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Next week, NJ emo/rock legends Armor For Sleep will be sharing the stage with Dashboard Confessional and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, playing a series of shows in NJ, PA, and NY as part of the Hello Gone Days tour. Armor For Sleep recently released a new single entitled “How Far Apart”, off of their upcoming album The Rain Museum, which drops September 9th via Equal Vision Records…
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By Deaglan Howlett | Posted Wednesday, January 1, 2019
Magic Ghrelin is a four piece, punk/power pop group based out of Asbury Park, New Jersey. The group consists of Matt "Tank" Bergman (drums), Guy Pollioni, (guitar /vocals), Justin Lombardo (guitar/vocals) and Luke Henderiks (bass/vocals). Their debut EP Die a Rockstar is an energetic, punk masterpiece. This record is unapologetically honest yet incredibly catchy, tackling heavy subjects with soaring guitars. The tracks allow for every member to shine through in their unique playing and songwriting style, absolutely nobody sounds like them. I reached out to Magic Ghrelin and they were sweet enough to answer some questions about the origins of the band!
Tank: Magic Ghrelin formed about a year ago and the word “Ghrelin” is the hunger hormone that communicates to your brain that you are hungry. Throw magic in front of that and boom, the hunger to make magic.
Luke: Personally I would say Big Star, Grandaddy, Nada Surf, Knapsack, The Get Up Kids and Teenage Fanclub! We aspire to be a power-pop band with heavy emo and shoegaze influence.
Luke: Our overall message as a band is to respect and love what you do and to not be ashamed of who you are. We write songs about being unique and having issues with our mental health that we work on with the help of the people we love around us.
Luke: Guy usually comes up with a guitar part with Tank drumming with him at practice, then it gets presented to Justin and I. We usually end up deciding if it works based on how we play the song together. If we feel the magic when we create, we keep it; if we aren’t with it, we don’t. It’s a pretty simple process. We all come up with lyrics together and review them.
Justin: I like “Enemy” the most because I think it's really catchy and it's a true pump up banger that touches upon some honest feelings lyrically.
By Sonia Schnee | Posted Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Emo punk indie band The Bummers may be based out of New Orleans, but they also have a New Jersey connection. Guitarist/Vocalist Ben Shooter grew up in Little Falls NJ and, back in July, the band performed at The Meatlocker in Montclair as part of their summer 2019 "Mass Consumption Party" tour to promote their new EP Dairy Beach. The guys recently released a new single ("Animal Familiar") as well as a music video ("NHL 2002"). If you’d like to support The Bummers, they currently have a GoFundMe campaign up to help them record their sophomore album and organize a 2020 West Coast tour. Check out our interview with band, below, to learn more about their musical roots and plans for the future.
Guitarist/vocalists Ben Shooter and Sean Doyle, bassist Clay Hakes, and drummer Fox Capone comprise The Bummers. The band is currently based in New Orleans, but Ben, Sean and Clay are originally from Little Falls NJ, Philly, and Buffalo NY, while Fox is originally from Nashville.
Our sound is most easily described as emo punk with some other diverse influences (metal/grunge/post-punk/goth/hip-hop/etc.) mixed in. But we don’t really care about fitting too easily into any specific genre.
Bands we like include Violent Soho, Car Seat Headrest, MCR, Coheed and Cambria, The Toadies, Donovan Wolfington, and Deal Casino (who we played with earlier this year for their New Orleans show).
If we’re doing classic rock covers, though, our go-to is always David Bowie.
We wrote “Animal Familiar” while on our summer 2019 east coast tour. On the way to Buffalo, we stopped in at Nada Recording Studios in Montgomery, NY to record some songs with John Naclerio (known for his work with MCR, Brand New, etc.). We more or less put together the lyrics and music in the studio. John’s space is deep in the woods and he had mentioned that he’s also near the “UFO capital” of NY, which made for a spooky atmosphere. We had the intro riff already worked out but in the studio Sean came up with the lead guitar melody which is very minor key and eerie. So we ended up feeling like the lyrics should be about magic and witchcraft. We ended up releasing “Animal Familiar” right before Halloween and made it the opener for our Halloween night show in New Orleans.
"NHL 2002" by The Bummers - from their summer 2019 EP "Dairy Beach.”
