SMILE EMPTY SOUL: Vultures

Dave's Take: Smile Empty Soul which hails from Santa Clarita, California released their second official album Vultures, a few months ago. You can consider it their third album if you count Anxiety, an amazing effort which I think is their best album that featured one of their best songs "Holes", but was never officially released to the public due to issues with their label Lava. You can find it online, either for download or on EBAY, however, if you look hard enough. Though this album has some tracks I don't think it stacks up with their previous two efforts. In typical Smile Empty soul fashion their is a lot of anger, angst, and hopelessness present in the music and lyrics. The difference is that with Smile Empty Soul you are left with the feeling that they really believe what they are singing about and not just writing about it to sell a record. While most of the standout tracks are slower in tempo, "The Hit" is more of an up-tempo number which takes lyrical jabs at the music industry and landlords:

"Hey record company
do you need a hit
cause I need a hit too
to keep me from hitting you
just being in the same room with you
makes me want to get high"

It sounds a bit poppy by their standards but it is definitely one of the songs on the album that gets stuck in your head easily and having it as the lead single makes a lot of sense. "Loser" is a typical self-deprecating angst ridden Smile Empty Soul type song that many people can identify with at one time or another.

"Give me something good and I'll fuck it up
All my life I've tried but never had much luck
To be happy but I guess it's just not meant to be
I'm gonna die a loser"

"The Freaks are Coming" is possibly the best track on the album with its haunting verse structure and soft guitar picking that explodes into the crunchy chorus. In this song SES attacks parents sheltering their children too much:

"Never questioned anything about the way that you were raised
Keep your life so plain, everything the same
Every Sunday take your kids to church just like your folks did
Don't let them complain and never go insane
You're scared of the changing world round you
But you know what to do
[chorus]
So lock your doors and shut the blinds
Cause you know that the freaks are coming"

A few tracks later we get the dark but melodic "Here's to Another" that vies for the best track on the album. This song is one of their strongest lyrically as it deals with alcohol addiction. My two other favorite tracks are "Disease" and "Vultures" which musically are quite different but both deal with being fed up with world in different ways. "Disease" starts of with a very interesting rapid guitar strumming that runs into the beautiful angst ridden vocals in the chorus:

"As I hold you
I'm drowning too
I'll hide my tears
To help you through
But inside I'm screaming for some healing
Never felt so empty
And I'm telling you
It's slowly killing me
Bleeding for some meaning
I need to know there's something more to living than this horrible disease"

The CD closes with the title track "Vultures" an acoustic song which happens to be my favorite on the album. The guitar strumming is simple but lovely and goes perfectly with simple but powerful lyrics. You can hear the pain in Sean Danielsen's singing on this track as he cries

"That's why I hate the smiles and I hate the flies
That buzz around the bullshit
I can't wait to die so all the mouths
Of the vultures can be fed"

While this CD contains some of the more powerful Smile Empty Soul songs to date I still think it's their weakest effort to date. It's too bad their real second album got shelved as it puts this one too shame. Nonetheless this is another solid effort from Smile Empty Soul and is worth picking up are at least buying the better tracks.

OVERALL RATING: 7/10 (Too many mediocre tracks to give it a high rating)

SOUNDS LIKE: Saliva, Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Alice in Chains

BAND BIO: Smile Empty Soul returns stronger & smarter than ever and ready to take their rightful place as alt rocks kingpins. Equal parts hardcore, punk, metal and melodic rock, this Southern California band doesn't shy away from any topic or pull any punches. Boldly going forth lyrically where even Captain Kirk himself would fear to tread, Sean Danielsen's lyrics deal with every hot-button issue you can think of - politics, drugs, the corporate poisoning of the music industry and so much more.

The band's new CD. VULTURES, shows Smile Empty Soul at their brightest and best. Young men in control of their own destiny, making the record that "represents (them) 100%. We did this one OUR WAY," says Danielsen.

