THE FOLD-This Too Shall Pass

Dave's Take: I hope The Fold's music career doesn't pass too quickly, as their debut CD from 2006, This Too Shall Pass, has a number of catchy songs that you just can't help singing along too. As happens a lot for me, I discovered this band searching around on purevolume where they were listed at #1 on the charts and for good reason. Tooth and Nail has a solid catalog of awesome artists like Anberlin, The Classic Crime, Mae, MXPX, lately and it looks like they have another solid one with The Fold. The first song from this album on their purevolume page, the bouncy pop rock Gravity, was immediately stuck in my head and is a great lead off song for the album. The song starts off with some appropriate lyrics to start of a record

" So Let’s start at the beginning of thisstory
I was just a boy nowhere to call home"

and then bursts its way into a extremely addictive chorus that provides a good showcase for Daniel Cassidy's voice as he sings out:

"Just like gravity,
what draws you to me
Someone I didn’t know I needed
It’s like gravity, and it’s stronger than me
I need you here"

The Title Track continues with the same up-tempo beat present in Gravity and again we see that The Fold are great at writing lead-in hooks and explosive choruses such as this quickly sung chorus:

"Set set set, now you’re ready to go
You couldn’t make it better if it never belonged
You can take your time, figure it out
This is a call to all the pain (this too shall pass)"

This song like almost all of the songs deal with having hope about getting over past hardships.

Musically I couldn't help but find a lot of similarities between them and fellow label-mates Mae.
The similarity isn't bad as I like their use at times of a clean guitar sound, piano samples, and tight percussive sounding guitars and beautiful sung vocals

Personally I found the second half of the CD a little flat for me as I just didn't seem to find the same energy or strong songs that lead it off.

All in all a solid effort and if their new single "New Skeptic" is any indication they are moving forward in the right direction.

Similar Bands: Mae, Need To Breathe, Acceptance, All-American Rejects

Favorite Songs: Gravity, Title Track, Backseat Drivers, New City

Sound Samples/Videos:



GRAVITY


THE TITLE TRACK "LIVE"


BAND BIO:
For a group plagued by major-label woes and break-ups, that was exactly what was essential for The Fold’s resilience: healing. Evolving from several Chicago-based rock outfits including Warner Brothers signees, Showoff, it seemed The Fold’s previous groups were in a place most musicians only dream of…and then things changed.


“I suppose I gave up a lot when I left a major label band to start The Fold,” explains the band’s frontman and founder, Daniel Castady, “but if I did, it was because I knew that those things were passing away.”

Not staying silent long, The Fold reached true formation as Castady rounded out the line-up of talented young musicians with a montage of Chicago’s most promising, including Aaron Green on guitar, Keith Mochel on bass and Mark Rhoades on drums. Having already established themselves in previous bands not only allowed The Fold an added maturation or sorts, but also established them with a predetermined, concise focus on what they wanted to see transpire in their future.

In June 2005, The Fold entered the studio to begin recording their ‘Tooth & Nail Records’ debut, “This Too Shall Pass” with Steven Haigler (Brand New, Quicksand, Fuel), and finished things up in Seattle with Zach Hodges (Terminal, Dead Poetic).


“Lyrically, it deals with what has been going on with me over the past few years,” Castady elaborates, “It’s hard to write that out at times, and that is why this music has been so therapeutic for me; It helps me get through these frustrations. The title of the album is one of hope,” he concludes.

Musically speaking, The Fold feel “a song is not a song unless it sounds good when it’s stripped down to its bare components.” That is why every song is recorded as a demo with just an acoustic guitar and vocals before any further sonic enhancements are ever considered. This ability – to separate the focal point from the spotlights that enhance it – is an important quality that keeps the band centered in every sense of the word.


With such an auspicious start, The Fold are poised for greatness, standing behind 14 songs of something more than a marketing ploy, but actual inspiration and honesty from real life experiences, the group of early 20-somethings have nine years of experience backing their journey, and it’s all just begun.

LINKS:
www.purevolume.com/thefold
http://www.thefoldmusic.com/index2.htm
www.myspace.com/thefold
Buy At Amazon

Armchair Cynics- Killing the Romance

Dave's Take: I found the armchair cynics on one of my favorite music discovery sites www.alternativeaddiction.com. The song that had me playing it multiple times was "Suprise Ending." A song which bears resemblances to Nickelback, Default, and Seether type sounding songs with a little darker sounding guitars over the addictive prechorus and chorus lines that have lead singer Kenn Coutu doing his best early 2000's alternative growl in the prechorus before hitting the upper register in the chorus ala singers like Our Lady Peace's Raine Maida or Anberlin's Stephen Christian.







And I want you to say (this can get better)
And I know myself (I can do better)
And I want to say (this can get better)
Better than it's been

'Cause it feels like it’s a movie about losing
Only this time it's us
And we're counting on a surprise ending
Only this time it never does........ come
It never does............................. come

Unfortuantely most of the rest of the songs on the 7 disc EP didn't have the same attention grabbing sound that "Suprise Ending Did" withBang being the only other song that kept my attention. Still those two songs were a good find for me.

RATING: 5/10 (One great and one good song...a promising start)

BIO:

"What is up with Victoria B.C these days? The birth place of such musical heavyweights as Hot Hot Heat, Nelly Furtado, and Swollen Member has done it again. Armed with a solid repertoire of songs that are undeniably well written and passionately executed, it could be said that Island favorites Armchair Cynics are standing on the precipice of huge success...maybe it is something in the water.

With the new line-up just over a year old, Armchair Cynics has already received some high honors for their accomplishments including winning BandFEST Vancouver Island (2002) as well as picking up multiple M Power awards (Best Artist, Best Male Songwriter, and Best Producer/Engineer ) for their debut album "Coffee Shop Confessions".

Sometimes the secret to success is as simple as the right combination of personalities and talents to create a band with distinct identity, a characteristic sadly lacking in popular music today. With the Armchair Cynics, all the elements are securely in place, creating the perfect conditions for originality, and even f*%@ genius.

Front man and founding member Kenn Coutu possesses a songwriting style encompassing all the emotional lyricism of Sunny Day Real-Estate and Incubus, with a vocal delivery reminiscent of Adam Duritz. The perfect compliment to Kenn's intelligent and passionate song-writing abilities is the thoughtful guitar stylings of Adam Sutherland, whose moody guitar licks and sound phrasing fill the space within each song. Engaging the listener even further is bass player Mitsubishi, whos technique is a welcome departure from the boring, hidden bass lines of the past.Combine those elements with the charizmatic , heavy hitting beat of drummer Ryan Rae , and you have a bomb thats ready to explode.

Since signing a recording agreement with the Vancouver based record label 604 in early 2004, the Armchair Cynics are perfectly poised to start conquering the world!

The band's loyal fanbase in Victoria is going to have to get used to the idea of sharing, as this is just the start for these extraordinary musicians..."

MUSIC SAMPLES/VIDEOS:



CLICK ON STANDALONE PLAYER TO PLAY







BANG VIDEO


BAND MEMBERS:

Kenn Coutu: Vocals,Guitar
Adam Sutherland: Guitar, Vocals, Synth
Aran Puritch: Bass
Ryan Rae: Drums

BAND LINKS:
www.myspace.com/armchaircynics.com
www.armchaircynics.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armchair_Cynics