For the “NHL 2002” video, we worked with a group called Pixel Collective. They had us drive out to their location in Baton Rouge and we filmed the entire thing in one all-day session. The song is all about nostalgia and longing for the simpler joys of early 2000s childhood, so naturally we based the music video on one of the classic video games we played as kids. The actual process involved a lot of jumping around in front of a green screen - they recorded us one at a time and then edited it all together. You can see some of that in the behind the scenes shots at the very end of the video. The studio was also great and reached out to a bunch of their friends to find someone willing to let us borrow a Nintendo 64 to use in the video. Dairy Beach
We started working on Dairy Beach in early 2019 as a follow up to our 2018 debut album A Very Exciting Life. We recorded the EP at the Music Shed in New Orleans with engineer Ben Lorio. On this EP we had a couple of songs we’d been sitting on for a while and songs we more or less put together in the studio. We also had a little bit more time and freedom to do new things we’ve wanted to try. With our first album it was mostly very bare bones - 2 guitars, bass, drums, vocals with maybe one additional harmony. With Dairy Beach we did a bunch more vocal layering than we’ve done in the past and we also got to use some additional instruments - for example we used a B3 organ on “Kill Yourself”, and a cool sequencer that Ben Lorio had for parts of “Pile of Little Arms”.
As we went along we started to notice common themes in the lyrics of our songs and we put together a sort of concept for the Dairy Beach EP. A lot of the tracks on Dairy Beach have a very bleak and nihilistic attitude about them, so we kind of packaged the EP as a bunch of anti-summer bops.
The Bummers outside First Wok in Little Falls, NJ.
There’s also a track on the EP about growing up in New Jersey which is called “First Wok.” It’s kind of a tribute to Ben’s favorite Chinese restaurant in Little Falls. When we came through NJ this summer on tour we stopped at the real First Wok for lunch.
We almost always come up with music first. Lyrics usually take us a bit longer although we usually have a concept for what the song should be about. Sometimes for lyrics we end up needing the pressure of the studio situation to get anything done and we’re still working on them until right before its time to record vocals.
We’ve been sending John Naclerio our songs to mix and master since A Very Exciting Life, but this summer recording “Animal Familiar” and “Fists” was the first time we’ve gotten to meet him in person and work in his studio. So we’d really like to do a full album at Nada Recordings with him.
Recently we’ve had our friend Davey Ginger joining us on trombone for select shows in New Orleans and we’d love to have him do some horns on the next record. We’d also love to incorporate some rap influence and we were thinking of collaborating with the NJ group Melting Mindset, who played at our Meatlocker show this summer.
We are currently planning a January 2020 tour in California. However we’ll likely be back in New Jersey sooner than you think. Our show at the Meatlocker this summer went really well - we had a lot of friends and family come out but we also got a lot of new people who were interested in the music. We’d love to come back to the Meatlocker and also try some Asbury Park/Jersey shore venues, maybe in summer 2020.
All 4 of us have been in various bands for most of our lives and are really avid music lovers, so we each bring a slightly different musical perspective to The Bummers. It sort of becomes a bit of a musical stew at times, with a lot of different influences converging. We started in 2014, and I think in our stuff from back then you can hear those differences isolated in different songs. In our more recent stuff, those different sounds have really started to blend together and make a sound that feels a little more unique to ourselves.
We’ve been a band for 5 years now which feels like a big accomplishment. We all work full time jobs and put a lot of time and a lot of our own money into this. We work hard to make time for this, to make the best music and recordings we can, and to put on the best live shows we can with the resources we have. In this past year we’ve started to see our work pay off and we’ve gotten to do some great things. Dairy Beach was our first release to get some real press. We got to do our first TV performance in New Orleans. We’re getting bigger and better shows and also doing a lot more shows outside New Orleans. And this summer we had our tour and it was great to see that people were into our music in places like NJ and Philly.
Being a band certainly isn’t easy in 2019, it can be pretty expensive and everybody has to really be on the same page to maintain a constant schedule. I think because of that, you really have to genuinely love it.
Play music that makes you excited. Don’t worry about how the crowd will react or what music other people are making and don’t compare your progress to other peoples’ progress.
Find other bands you like and help each other out - share your resources so you can build a community around all of your music.
Our music is on all major streaming platforms including Spotify/Apple Music/Bandcamp/Soundcloud/etc. Here are a couple of relevant links:
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/441IiUTM9Sy6tb6wqaF2PK?si=7d8lGw0vROWMzIOwcANWHg
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thebummersband/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAffos5hV9OP09QQXBMxtJw
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/thebummersband
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thebummers
We’re not on TikTok though because we’re not really sure what that is.
Be on the lookout for new music. We like the momentum that we have so we’re going to keep putting out new music constantly until long after everyone asks us to stop.