After reaching the heights of the music biz with their #1 smash single, "Bottom Of A Bottle," in 2004 the band went on to play over 250 shows packing venues from coast to coast with everyone from Janes Addiction to Puddle Of Mudd to The Deftones. Gold record firmly in one hand and the might of their true conviction in the other, the band's unreleased music prior to VULTURES went about ruffling some fairly important feathers at some of our country's most influential religious and corporate organizations. The lyrical content of what was to be their first single (called "Holes") caused a 30,000 piece avalanche of protest-mail that scared their label and ultimately gave Smile Empty Soul their freedom back. It was a glorious emancipation, with fire and artistic credibility fully intact.

Smile Empty Soul is now Danielsen and bassist Ryan Martin along with two new members - guitarist Mike Booth formerly of the band COLD and drummer Jake Kilmer of the band THE FLIPPER BABIES. The band is stronger than ever, and ready to reclaim the chances that should have been afforded them after their first release.Their subsequent partnership with one of the fastest growing independent labels in the industry, Bieler Bros. Records - home to Skindred, Nonpoint and others - allowed the band to create freely, with the knowledge that their record company was behind them 100%. The resulting album, VULTURES, hit stores on October 24th. The album's first single, "The Hit" manages to be both a vitriolic stomp over the corpse of their former record company experiences, as well as an anthem for rebellion against the norm, bosses, nagging partners, and screaming landlords of our day-to-day existence. It gives a voice to everyone's frustrations.

On 10/18 the band embarked upon an extended bout of roadwork behind VULTURES. Don't expect the shows to be carbon copies of the album; more than ever SMILE EMPTY SOUL is bringing their ultra- frenetic approach to their live performances.

BEST SONGS: THE HIT, LOSER, THE FREAKS ARE COMING, HERE'S TO ANOTHER, DISEASE, VULTURES

VIDEOS/SONG SAMPLES:



PRESS STANDALONE PLAYER BUTTON TO PLAY

"HERE'S TO ANOTHER" VIDEO


BAND LINKS:

http://www.myspace.com/smileemptysoulmusic
www.smileemptysoul.com
Wiki page

HONEYCUT

Dave's Take: To be honest I have only heard snippets of a number of the songs on Honeycut's "The Day I turned to glass" but I saw them live at popscene-sf up in San Francisco in between 3rd and 4th street at a show that Sugarcult was headlining. Another review I was reading describes their sound perfectly: a combination of Gnarls Barkley and the Gorillaz. The track that really caught my attention live was Shadows. It has a very intersting bass guitar line with sort of an 80's synth feel to it as well. But by and large this band plays pretty cool jazzy and soul type music. You can find their album on Amazon or Itunes.







RATING: 8/10 (Not my favorite genre of music but they are very talented)

SOUNDS LIKE: Gnarls Barkly, Gorrillaz

QUOTES ABOUT BAND:

"Honeycut will drop its debut on DJ Shadow's Quannum Projects label at the end of September: an excellent endorsement for a new group.The CD, The Day I Turned To Glass, is credibly eclectic without coming off disjointed as the band flirts with quirky hip-hop loops and balances on the edge of rock and soul." - SF Weekly

"Only occasionally do you find a group or album that manages to incorporate diverse influences into a unique sound and still remain absolutely accessible, be it to the casual radio listener or the diehard record collector... the band weaves its way through soul, funk, rock, bossa nova, and electronica without ever stopping firmly on one, instead creating something that's very much their own.... giving Honeycut an almost unclassifiable vibe about them that makes them entertaining and danceable while retaining their musical integrity." - ALLMUSIC.COM

In a 40-minute set Honeycut appealed to every aspect of an unsuspecting crowd. Mixing Davenport's glam like performance and a vocal range that was equal parts slick and resonating, Salters beat out funky high-energy sounds on three keyboards. Sevener's live drum programming made the performance of the locally popular single "Shadows" feverish, audience members dancing in their seats as easily as they would in any club." - The Owl Magazine, (live review Apple Store SF performance)



BEST TRACKS: Shadows, The DAy I Turned to Glass, Tough Kid, Butter Room




SONG SAMPLES/VIDEOS:




