heavy metal guitarist to soulful singer/songwriter quite nicely.

Owl City - Live From Los Angeles

Live albums... A pointless release or something special that fans will really enjoy and appreciate? If you're not a diehard fan do you care about a live release? If you've never gotten to see a band in concert, is the live album good enough? I own a couple of live albums and have some bootleg live recordings in my iTunes library. Mostly bands I love (Mxpx, Starflyer 59, Five Iron Frenzy), but largely the live album just doesn't work for me. Rarely is the performance or recording good enough to justify spending the money. And the album never fully captures the live experience so I feel like if I've never seen the band live that the album will make up for it.

Insert Owl City's Live From LA. I actually caught this tour when it came through DC and enjoyed it for the most part. The best part of the live album is that it gives me a reference for all the songs they played that I didn't know but really enjoyed.

The recording itself is excellent, which isn't surprising seen as there's a dvd that goes along with the album. I love the new intro to Fireflies and the live performance gives the songs an extra shot of energy.

But more than anything the album solidifies how good a band Owl City is and how solid a musician Adam Young is. No studio tricks, no multi-tracked anything. The songs sound right on point and Young's vocal's never waiver. It reenforces how much I like Owl City.

No new songs but a solid live album all around and something fans of Owl City will want to pick up.

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.