By Deaglan Howlett | Posted Sunday, October 13, 2019
Hopper Pond is a pop punk/emo group based out of Forked River, New Jersey. Earlier this year, the group released their debut EP, Cutting Ties. Since the release, Hopper Pond has been playing numerous shows throughout the state and beyond in support of the release. Cutting Ties is a high energy, ripper of a first release, and bassist/vocalist Steve Scholey was kind enough to answer some questions about the group and Cutting Ties. Thanks again, Steve!
Hopper Pond is based out of Nicky's (vocals/guitar) house in Forked River NJ. We're all pretty much from close, surrounding towns. Chris's house is now our home venue, the calzone zone, so we're finally able to do stuff SUPER close to home, makes everything so easy, and I love bringing the scene to our small town to throw down!
So Hopper Pond was formed in January of this year, actually. We started as a 3-piece, until we had the pleasure of adding Evan and Ry to the mix. We've all been in previous bands with each other before. Ryan (lead guitar) has been in almost every band of mine since middle school, and I've known Nicky since I started taking bass lessons in 5th grade. Honestly we're all best friends and the dynamic between us really shows it, on and off stage.
Oof, we take influence from a pretty wide spectrum. Obviously, we all have a soft spot for the emo revival period. I feel like there was a point where I owned every piece of Modern Baseball merch available. Though, I do like to take a lot of influence from pop music. I just love it. T Swift? Amazing. We listen to everything we can. We just love finding new shit and showing each other, whether it be emo, rap, or hardcore.
Well, the first song I wrote for us was “41-33.” Since then, I feel like we bounce around. We write a LOT of music in our free time. I feel like multiple days, I'll get a voice memo from Nick or Ryan with a new riff, or I'll send them a "banger one liner" or something. It's very obvious when I get on kicks of pop punk, or screamo. You can hear it in our music, like a timeline of what we've been listening to, who we've been taking influence from. From here, I don't know what we're gonna write. It's gonna be fun though.
Writing Cutting Ties was honestly the most fun I've ever had with my friends. Every time we wrote a new song, we'd come up with an idea for it and scream about it for an hour, texting each other after how this is "our new best song, holy shit this is our new best song." We collaborate really nicely, because we're so comfortable and real with each other. On the recording side, Jacob Fishman should get an award. He fucking killed it, from start to finish. I've never worked with someone with so much knowledge, and I can't wait to work with him again. He does hate Bayside tho, which I do have a problem with.
“You Wouldn't Love Me in the Summer” is my favorite track on that record. It's just so energetic and fun to play live, and the lyrics are some of my favorites that we have released. One of my favorite parts of the set, definitely.
A Hopper Pond show is definitely different. We may have a few things to say about Tom Brady, or stories from Nick's dishwashing job. We love to have fun and joke around on stage. I grew up a huge fan of Blink-182, and I always loved how you could have fun with them at shows. They acted like best friends, because they were. Our fans, to be honest, are fucking insane. They're what makes it fun. There's nothing like the feeling of someone screaming your lyrics back at you. Whether it's in a sweaty basement or a coffee shop, HP shows always pop off.
We have a BIG winter tour planned and just a lot happening coming up. New merch, new music, lots of shows, a lot of fun. We love our scene more than anything, it's like a big ol' friend group. Every band is so supportive and helped us come so far in such a short time, we appreciate it more than we could ever explain.
By Sean McCall | Posted Sunday, February 24, 2019
Ghost Friends is an indie rock / emo band from Moorestown, New Jersey. Ghost friends is:
“A 4-piece basement dweller howling echos of love and loss. Our reverberations cling to the the rusted pipes cemented into your foundation as the sounds of our angst pry their way through the cracks in your floorboards. We’re down here.”
The band consists of Alec Pezzano, Kyle Forgason, Jimmy Jenca, Justin “Juicy” Condora, and Sid (who is known for ghosting/melancholy).
Their most recent release, Tree Speak, was released on mischief night (Oct. 30) of 2018 which makes this record extra spooky. Tree Speak was Produced and Engineered by Jim Jenca, the bassist, which is definitely a cool easter egg.
The record begins with “Diving Bell” which immediately has you intrigued with what’s going to come next. It’s instrumental up to about a minute and a half into the song, and then finally resolves with some angsty and catchy lyrics. “Diving Bell” is a solid feeler and introduction to Tree Speak and sets the mood of the EP very well.
The second track, “VertiGogo,” is super poppy and gives me a Mayday Parade feel right away. I really like this track personally because it’s very well-produced and spacey. There’s a lot of dynamic and rhythmic changes in this song which I can definitely appreciate. I really dig the line “you move in stereo,” and if you’re itching for a catchy pop punk breakdown, “VertiGogo” definitely delivers.
Transitioning into track 3, “Malfoy,” Ghost Friends keeps pop punk alive for sure. The intro of this song gives me a heavy Four Year Strong vibe followed by The Starting Line’s “Say it Like You Mean It” once the vocals kick in. Malfoy will have you naturally bopping your head the entirety of this track.
“Blood Eagle” is the fourth track on Tree Speak, and it’s definitely one of the most emo in my opinion. There’s a lot happening dynamically, and the lyrics definitely pull at your heartstrings. The theme of the song seems to be dealing with the ability to help a loved one grow alongside with you; if both parties could work towards healthier communication.
The 5th track, “Split Ends,” definitely reminds me of earlier the story so far from the get-go. This is another emotional feeler that copes with the idea of being better off without someone that you once felt very attached to.
Tree Speak closes with “21 grams,” which they released a music video for that you can check out here. This song gives me an optimistic and hopeful feeling, despite all of the heartbreak and loss throughout the record. It mixes happiness, hope, despair, and heartbreak into one place. I think Ghost Friends did a great job summing up the record with this one.
All in all, I think this is Ghost Friends’ best release, but be sure to check out “The Blackmaker Demo” from 2017 as well. There’s plenty more to discover with this band, so head over to their website if you’re interested!
By Sonia Schnee | Posted Thursday, December 20, 2018
What are you doing tonight? At 8pm, you could be enjoying the first-ever kick-off show of the “True State Presents:” concert series, at The Wooden Spoon in Bloomfield, NJ. Performing acts include pop-punk band Boy Blue, alternative rockers Wave Break, alternative/emo/shoegaze band Rémis, and Dover/Rockaway rock band Champ. Admission is free. Check out our interview below with concert series organizer Derek Garabedian of the artist development company True State Management.
My name is Derek Garabedian. I am originally from Massachusetts, and I am now based in Mountainside, New Jersey.
True State management started only about 6 or 7 months ago (early summer 2018). The bands we have on roster right now are Hang Tight (@hangtightband), Black Caddy (@blackcaddynyc), The Summoned (@thesummoned), and Cat in the wall (@catinthewallband). All the bands are different genres — pop punk, hip hop, prog metal, and indie rock, in that order. The reason we are working with all genres is to expand our reach as much as possible. We are learning a lot within in each genre and it allows us to be in tune with everything going on. We believe in working with talented people, and talent exists in all genres of music.
I think North/Central Jersey in general is lacking in live music venues especially for local bands. Bloomfield is a city that has so much going on and is a very diverse place. The opportunity to have different genres and bring a lot of different people together is very appealing to me.
The reason I am starting the “True State Presents:” concert series is to help create a thriving music scene and community, while at the same time expanding my network to make everything True State is doing reach a larger scale. The goal of the concert series is to create scene that is willing to help each other and bring excitement about local music!
We are scheduled to one show a month right now but will be expanding in the near future.
Right now we are starting out with Pop-Punk and Indie style bands. With that being said, we are looking to book for all genres in the future. If anyone out there is interested in booking with us please reach out, we would love to talk!
I would love to bring in all types of passionate and contributing music fans.
The way I got started in music is a pretty typical story, I think. Me and a bunch of friends used to skateboard and listen to music. We all decided to get different instruments and start a band. The rest was history; I never stopped playing.
My journey is that after years of playing in different bands, I was lucky enough to end up with a record deal and got to tour the country. After that fizzled out and I got a little older, I started a family and took some time off of music. Eventually, I missed music too much and since I can’t tour myself I wanted to use what I learned to help other musicians on their own journey, by using the things I experienced in the past. Now we are here doing what I hoped to accomplish: helping bands!
Our biggest hurdle was to just pull the trigger and get started. I have been working on ideas for a long time, years even, on how to execute and what kinds of paths to take. The key is to just do it and roll with what comes your way. Utilize your passion to help others and make yourself happy.
You can find everything about our bands, us, and our shows on our website www.truestatemanagement.com and our socials (@truestatemgmt) on all platforms.
The thing I always stress to our bands and music fans is to always support in any way you can and to work as hard as possible to make it happen. I always tell bands, you should be trying to work harder than us (it won’t happen), but that should be the mindset. Help other bands get shows, go out to shows, even if you aren't playing (I know it's a crazy concept). The more friends you make and the bigger the network you have, the better you will do!
By Sean McCall | Posted Saturday, November 24, 2018
Ordet is the personalized emo-acoustic work of Connor Rothstein from Voorhees Township, New Jersey. Debuting with the 7-song EP, You Are Now Leaving the Boardwalk of Fame & Happiness in April of 2014, Ordet shares very personal and raw experiences through this collection of songs. The acoustic album was recorded within two days in the spring of 2014 through a TASCAM Portastudio at his house, which makes this record very pure and unique.
The EP begins with a track titled “It’s a Dirty, Dirty, Lonely Drug,” which has a very beautiful yet moody/spooky feel to it. I really like how up-close this song is. It seems to be dealing with the mix of emotions after going through a break-up. This introduction track covers a range of emotions from sadness to anger and everywhere in between. The end chants, “If this is all just a means to an end - then a man in my shoes is falling off the edge,” which is a power-emo line.
The second track, “Dying… To Survive,” has great guitar work. The cord structure and changes are tasteful and expected. This song deals with reminiscing to the times where we chose our vices to suppress our sadness of losing love.
The third track, “Everything & Her,” is one of my favorites. The guitar is very straightforward, catchy, and pretty. Besides the guitar work, the lyrics are poetically beautiful. The overall theme of this song deals with loving someone so much to the point where you prioritize them over you; loving someone else more than yourself. Love is powerful and can make you feel so small when it’s ripped away. This song is emotional, but also very sweet in regards to Jane Doe.
“Heartbreak is a Five-Letter Word” is also one of my favorites because it immediately hits you with a feel-good campfire mood. I personally love Connor’s voice in this one. I think his voice really shines in this range. This song continues with the melody of losing love and regret. The last line, “These songs don’t belong as much to me as they belong to you,” pulls at the heartstrings.
The fifth song, which is essentially the title track, is an emotionally optimistic journey. It deals with the idea of finally overcoming the past, defeating depression, and essentially just moving on after going through a traumatic situation.
The sixth song is a 7-minute atmosphere of purely boardwalk noise titled “The Things I’m Sure Of,” and the final song, "(Epilogue) April 5, 2013” is a very catchy acoustic jam. With sweet electric guitar lead throughout the song, “Epilogue” is reminiscing of the boardwalk, the memories, and the past -- while accepting something and someone new, the overall theme of moving on and becoming “gone" from someone else’s life. It has a very hopeful and optimistic mood, which ends the record perfectly.
Overall, You Are Now Leaving the Boardwalk of Fame & Happiness is a raw and emotional journey of love lost, youthful summer nights, missing friends, and coping with those feelings. The first half is dealing with the initial frustrations and sadness, and the second half is life playing its course and turning those settings of defeat into lessons. You can feel the growth throughout the EP, which is a beautiful thing Ordet accomplishes.
Connor Rothstein is also an incredibly talented photographer and genuine human being. Be sure to check out his work and follow “@cemeterytapes” on social media. He does a lot for so many people out of the kindness of his heart, so make sure to support him and give him a follow!
By Sean McCall | Posted Saturday, November 24, 2018
Suntitle is an alternative emo band from Port Republic, New Jersey. The band consists of Joe McGarvey on guitar/vocals, Kyle Fisher on guitar/vocals, Peter Bariexca on bass, and Dan Mattera on drums. Forming in June of 2014, they’ve gone through a change in name and brand and released their most recent EP The Loss Of, which has amazing artwork.
With influences such as Turnover, Citizen, Superheaven, and Basement, they deliver a very raw, organic, and intimate sound. They have a music video out for their song, “Art,” which premiered on New Noise Magazine. You can check that out here.
The Loss Of was released in February of 2018 through GTR Records which is an independent label located in Landsdale, Pennsylvania.
Suntitle’s EP opens up with a song called “Trust” that immediately ropes you in with intimate and moody bass and guitars. I love how they play with low vocals with layers of raspy and aggressive vocals overtop. It gives their music a lot of character, and keeps it interesting and energetic. The song is 5 minutes of intimacy and discusses holding on to hope even when you feel as though your faith in life is draining. I really enjoy the way this song ends with the cord structure differentiation, and the tempo changes. Definitely a solid start to the record.
The second song, “Comradery,” gives me an immediate balance and composure “I Can’t Do This Alone” feel mixed with some Title Fight. It’s one of those songs you just find yourself immediately moving your head to. I really like the guitar work in this one, and the chorus is super catchy. Again, they play with vocal octaves that are super tasteful.
