The Meltdown 2.8

From last night: Music from Training For Utopia, The Juliana Theory, Run Kid Run, Ghoti Hook, and more.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio

The Meltdown 2.7

From last night: New music from Jars of Clay, Audrey Assad, Dustin Kensrue, and Phinehas.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio

The Ongoing Concept - Saloon

Anytime Solid State announces they've signed a new band, I'm very reserved in my excitement. The label I used to love so much no longer gets unwavering support. Too many bands that just aren't what I had come to expect from Solid State. So hearing about The Ongoing Concept, I was holding judgment until I gave the band a listen.

But when I watched the band's video for Cover Girl, I was in love. It was ballsy and bold. Original and interesting. It was the perfect introduction. It had me hooked. No matter what the rest of the record sounded like, I was on the hook for at least one spin through Saloon.

In all honesty, The Ongoing Concept is a band we've all heard before. It's screamo. But it's done with a creative twist that takes The Ongoing Concept from your average, run of the mill, scene band, to a band worth watching.

After a fun, country western movie style intro, the band busts into the album's title track. Saloon hits with the fury of bands like Refused and Snapcase. Total destruction on the opening of the track before the bar room piano kicks in (you read that right). The song goes through phases, from chaotic to weird, before settling down and then taking flight again. It's a good introduction to what you're getting on the album.

Cover Girl might be the best hardcore song with a banjo I've ever heard. The song about being original delivers musically. High flying and aggressive but the banjo "breakdown" that makes its way through the track creates a great contrast between being a copycat song and something fresh and energetic in the hardcore genre. Fakes and Failures is part a song you've heard before and part amazing Dillinger Escape Plan riffage. Like Autumn has an amazing piano riff before the song flies off the handles and into chaos. It's my favorite track on the record. Mostly because the song is one of the only ones on Saloon that doesn't dip into any genre pitfalls but is three minutes and twenty-nine seconds of pure passionate fury.

Of course their are songs that are good but don't jump off the page. Sidelines is an extremely chill piano ballad. It almost feels out of place but the album is so all over the place that you just accept it. Little Situation and Class Of Twenty-Ten both have a southern metal feel that reminds me of the first two Maylene records.

Goodbye, So Long My Love closes the record. It starts as a sort of jazzy, piano song before the instrumentation picks up and the song slowly builds into nothing where heavily reverbed piano and vocals comes screaming at you. A string section slowly plays and the song again falsely builds, pauses, and then explodes. The song ends with a female vocal singing. It's such an odd ending but considering the way the album started, nothing seems off limits.

Saloon isn't a mind blowing record but it's full of great songs that showcase tons of potential. There's nothing bad about any of the songs on Saloon. But because what's great is so great that the moments that are just good fall a little flat. Still, The Ongoing Concept is one of the most creative bands to hit Solid State in years. Saloon is something fresh for a scene that's too often a parody of itself.

The Meltdown 2.6

From last night: New music from The Ongoing Concept, Poor Old Lu, Icon for Hire, Owl City, and more.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio

Strengthen What Remains - Turning A Blind Eye

It seems like it's been ages since I listened to a pure hardcore record. So hitting play on Strengthen What Remain's debut full-length, Turning A Blind Eye, was nice. Turning A Blind Eye is old school hardcore through and through. I'm reminded a lot of Point of Recognition and Call to Preserve when listening to Strengthen What Remains.

Only one song over 3 minutes keeps the record moving at a quick pace. It's the perfect soundtrack for circle pits (The Narrow Path, Gouge It Out, Indoctrination), windmills (Turning A Blind Eye, Somethings Change), picking up change (Humanity Is My Stumbling Block, The Noble Lie), and whatever other form of hardcore moshing/dancing you can think of. The songs are raw and heavy with songs of standing up for your beliefs and fighting the system, and not letting anyone put you down because you're young. It's hardcore to the bone.

And I love that. In a world where metalcore, melodic hardcore, and whatever other genre tags get used, Hardcore, pure and simple as it may be at times, is lost in this world. And it's nice to hear a band just deliver a strong, straightforward hardcore record.

Turning A Blind Eye is a great hardcore record that hardcore fans, old and young, should pick up.

Owl City - The Midsummer Station Acoustic EP

I'm a huge Owl City fan. Adam Young makes great pop music that reaches below the surfaces and is full of substance. The Midsummer Station was a brilliant record. So the thought and of acoustic ep featuring songs from the record was very intriguing.

Acoustic might be a bit of an overstatement. Yes, the arrangements are scaled down and simplified. But it's not like you're getting Adam Young sitting in the studio with an acoustic guitar and a string section (although, that would be awesome).

Good Times doesn't feature Carly Rae Jespen, which is kind of nice. The strip down version of Young's summer hit stripped and slowed down. The catchiness is still there and if released like this, would still be a hit single. But the song takes on a completely different vibe. The song is more chill. A late night drive song, instead of a summer time pool party track. Shooting Star also doesn't explode at the hook like the original but it's less of a drastic change. It sounds like Young is off click, playing by himself with a handful of backing tracks. Gold just sounds like the back tracks have been scaled down from the original.

It's the two new songs on the record that are the gems of this ep. Hey Anna is an upbeat pop song that sounds like a Midsummer Station b-side. Rich in bass and thick synths with a super catchy hook. I Hope You Think Of Me is more of a ballad than Hey Anna. Still a fun track to close the ep.

With Adam Young saying the next Owl City album will feature more EDM, this might be the last time you'll hear great pop tracks like this from Young... For a little while anyway. The Midd SUmer Station "Acoustic" is a great ep with fun reinterpretations of a couple of old schools and great new tracks.

The Meltdown 2.5

From last night: New music from My Heart To Fear, Norma Jean, mewithoutYou, Over the Rhine and more.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio