Rick's Mailbox Volume XVIII: May Not Be Suitable for All Audiences
Posted 07/29/2010 10:04AM by Rick Gebhardt as Rick's Discoveries
Being an editor here at Decoy, I get a fair amount of mail from bands, labels, PR companies, and other random sources. Most of the mail comes in the form of packages containing CDs for bands that want reviews, coverage, or just a mention somewhere in some publication to get their name out. It would be impossible for us to review every album submitted to us, and I think many bands know that, but I sometimes feel guilty letting things slip through the cracks, especially since people no doubt went out of their way to send something my way for consideration by Decoy. In the spirit of trying to get the word out there for artists who might otherwise not get much coverage elsewhere, let’s dig into my mailbox and see what interesting submissions have come through lately.
Forgiven Rival – This Is a War
Both Four Year Strong and A Day to Remember have become extremely successful in the last year’s time by successfully combining pop hooks with modern melodic metalcore. It’s worked great for both bands so it’s no surprise to see some bands cropping up that want to play in the same realm and grab the same attention. Forgiven Rival are trying very, very hard to hit the same demographics as the aforementioned bands but don’t quite have the chops to play in the same league. This Is a War is definitely listenable and has some catchy moments, but there is unfortunately not many songs that really stand out and will stick in your head, which is essential if you’re playing pop-core and hoping for kids to remember you. (artist website)
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Authority Zero – Stories of Survival
Man, I remember listening to Authority Zero’s A Passage in Time a ton back in college (which was the early 2000’s for those who don’t know… yeah, I’m old). It’s crazy to see them still around and even crazier to hear that their sound hasn’t significantly changed. If you ignore 12:34, Stories of Survival fits in perfectly alongside A Passage in Time and Andiamo which were killer, upbeat, pop-punk albums. And when I say pop-punk, I don’t mean modern shit like The Maine or All Time Low, I mean classic pop-punk in the vein of old New Found Glory or Rise Against. Authority Zero still got it and put the modern pop-punk bands to shame. (artist website)
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Madlife – Angry Sonnets for the Soul
Industrial-tinged nu-metal… if that scares you away then just move along. If not, Madlife are actually an ok listen if you’re into this music space. The base of Madlife’s sound is definitely straight up nu-metal so if you get turned off by bands like Soil, Disturbed, or Dope then you’ll want to move along. If you’re craving a throwback to the early 2000’s there is no better way to get it than by listening to Angry Sonnets for the Soul. Even though this isn’t something I’d listen to any more, thinking back to when I was 18 when the hey days of nu-metal were in full bloom, I probably would have been all over this. (artist website)
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Intervurt – Union
Somehow I feel like I’ve heard this all before… but I don’t really care. Intervurt are firmly entrenched in the same vein as early The Killers (when they were actually ok to listen to), Muse, and (to a small extent) U2. Much like these artists, Intervurt have a number of catchy songs and they know how to craft a song that keeps you intent upon it through the entire run time. I’d say nearly half this album is filled with solid, catchy modern rock songs, while the other half is decent, but not noteworthy, nods to their influences. You will definitely find a lot to like on Union if you enjoy this style of music. (artist website)
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Cassidy Haley and the Sunshine Rebels – The Fool
First there’s some acoustic tracks, then there are some southern rock-ish songs, you also get some ballads, and then there’s some Americana-folk-ish tunes too. I don’t really know what to think about The Fool. The concept of the album is beyond pretentious (Haley had a tarot reading that set him on a 10 year path to be the hero that he is today… and this album is the story of his journey) and the album art only reinforces this, but the album itself isn’t half bad. It’s relatively diverse, it has some solid tracks, but also suffers from some really bad choices at the same time (the keys on “Ride the Night” or the faux old timey feel of some tracks for example). So I guess it’s a toss up as to whether this is a good or bad album. More likely, you’ll feel it is some of both. (artist website)
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Kirsten Price – Brixton to Brooklyn
I’m going to be honest and admit I really don’t listen to much modern pop music so it’s hard for me to judge what is good or bad, but I can tell you that Kirsten Price really, really, really wants to be a pop star. All 9 tracks on this album have a sheen that makes them feel set up for radio play, but it feels like there’s a lot of stealing going on here. I got way too many hints of Beyonce, Katy Perry, and Kesha while listening to this album. Maybe that’s because I don’t have an ear for pop, but I would also hazard a guess that Price is trying extra hard to touch on the popular sound of the day in an effort to get big. If you ask me, I’d rather listen to Katy Perry. (artist website)
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Jenn Franklin – Girl Invisible
This four song EP doesn’t have a whole lot of material to sink your teeth into, but from what’s here, you do get the sense Franklin wants to be a soulful, piano-playing indie star. Her voice has a soulful touch to it and she’s a decent pianist, and I think she has it in her to go places, but it’s really hard to judge on just four tracks. Still, she’s an artist you should keep your eyes open for in the future. (artist website)
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Alamance – In the Moment
Ugghh, really? Someone should tell Alamance that Something Corporate did this sound so much better quite a while ago. This album sounds like a very stagnant, late entry into the piano-rock genre. It’s tired and boring coming out today, but would have only been so-so even at the height of the piano-rock fad. Alamance are a poor man’s Mae with a subpar vocalist and averagely written songs. I wouldn’t waste your time on these guys until they start putting together some better arrangements and really tighten up in the vocal department. (artist website)
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Striking Back – The Restless EP
So this EP’s artwork has an angsty, emo-looking dude on the front cover and then has blood and human hearts on plates throughout the rest of the album art, which led me to assume either mallcore or synth-rock. I was, surprisingly, completely wrong. Instead Striking Back play a mellow modern rock that you’d not find out of place on most contemporary rock stations. The mix of acoustic and electric guitars gives the band a chance to be dynamic with their songs, but they all pretty much stick to being slow power ballad-y tracks. They’re decently pulled off, but the EP lacks dynamics, which leads to a slightly boring listen when going from front to back. (artist website)
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Scarlet Grey – Fancy Blood
The selling point for this EP is that the band worked with AFI’s Davey Havok on it and he even lent some guest vocals to the effort. It’s a good selling point because if you’re a modern AFI fan, you’re going to love this. Havok’s influence is felt all over the place on this album from the somewhat dark pop-punk feel of the songs, the higher pitch of the vocals, and the menacing mellower moments. I kind of wonder what this band would sound like without Havok’s hand in things, but as it is, the collaboration was a good choice which led to an enjoyable EP. (artist website)
Comments
Lehigh Valley, PA
rick, this might be the weakest list yet. not a single decent band.
Minnesota
Yeah, this was a pretty significantly weak batch of submissions. I like Authority Zero, but that's more nostalgia than anything else. Everything else you could probably pass over, unfortunately.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Infinitely Inwards
Pretty rough bro.
Cult of Luna - Vertikal
Persefone - Spiritual Migration
Amplifier - Echo Street
Agrypnie - Aetas Cineris
The Flaming Lips - The Terror
I do, however, happen to think this is the best collection of album covers you've amassed if one needed a good laugh at something.... seriously...
"These are our lives, but did they ever even matter - are we worth remembering?"
- "Tip The Scales"
Rise Against
Dubuque
Rick, you have more initiative than me to listen to albums.
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View Chris Conlan's profile on LinkedIn
Lehigh Valley, PA
Yea man, I gave that AZ album a spin when it first came out. It's decent but I haven't listened to it since. I used to be real into them but I just cant do it anymore.
Chris is right though... I give you props for listen to half the garbage you do and then writing this.
Minnesota
Well, I figure if a band or artist is willing to mail me a retail of their album for consideration, if it doesn't get reviewed they should at least get some kind of coverage. Unfortunately, nowadays, it's mostly mediocre bands that send out retails of their albums. *Sigh* At least after doing some of these articles it makes me appreciate the good albums I do sometimes receive even more.
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Dubuque
I'd love to listen to everything I get sent. Just don't have the time. Be a whole different story if I was single and didn't have a dog and a new house and bunch of computer projects.
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View Chris Conlan's profile on LinkedIn
Minnesota
I'm married, have a dog & two cats, have house projects (in two different properties), and still have time. No excuse, Conlan, suck it up! :-)
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Senegal Africa
just listen to the music while you are doing your projects or other important activites. You really dont need your full attention weeding out new music. If you here something good then give a second go around. If your telling me you cant listen to music when you are with your dog or on your computer then I dont understand how you listen to music in the first place.
Listening to:
fuckin african mosques (Tang na bu baax)