Commons - Buried a Lie

I value recommendations higher than any pre-established body of work. That’s why I was all in when the artist Forever Starts Today directed me to the pop-punk band Commons.

Commons isn’t attempting to create a fusion of genres the likes nobody has ever heard. They’re also not clad in blazers, chucks and pink ties in an attempt to differentiate themselves stylistically. They’re just a fucking awesome pop-punk band that rocked the song ‘Buried a Lie’ by Senses Fail.

Gold Steps - Rum is for Drinking, Not for Burning

Gold Steps crushed ‘Rum is for Drinking, Not for Burning’ for our Senses Fail tribute comp.

If you’re unfamiliar with the band, well, wake the fuck up. They put out what I will adamantly argue is a top five all time EP in 2016 that’s appropriately titled, Louder Than Words. They also knocked out a new EP in May by the name of 'Incandescent.’ They’re truly incredible, and I sincerely hope they’re around for the long haul so that I have the chance to be able to work with them again.

Oh, by the way, the song is available now.

Awesome Indie: Major Minor

Do you like Man Overboard? Me too. Do you you wish they had a bit more Punk in their Pop Punk? Me too. Well, I have some fucking fantastic news for you that can be summed up in two grand words; Major Minor. I was just recently introduced to two of their EPs and have immediately taken to all of their tunes. The Maps EP is the home run hitter, with the song 'Plans for Two' being the designated hitter. Seriously, give them a spin below and prove me wrong.

That's my unequivocally, objectively awesome indie advice for the week. 

Murphy's Law (Remastered) [Deluxe Edition]

Three new songs, 14 remastered tracks and only five physical CDs. That's what the Murphy's Law (Remastered) [Deluxed Edition] consists of. The new and improved re-release may only have five tangible copies left, but it'll most certainly be available to everyone digitally on November 7th (or now if you manage to follow the links in this post to the appropriate site). There's also a video from the track 'Miss Summer' below. The video is incomplete and just rough footage thanks to the dip-shit thief that decided to rob the guys blind. It's not all bad, though, there's an extra layer of amusing added to it in the state it's in. Let that be a lesson to all the prospective burglars out there. You rob us, we'll put out what we have regardless and the interwebs will suffer. 

By the way, I'm not usually a fan of re-releases, but man does Murphy's Law sound better now. I guess a year with new equipment really does pay off. 

Always Hope

Ever wondered what a female fronted version of Senses Fail would sound like? Just give the album Always Hope by Forever Starts Today a spin and you'll know. It doesn't tonally match Senses Fail, but man, "Not This Time" just strikes that nostalgia chord for me while stoking that Pop Punk fire.

Always Hope is a follow up to their debut release Limitless, which included The Scene comp track "Catch Me If You Can." That's only relevant because I always try and add artists to The Scene that I think will go on to record material that will impact their respective genre. Always Hope more than accomplishes that. In my opinion their album is the best female fronted release since Brand New Eyes by Paramore. I'm just disappointed it took me two months to realize that it was already out.    

For God's sake, support quality indie artists so we can get more material like this. 

Stream 51 Unreleased Tracks

Most bands don't release 51 songs in a career. The Future Idiots have 51 overflow tracks that they simply couldn't manage to squeeze onto their dozen other albums. Actually, they had more than that, these are just the cream of the rejected crop.  

If you're looking for some quality song guidance, you can't go wrong with, 'Stay With Her' and 'LJS.' They're original FI tunes that are just old-school Pop Punk fun.

For cover songs, head straight to Joy Division's, 'Disorder,' which might be my favorite track off the entire album, but you can't go wrong with 'Pathetic' either. 

Or just ignore me and stream it all here, or at your favorite outlet of choice.

    

51 Track "Worst of" Album

According to the Future Idiots, and I tend to agree, bands have destroyed iTunes and Spotify with their “Best of” albums. In FI's always unconventional and semi-satirical way, the guys decided to offer up their own distorted interpretation of what a "Best of" album was. Their idea wasn’t necessarily to offer up the least enjoyable music that they had to offer, but rather to glorify some of the embarrassingly nostalgic pieces that were trimmed from over a decade worth of work. 

The aptly named Brown Album is meant to convey the presence of B-Sides and openly acknowledge that some of the material may be a little rough around the edges. The album initially contained around 15 passable but ultimately unexciting tracks. That’s when the guys unearthed a rogue hard drive or two from the FI vaults and uncovered some of the more entertaining tracks that were eliminated. This second pass through their discography and a light bit o re-mastering effectively created a second iteration of, the Brown Album. The one where old-school fun meets up with some kickass one-offs that were simply lost in the shuffle of creating over a dozen albums. Some of the material wasn’t even supposed to be nixed from the original albums. “It’s Gonna Be Me” by N’Sync along with a few others were slated for a legitimate release. Sadly, these unlucky few songs met an untimely fate on a corrupt hard drive. Thankfully, through the magic of time and new equipment came the ability to resurrect these 51 gems.

All in all, the album has some delightfulness, some quirkiness and some uniqueness that might have been better off left in the backseat of a hot car, that was abandoned, and on fire, on an uninhabited island....you get the point. That point being, that there's 51 Pop-Punk tracks. Most bands don't put that much material out in a career. The Future Idiots are doing it for shits and giggles.  

Rise Against

The Future Idiots are going through the stereotypical progression that all artists venture through. I mean, Paris Hilton's 'Stars are Blind,' DragonForce's 'Through the Fire and Flames'  and now Rise Against's 'Give it All.' That career arc is almost cliche at this point. 

Heavy sarcasm aside, 'Give it All' is a brand-spanking new song that shows some serious emotional range. Both from a lyrical and a vocal standpoint. It's just not something you'd expect out of the usually lighthearted group. It'll be truly fascinating to see what the next stage of the Future Idiot evolution will be.

Here's to hoping it's Snoop Dog or Bob Dylan, or in a perfect world, a mash up of both. 

 

 

Oblio

Scene, Vol. 6 contributor and Rock/Folk artist oblio just recently released their debut full-length album Autophobia. Personally I think it brilliantly mixes Weezer-like Rock vibes with Folk aesthetics. Now, while that's nice, what truly sold me on the album was the sprinkling of aggressive lyrics that they inject here-and-there. It just displays the perfect amount emotion. I'm certainly not doing the album justice with my weak ass comparisons. Trust me, pick up their full-length album. Their opening track 'Days' is worth the price of the CD alone. 

If you haven't heard it, here's the ditty they kindly supported our indie comp with: