What’s In The Box? – This week’s most played releases
on October 14th, 2011This week’s most played releases around the office include the long awaited debut from Sydney pop punk kids Tonight Alive ‘What Are You So Scared Of?‘, the new solo effort ‘Sad Bear‘ from No Use For A Name’s Tony Sly, Transit’s newie ‘Listen And Forgive‘, and the cracking return from I Am The Avalanche titled ‘Avalanche United‘. See below for some info and opinion on each of the releases.
TONIGHT ALIVE – What Are You So Scared Of? [Out Now via Sony Music] [Get It]
Much anticipation around this one, big name producer, big name guest, calendar stacked with big shows in the leadup, and now it has landed, and with a bang too. It’s a great sounding album packed with consistently top class tracks. For a debut from such a young act you’d forgive them for some filler, but you won’t find any of that at all. You will tap your foot along, you will remember the choruses, even those not into pop-punk will have a hard time not finding something to enjoy about it. Female vocals can be up and down in this genre, often sounding all to similar taking away from the music itself, but this mob hit the bulls-eye, nailed it. Not a carbon copy of anyone. It’s an uplifting album, instantly brightening the mood with a perfect balance of pop and punk / rock. No overly cheesy pop moments to be found thankfully. Exceeded my expectations by a long way, pat on the back for one hell of a debut, and hey, Mark Hoppus can at least say he appeared on an album in 2011 that doesn’t stink.
HIGHLIGHTS = ‘Fake It’, ‘What Are You So Scared Of?’, ‘Starlight’, ‘Reason To Sing’.
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TONY SLY – Sad Bear [Out Now via Fat Wreck] [Get A Free MP3]
I’ve struggled in the past with Tony’s solo material, his NUFAN covers done acoustic were brilliant, but I couldn’t find the spark in his ’12 Step Program’ album. No such problems this time around, seems old mate has stepped it up and made an album a little more appealing to my ears. It’s a bit more No Use For A Name’ish, most tracks you can imagine working well in their usual style, a few not so. But overall it’s an entertaining listen, and will be up the alley of folks who prefer their solo artists a bit less gravelly in the vocal department. I think it’ll only get better with more listens under the belt too. Worth a look. Should be out locally in the coming weeks.
HIGHLIGHTS = ‘Burgies, Basics And You’, ‘Homecoming’, ‘The Monster’.
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TRANSIT – Listen And Forgive [Out Now via Rise Records / Shock] [Get It]
This one was a nice little surprise, I’d lumped these guys in with the current batch of pop-punk bands that don’t really do much for me, but after a few listens it was clear they’ve got the traits that many lack. There is still some improving to be done, but they definitely make a statement with this album. It’s pretty diverse and probably unfair to chuck them in the pop-punk pigeonhole as they are more than a one-trick pony that’s for sure. Hard to really give a comparison point, which is always a good thing, forging their own path. There is a little filler on here, but for the most part it’s an easy album to digest and doesn’t lose any of it’s character after multiple listens. A name to watch certainly, maybe one step away from making ‘that album’.
HIGHLIGHTS = ‘No Such Thing’, ‘Skipping Stones’, ‘You Can’t Miss It (It’s Everywhere)’
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I AM THE AVALANCHE – Avalanche United [Out Now via I Surrender / 3Wise] [Get It]
It’s been a pretty long wait for this record, after an impressive debut, this mob, led by Vinnie Caruana from The Movielife, follow it up in an even more impressive manner. If you like hard hitting melodic punk loaded with sing-a-longs and a touch of attitude, then these guys deserve a spot on your radar if they aren’t already there. Great production, great variety in the tunes and it get’s better with each listen too. We may not have The Movielife these days, but this is just as good, blast it, or have it in the background, works in all situations. Definitely an album that should translate well in the live arena too. Nice little guest appearance from Anthony of Bayside too.
HIGHLIGHTS = ‘Brooklyn Dodgers’, ‘Is This Really Happening’, ‘The Place You Love Is Gone’, ‘Amsterdam’
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