CLICK STANDALONE PLAYER BUTTON TO PLAY

SHADOWS VIDEO


LEAD SINGER ACOUSTIC GUITAR SOLO


BUTTER ROOM VIDEO


TOUGH KID VIDEO


BAND LINKS:
http://www.myspace.com/honeycutmusic
honeycutmusic.com

SICK PUPPIES-EP

Dave's Take: I can't quite remember the series of events that led me to find the Sick Puppies on myspace but
I'm glad I did. Their song "All the Same" was used in a touching video that displays all that is right with the human spirit.(See the video and story below). There have been over 7,000,000 views of the video! The song itself is a slow acoustic number for the most part that bursts into the emotive electric guitar driven chorus:








"I don't mind...
I don't care...
As long as you're here
Go ahead tell me you'll leave again
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's always the same"

It's just a song that maks you glad to be alive. Two of the other standout tracks from their five song EP are "My World" and "Asshole Father" which deal with lonliness in two different ways. "My World" draws the listener in both lyrically with its "heart on your sleeve" lyrics,

"Welcome to my world
where everyone I ever need
always ends up leaving me alone
another lesson burned
and I'm drowing in the ashes
kicking... screaming"

and its crunchy guitars. "Asshole father" like "All the Same" starts off with beautiful acoustic guitar plucking with the Shimon Moore melancholy singing:

"I waited for you yesterday
I waited and missed the last train
I waited to say that I’d fallen in love with your way
I waited for you yesterday
Eventually walked home in the rain
I waited to see if you felt the same for me"

Then his anger and the quick staccatto electric guitars come alive in the chorus:

"But you don’t,
and you won’t
go against your asshole father
Going broke, quitting dope for your folks why did I even bother?
Why did I?"

"Deliverance" is more of a straight ahead radio friendly rocker but it still has a great sound to it. All in all the Sick Puppies leave you panting for more with their captivating lyrics, soaring heartfelt vocals and nice balance between acoustic plucking and a more straight ahead rock sound. Oh, and as an added bonus for the guys out there they have a cute female guitar player.

BAND MEMBERS:
Shimon Moore: lead vocals, guitar
Emma Anzai: bass, backing vocals
Mark Goodwin: drums

BAND BIO:

Sick Puppies are a guitar fuelled rock three piece band who now stand on the threshold of achieving their singular goal: the global release of the album they were born to make.
The band carries an awesome presence on stage with a staggering sound fronted by the fretwork and awesome vocals of guitarist and singer Shimon Moore. Conspiring in the sonic stew that is the Sick Puppies is bassist Emma Anzai who has been justifiably dubbed “the female Flea”. Uniting the band in rock bliss is the airtight pummeling of drummer Mark Goodwin who is truly one of the hardest hitters around.

The band was born when the two greatest outcasts of Mosman High School met each other in the only safe haven either of them knew…the music room. Shimon Moore and Emma Anzai began jamming on Green Day and Rage Against The Machine songs until the urge to make their own sound took over and they began penning the loudest and most powerful songs that they could play. Just months later, the Puppies beat out 3000 other bands in a demo competition run by the only national radio network in the country. As a direct and rapid result the Puppies were thrust into the limelight, and with their first recording experience behind them.

The bands first year culminated in them being crowned the ‘Best Live Act’ at the Australian Live Music Awards. Since that time the achievements and highlights have flowed thick and fast, including tours with Good Charlotte and legendary bands Deep Purple and Midnight Oil during which many new audience members became converts and joined the ever expanding Sick Puppies fan base.

Amid the fanfare of all the Puppies achievements remained a burning desire to take their music to the next level. To that end a pact was made to take the band to the ends of the earth and back, beginning with the writing and recording of the songs that they knew would resonate with a worldwide audience. The band is currently in the United States making their record in Los Angeles, and the results speak for themselves. With a release pending later in the year, the Sick Puppies true arrival is imminent. Stay tuned…

BEST SONGS: All the Same, Asshole Father, My World

SONG SAMPLES/VIDEOS:



CLICK ON STANDALONE PLAYER BUTTON TO PLAY

ALL THE SAME STORY:

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.

