by Ian Schneider | May 8, 2019 | albums, review
Goosebumps. The immediate sensation one gets when listening to the intro to Judah and the Lion‘s new album Pep Talks. The aptly named Pep Talks gives the listener a metaphorical punch in the mouth with numerous vocal buildups, booming horns, and a steady building guitar. This is the band’s third album, and it does not disappoint from start to finish.
Big band feels with heartfelt lyrics is how this listener likes to describe Pep Talks. 17 tracks long, Pep Talks boasts features from Kacey Musgraves and Jon Bellion, but the majority of the focus is on Judah and the Lion’s ability to captivate audiences with their pop-alternative style. The constant presence of the variety of strings, and the pounding of drums, just make you want to move. Even as I write this at my desk, my head is consistently bobbing, and my feet are thumping with every single beat. Emotionally stirring, Pep Talks is raw in every sense of the word, putting on display every single talent that Judah and the Lion possesses.
The release of Pep Talks signals the announcement of a worldwide tour from Judah and the Lion. With festival stomps throughout, the band will be touring from May until November. Without a doubt, the songs on this album will be triumphs live, all of them have a live feel even when you are streaming them through a computer. I for one cannot wait to witness Pep Talks live, and I can only hope that Judah and the Lion incorporate the intro track “Pep Talk” into the performance. It gets me amped just thinking about it.
You can keep up with Judah and the Lion on their socials and their website judahandthelion.com.
by Meredith Schneider | May 8, 2019 | snapshot, visual
On Friday, May 3rd, The Japanese House entertained a wall-to-wall sold out crowd at Riot Room. Opening for them – Art School Girlfriend – came before them calm, cool, and collected, and really set a gorgeous tone for the performance. Check out some of our favorites from the show below!
Keep up with The Japanese House here.
by Meredith Schneider | May 8, 2019 | premieres, videos
In the mood for a beautifully composed track that carries you on a very interesting plot line in its new accompanying music video? Jake Waitzman’s project Jaco has just released the new video for his song “Blackboard”, and the black and white video is wild, to say the least. Take yourself on a bit of an escapist’s journey below, and let us know what you think on Facebook!
Keep up with Jaco here.
by Meredith Schneider | May 7, 2019 | soundtrack
We made this playlist thinking about what inspired us during the album production time or simply what we listened too and maybe indirectly inspired us. The result, is that we actually and apparently listened to different kind music from different style and different historical period. Most part of the music is rock or came from rock, another part is electronic or contaminated by it , for example, we enjoyed some classic song from icons like Rolling Stones, but we have been impressed by some young and fresh artists like Tom Vek. We jumped from the “Dark Country” of the Builders and the Butchers to the Industrial sound of Ministry, or from the City And Colour melancholy to the energy of the English Architects!
Anyhow, we personally don’t think that there is a huge gap among those 48 songs , they have something in common and I challenge you to find this point. Maybe is a matter of frequency or just the mood or maybe all of them have the same roots, you can find it or maybe just listen to the playlist and have fun jumping from a romantic acoustic sound to an extreme electronic metal.
Keep up with SOAWARE here.
by Meredith Schneider | May 7, 2019 | snapshot, visual
On Wednesday, May 1st, we celebrated May Day with Jai Wolf at the Truman in Kansas City, MO. The room was decked out with humans from wall to wall dressed in their EDM best. We have a few photos to share the kaleidoscope of a night with you!
Keep up with Jai Wolf here.
by Ashleigh Lee | May 6, 2019 | snapshot, visual
On Thursday, May 2nd, Interpol and FOALS lit up the stage at Arvest Bank Theater at The Midland. Photographer Ashleigh Lee captured some highlights for us.
Keep up with Interpol here.
by ImperfectFifth | May 6, 2019 | soundtrack
We all have plenty of days where we feel strange, exhausted, disoriented, or just not like ourselves. When I find myself deep within my own thoughts, lost in the weirdness, I like to put on my “Wiggle Beats”. The songs in this collection have different effects on my being. Carry the Weight by Morgxn, for instance, overwhelms my heart with emotions, simultaneously giving me the urge to move – dance, be proactive… I seek solace in these tunes, for many reasons, but in one way or another, they each get my blood flowing, emotions heightened, and pull me out of my own thoughts. I hope they bring others a similar sensation!
Keep up with Hanna Barakat here.
by Phlis | May 6, 2019 | albums, review
Dead Girls Corp. recently released an album. So what’s it like? Read on and you shall discover.
The album starts with Dead Girl, the feel of the track is very much 90s metal. It has nice droning chugging guitars and potent vocals. I also like the industrial feeling you get on this one.
From The Bottom is next, this has a gorgeous old school industrial start and feel, I must admit the feel of the music is nothing new but it’s amazing just by being what it is. This track has a lot of power behind it both vocally and musically, some very nice potent and energetic drumming here.
X’s No O’s again has that classic industrial start, the music is very packed full of sound which can sometimes detract from each angle of the music but this is not a bad thing. Again this track is nothing different from the previous two tracks in any way, but the music is one you find yourself moving to.
Alleys Of Death is by far the most melodic of all the tracks so far with great placement of each part of the music, it doesn’t feel as slightly too full as the previous three tracks do. This has a cock rock feeling to the track vocally and also the way that the guitars screech.
Ask For It is really a track that has very prominent vocals and guitars, they just seem to dual with each other yet compliment each other at the time. Though at points when both are full on they tend to drown each other out somewhat which is a shame as it detracts from the feel of the song.
Flesh For Fantasy again has a cock rock feel but this time it’s melodic and very sexy, almost orgasmic industrial metal. On this track the vocals sound like a sensual but aggressive David Coverdale. I like the music on this one, the backbeat is good but the guitars seem to tell part of the story which is quite clever.
Can’t Change does what some of the other tracks on this album don’t, it harmonizes the clutter of the music. It’s full on sound but with etiquette and emotion, I do love the slight echo on the vocals here as it adds a slight excitability to the feel of the music.
Promise Me is a track that is something different to other tracks on this album, this has more a late 90’s nu metal feel yet with a more slightly classic guitar sound. It’s almost a homage to the greats of that era like Stabbing Westward as it has that slight feel to it.
VDay comes next and to me as the album is winding down then so is the music, VDay is a lot more mellow than the other tracks but yet it does slightly peak at points. It has them chugging guitars again but yet there is something about this track, so far from what I have heard VDay is my favourite so far. It’s heavy, melodic, light and a true belter of a track.
Just The Same does similar to VDay, it winds down from the other tracks. Again this track is lighter, it’s less cluttered than some of the other tracks and I must admit this one is very harmonic. It just seems to fit well together, for the first time here you can hear the bass perfectly. Liking this track a lot.
Dynamite is again quite light compared to the beginning tracks, David Coverdale esq vocals make a return here. The music ebbs and gets a bit more heavier than VDay and Just The Same but then it calms down again, I think it’s perfect for the setting lyrically here.
And last but not least we have Worth, oh the bass here is very sexy. Only issue here is at points the music becomes cluttered again which kind of spoils what is a very catchy track, it’s just a little bit too much I feel.
Overall I feel this is not a bad album but there are quite a few tracks where the music is just too full and it becomes very cluttered which detracts from the actual talent of Dead Girls Corp. As the album comes to a close the music mellows and shows the true expertise of each of the musicians, vocals are amazing but they do get overpowered by the music sometimes.
If you like decent industrial then this album is for you, it’s nothing new but it does keep alive a genre that we don’t tend to see much of these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqnfz5NzvOw
http://deadgirlscorp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/deadgirlscorp/
by Meredith Schneider | May 3, 2019 | singles, wolf tracks
Last Friday, soulful songstress Emily Chambers debuted her new track “Real Talk”, and we’re absolutely smitten. The lyrics are highly-relatable – I mean, we have all been in relationships we didn’t anticipate – and so stunningly delivered that this is hands-down one of our favorite spring releases. While she croons about that no-good feeling of confusion, we get a look into her ferocity with edgy instrumentals and attitude to match.
Keep up with Emily Chambers here.