The third song, “Amity,” keeps the momentum moving very well. This song is super poetic and has beautiful broken and vulnerable melodies. I don’t really need to say much more than that for this one, other than to just give it a listen yourself.
The fourth song on the EP, “Faith,” brings back the theme of faith, and I immediately caught my head boppin’ again. This song is super energetic right away, and about half way through the song Joe sings, “wake me up from this nightmare” which is the juiciest hook and change in rhythmic feel. This song reminds me of Title Fight’s “The Last Thing You Forget,” Turnover’s “Magnolia,” and a Code Orange influence with the guitar work about 12 seconds into the song. You’ll know what I mean, but you have to go listen. I don’t make the rules. Anyway, this is one of my top tracks from The Loss Of. From 2:40 on, it just slaps.
The second to last song, “Life,” is a heart-wrencher. It’s dynamo, aggressive, and spacey. I really like the purity of these lyrics, and the portrayal of words through their melodies. They discuss the use of drugs and watching loved ones deteriorate to addiction, which is a very tough subject to talk about, and they do so perfectly. This one will definitely make you feel and think.
Suntitle finishes the record off with “Art” which gives me Turnover’s “Magnolia” vibe again, which I personally think is a super underrated record. This song is a certified bop and up my alley. It concludes The Loss Of with aggression and passion. I love the stops and silence towards the end, and Peter low key rips a quick hot riff before they close it off.
All in all, this record is something to check out when you’re upset, angry, or sad. There’s a lot of emotion in The Loss Of and, most importantly, authenticity. I’ve seen these guys play many times, and they are very tight. The production quality is great and portrays Suntitle perfectly. Definitely check this record out the next time you have a car ride or 20 minutes free if you haven’t already.
By Sean McCall | Posted Sunday, October 14, 2018
Space Cadets is a two-piece emo/math rock band from Mount Holly, New Jersey. The band consists of Jarrett Wenzel on Drums/Vocals, and Matt Trinkle on Guitar. We Deserve Better is Space Cadets’ second EP release. The record was recorded by Matt Bogacki at Blue Light Digital Sound and was released in June of 2017. They have CDs and currently have 5 cassettes available (courtesy of Cheap Plastic Records).
The record opens with “New Vermont” which is a purely melodic and vulnerable song. Lyrically, it seems to discuss an internal struggle of stress and your mental health. "I can't lie to you, but I've been trying to, and I might go through with it, ‘cause I'm sick of wanting to die, every single time the stress hits.” I think this is discussing the ability to make a choice and be open in communication versus trying to lie; the temporary fix. This can bottle up and the stress can start to feel like too much, and this song covers that perfectly in a minute and a half.
The record transitions seamlessly into “Vanilla,” where the drums are introduced with a sad jazzy-sounding melodic guitar. The beginning seems to be reminiscing moments of admiration with a loved one, followed by coping with them moving away and the hardships of moving on. It picks up to a mathy beat and instrumental break where it transitions to a much more emotional and dreamy vibe. I love the rhythm throughout this entire song because it seems like you hear something new with each time you listen. Whether it be a ghost note, or hi-hat accent, it’s always super tasteful. Musically, I think this is my favorite song on the record.
The third song on the record, “Disconnecting,” is hands down one of the catchiest and most "finger-pointy” songs. The chorus is a jammer that speaks for itself: "3 years takes its toll on me I can't be everything I know you need, I'm not taking this lightly, but I can't help you when no one’s helping me.” My finger is aggressively pointing through the entirety of this chorus. That’s all you need to know; its a great time.
The last song on the record is called “In the Shirt You Gave Me,” and it continues with the theme of heartbreak of 3 years. This track essentially wraps up the entire theme of We Deserve Better. The transitions and dynamics are artistic and charming to the ear. My favorite part is the ending— almost breakdown—which closes the record perfectly.
This record is short, sweet, and powerful. Overall, it just gives me a feeling of genuinity and vulnerability. Their following and most recent EP, Coming Along Slowly, was released in July and is definitely something you should check out as well. It’s a solid follow-up to this record.
Jarrett’s input on the record is stated on Space Cadet’s bandcamp:
"There's been a lot of changes in my life over the past few months. The week before I recorded the vocals, we had a completely different record lyrically. Some things can change so quickly, when you least expect it. However, I think that's where this EP came from—honesty in the moment. In that week before I recorded vocals, I re-wrote 75% of the lyrics because the original ones were no longer relevant to my life. The past few months have been hard, but this band and this EP have kept me going. I hope these songs speak to you in some way. hope they help you as much as they've helped me."