In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.

In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person...

"ALL THE SAME"



"MY WORLD"


LINKS:
http://sickpuppies.net (BAND PAGE)
http://myspace.com/sickpuppies

My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade

DAVE's TAKE:

"I drink for the horror that I'm in
for the good guys and the bad guys
for the monsters in our bed
Three cheers for tyranny
unapolagetic apathy
cause there ain't no way that I'm coming back again
and through it all
how could you cry
for me.........
cause I don't feel bad about it
so shut your eyes
kiss me goodbye
and sleeeeeeee eee eee eep"

Never has a band made talking about death sound so good, as the above lyrics from "Sleep" do on My Chemical Romance's new album: Welcome to the Black Parade. If you're a modern rock fan then you're probably familiar with some their previous hits off their last album, "Helana" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)". That same sound is definitely present on this album. Like Green day, they have gone with the Rock-opera type album focusing on a central theme and borrow heavily in the sound department from arena rock bands of old. Not suprisingly, Rob Cavello who also helped produce Green Day's: American Idiot, also co-produced this album. The Queen references are so obvious that they don't need mentioning unless you've never heard of Queen before. My Chemical Romance does at least put their own modern rock twist on the sound.

Nowhere are the Quuen comparisons more obvious than on the intro song "The End" which clones Queen right down to the song structure: A slow piano intro with sing-songy lyrcis followed by an over the top bombastic chorus that sounds all too familiar to "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Now just because My Chemical Romance borrows sounds of old does not mean this is a bad album. Far from it. Like Cobra in G.I Joe pulling DNA from all of the greatest evil leaders of all time to create Serpentor, My Chemical Romance seems to extract the best of old 80's and 70's rock sounds and modernize it.

As the front cover suggests with its gothic skeleton, lyrically almost of the songs deal directly about death or dying. But the album does anything but make you depressed due to the way the songs are played.

In fact, the super catchy lead single "Welcome to the Black Parade", starts off slow and explodes into rapid pace yummy rock goodness, has some of the most upbeat lyrics:

"When you're gone we want you all to know We'll Carry on,
We'll Carry on
Though your dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on
Carry on
We'll carry on
And in my heart I cant contain it
The anthem wont explain it" 

After that track the album treads more on the ballad side of the road with superb tracks like "I don't Love You", "Cancer" and "Sleep", whose lyrics opened up this blog and my personal favorite track on the alubm due to the guitar work. Then there are the rockabilly sounding tracks "House of Wolves" and "Mama" that have Cherry Poppin Daddies bass type rhythms. "Teenagers" is hard to describe other than I'm sure I've heard the sound used somewhere before but just can't place it.

The album rounds out with another ballady type song "Disenchanted" with the following lyrics:

"If I'm so wrong How can you listen all night long
Now will it matter after I'm gone
Because you never learn a goddamned thing

It's just a sad song, with nothing to say
About a life-long wait for a hospital stay
And if you think that I'm wrong
This never meant nothing tooooooooo you"

THe album rounds out with "Famous Last Words" perhaps the most straight-up rock sounding song on the album and some of the more positive lyrics on the album:

"I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey, if you stay, I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home"


But it still ends with a bombastic chorus. So Welcome to the Black Parade definitely borrows from other bands sounds, almost unabashedly so but it works due to the great execution and consistent musical performance on each song. The lyrics are quite admittedly over-the top overkill but

OVERALL RATING: 8/10 (Heavily borrowed sounds but played extremely well)

SOUNDS LIKE: Queen( How many times do I have to repeat this), 80's rock,


BEST SONGS: Welcome to the Black Parade, I Don't Love You, Sleep, Mama, This How I Dissapear, House of Wolves, Famous Last Words

SONG/VIDEO SAMPLES:
Rolling Stone Review page (listen to all songs)



"SLEEP"


"WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE"



BAND WEBSITES:
www.myspace.com/mychemicalromance
www.mychemicalromance.com