~
We Deserve Better is available for streaming/download at:
Bandcamp: https://spacecadetsnj.bandcamp.com/album/we-deserve-better
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7MkXUOx99xBOcPBAdLtm2M
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist…
Apple Music: https://itun.es/us/ASlEkb
and more.
By Sean McCall | Posted Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Parkwood is an alternative-emo band from Hammonton, New Jersey. The band’s first release was Solus in January of 2015, followed by a single, “Deathbed,” off of their most recent EP, Selfish. “Deathbed” is the fourth track on their most recent release, which I’ll be going over in this review. Parkwood consists of Jorge Estrada (vocals/guitar), Nick Moretti (vocals/bass), Nick Gelone (Drums), and Brandon Beckley (guitar). Selfish was recorded by Eric McNelis of Sleep Audio/The Gradwell House and was mastered by Dave at The Gradwell House as well.
The first song on the EP is titled, “It Gets Old,” which seems to discuss the struggle of meeting expectations of loved ones and how draining it can be when you are consistently letting down the ones you love. The music is very heavy-hitting and emotional. It starts off at an almost dragging tempo, and later picks up the pace halfway through the song. I relate heavily to this song, and had the blessing to sing on a couple of tracks. The end lyrics, “I’m a lost boy and you’re better off alone, than to be with someone who’s a constant disappointment to everyone he knows,” really hit me hard because they are so relatable.
The second song, “Home,” is my personal favorite, and the chorus is super catchy. This song discusses a very personal topic about the hardships of living in a “home” that you essentially feel uncomfortable in — like you aren’t yourself. You’ve become accustomed to something outside of yourself. When you try so hard to meet expectations of those around you — particularly, our elders — it becomes exhausting to consistently fail in their eyes. Jorge asked me to sing on this song and write something for the ending, so I wrote about a very low point in my life related to something he was similarly going through, where you just feel defeated and want to give up.
“Heavy Daze” is the third track on the EP and musically one of my favorites. It opens up with just drums playing a very energetic beat. This song seems to continue the theme of being stuck inside your own head. Battling anxiety, depression, and just the general hardships of life is definitely overwhelming, and this song explores these struggles perfectly.
The fourth song on the EP is their single, “Deathbed," and is beyond heavy-hitting. I love Nick’s vocals on this song. They combine very well with Jorge, and it portrays well with loads of energy and aggression. (Side note — I also love the choppy breakdown towards the 2 minute mark — peep it.) My favorite thing about this EP is the dynamic changes in tempo — in this song specifically. It combines genres and toys with emo and hardcore, which they pull off really well.
The last song on the EP, is the self-titled track, “Selfish.” This song opens up with self-reflection on past mistakes and just generally being self-absorbed. A lot of the lyrics seem to be discussing a relationship between two people, and the indecisiveness of the relationship based on past and re-occurring mistakes. The last lyric states, “I’m sorry I’m leaving again,” followed by a change in pace instrumentally. The music is heavy-hitting and moving. It summarized the EP as a whole very well. I think there’s a lot happening musically to portray the feelings followed by that last line.
All in all, this is one of my favorite EP’s from around here, and I was very fortunate to be a part of this. Selfish is an emotional journey of self-reflection and awareness, and it’s definitely a feeler. If you’re looking to get a lil emo, and possibly aggressive, this EP is one you should listen to for sure.
By Sean McCall | Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Out of the Picture is an EP by regrown from Voorhees Township, NJ. The band consists of guitarist/vocalist Ben Greenblatt, guitarist/vocalist Kyle Lloyd, bassist Chris Panto, and drummer Jake Morrell. The EP was recorded by Peter Delbuono and released January 4th, 2018. Regrown is an emo rock band, and their music shines in this genre; especially when you see them live. The record, Out of the Picture, opens with the intro track, “Woofus,” which sets the mood perfectly. It’s a simply catchy 6/8 jammer. The lyrics are vague, yet relatable, which grabs my attention. It ends with “I don’t want to feel like this… I’ll never win” and immediately transitions into the record's title track, “Out of the Picture.” This song, in particular, gives me “Sasha” by Turnover kind-of-vibes -- that general era of music. The theme seems to focus on losing the connection with someone who is very important to you and struggling to cope. They end the song with “I hope you’re okay” multiple times and close off with “cause I’m not okay,” which is a beautiful selfless lyric.
The third song, “February, or How,” brings back that 6/8 rock-n-roll kind of energy. The song seems to focus on falling out of love and how messy that can be, as well as the hardships of making mistakes and accepting them. This is another simple, and catchy, song that’s very easy to listen to. Later on in the song, the energy picks up and changes to a 4/4 fast-paced closing after repeating, “I won’t say I miss you…I swear to god I once loved you,” which is a very raw and honest lyric.
The closing song on the record, “Chuck Coleman Sesh Interruption,” gets a bit more aggressive and energetic. This song is one of my personal favorites. The music itself reminds me of “Young States” by Citizen. I believe this song continues the theme of coping with a break-up and how badly that can toy with your emotions. The ending of this song features a music almost-breakdown, which closes out the record perfectly.
Overall, regrown is a very energetic band that I’d highly recommend seeing live. Their combinations of singers mesh very well and create beautiful melodic hooks while holding very high energy. I’m very excited to watch this band grow and keep on creating genuine songs.
By Sean McCall | Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Coming Along Slowly is an EP by the South Jersey band Space Cadets. They are a two-piece emo/math rock band from Mount Holly, NJ, featuring vocalist/drummer Jarrett Wenzel and guitarist Matt Trinkle. The album starts with luscious and melodic guitars in the first track, “Angel.” Jarrett Wenzel pulls at the heartstrings with this song that seems to be talking about believing in a relationship between two human beings. Although going through hardships, he says, “But you’re the sweetest, kindest, most perfect human being,” which really hit me personally. The song ends with “I hope you believe in me” with the softest vocals and all the music cutting out at the end.
The soft clean tones and horns continue in the second song, “Slowly,” which features South Jersey band Regrown (Kyle Lloyd & Ben Greenblatt). The song is very melodic and beautiful. It ends with Regrown featuring on the emotional outro, “I’m sorry I put you through this, I just want to be forgiven.”
The third song, “DIY Machine Broke,” really hits home for me. The song discusses the hardship of being a musician as well as a human being. To me, they’re trying to say that we are all human; we make mistakes. Yet, the anxiety of being a disappointment in someone else’s life can sometimes overwhelm you easily. At the end of the day, at least they’re doing what they love -- creating art and music.
Moving onto the fourth song, “Committing” (which features Luke Knoblauch from South Jersey), they continue the theme of the hardships of life becoming overwhelming. They close the song with, “Can’t be an excuse, fix the problem at the room, let’s all agree to do the things we said we’d always do,” which seems to imply connection amongst community to make everybody feel a little more at peace.
The record closes with the song “Balcony.” Like the rest of the record, this one is just as emotional and discusses the fear of losing loved ones. I really love the percussive hip-hop samples on top of the tasteful jazz cords and emotional melodies. They also include some very beautiful intervals in their “ooo’s” while reintroducing the horns to close off the record.
I’ll be honest, this EP left me wanting more from the band, which in my opinion is exactly what an artist should aim to achieve. I really enjoyed the overall consistency of the theme of the record. I believe a sense of community amongst your peers and working as a team will always get you further towards happiness and further in life in general. According to their Bandcamp, they planned to record a full-length prior to their summer tour, however, they realized they wanted to put something out before touring and created this EP almost spontaneously. See what the vocalist, Jarrett Wenzel said about the record, below:
“A little while ago, I got an idea for what has become our newest EP. Earlier this year we had been writing songs for a full-length and planning our summer tour. Around April, we realized it had been a year since we put anything out, and that our summer run wouldn’t be in support of new music. So my idea was to write and record an EP with little-to-no preparation. We had about 4-6 weeks to write the songs and coordinate things with the featured musicians, but most of the writing was done in the two weeks prior to the dates.
I brought everyone (aside from Matt) into the studio without parts written or without knowing exactly what was going to happen. We never got together beforehand. There was so much room for failure but not once did I feel like it was a bad idea. I just believed in it wholeheartedly. I didn’t explain this more than briefly to anyone, I just kind of did it and made sense of the process along the way. I am so proud of what happened. I can’t thank my wonderful friends enough for lending me their time and patience throughout the recording process. I certainly could never thank them enough for being in my life. I would like to think that all of this is a metaphor for believing in yourself/your peers and being completely blown away by the outcome -- but who knows, maybe I’m just a sap and our EP sucks! In all seriousness though, have some faith, my friends. You just might surprise yourself."
-- Jarrett Wenzel