Saves the Day/Say Anything @ Metro

Last night was the big Saves the Day/Say Anything show at the Metro in Chicago. It definitely did not disappoint. We got there a bit after the show started and caught the last two songs of The Dear Hunter, a prog-rock band from Boston. They have a very interesting style that is constantly changing tempos, throwing in background vocals, cool keyboard effects, and loud breaks. The singer was extremely talented live, and he did a great job hitting all of his notes and really bringing the songs together. One track off their debut cd is posted below.



The second band was called Meg and Dia. If you dig chick-fronted rock bands, check them out. I dont have any tunes, but they played a tight set of pop-rock tunes, with some punk stylings thrown in. The singers were very talented and great at harmonizing with each other live. The guitar player pulled out some sick solos, and the drummer was quite entertaining. It's not necessarily my cup of tea, but they have to be one of the best in the girl-rock scene.

The next band was one of my all-time high school favorites, Saves the Day. They have been rocking out since 1998, and their second cd Through Being Cool may be the most dangerous for me to play in my car because it makes me want to drive insanely fast. I will have to make a full post later on this band because they deserve it...but their style is basically a punkish-rock with some emo lyrics and some nasally singing by Chris Conley. Each CD they put out has a different feel, yet is also noticeably Saves the Day. At the show, you could tell that they were the oldest and most experienced. They played a large cross-section from all of their CD's, took requests, and kept the crowd in it the entire night. A couple of songs are posted below, which really don't do justice to their large catalogue. The first is 'Firefly', which I had joked about all day about being their opener, and crazily enough it was. The second is a super-emo one off of Through Being Cool that they also played.





Lastly, Say Anything came on and put a great show together. They didn't seem as tight as some of the other bands, but the quality of their songs really made up for it. Max didn't exactly know how to use a mic, but his energy was incredible, and the show was outstanding...especially the encore with 'Alive', 'Walk Through Hell', and 'Admit It' (which in my opinion was the best song of the night). Read Alec's previous post, for a real description of their style...but I'll put one tune down that most of the Say Anything fans may not have. This is a demo track that they recorded, and the crowd chanted it during the encore....so they played it, and it was great. It is off their Menora/Majora EP, and it's called 'A Walk Through Hell'.

Say Anything

To describe the sound and style of Say Anything can be a bit of a challenge. The Los Angeles based rock group has described their sound as a "rock opera", and while I guess this could kind of work, I don't really feel that it's such a great description. The main parts of their style that stick out to me are the the mix of indie and punk in the music and the aggressive singing of frontman Max Bemis.

But what will really get you is just the pure creativity of their songs. Bemis is an eccentric personality, and was even diagnosed with bi-polar disorder after suffering a nervous breakdown while working on their 2004 release ....Is A Real Boy. You can just feel the weird ways in which Bemis's mind works when listening to the tracks of the album. The lyrics can be thoughtful and moving, but also quite strange and random at times as well. But the combination of all these elements has helped create one incredible album that has gained them a large fan-base. While this is not their only release, Bemis has become unsatisfied with the bands earlier small releases and refuses to play the songs or re-release them, so ....Is A Real Boy has become the definitive album for the band thus far. Actually there is a re-release of the album containing some extra track that had previously leaked, but not a complete new album.

The reason we're featuring Say Anything is because they're coming to Chicago this week to play a couple of shows with Saves the Day. Wednesday at the HOB and Thursday at the Metro, of which we're going to the second one at the Metro. The shows are sold out I believe, but I don't have a ticket and am planning on heading down to try and buy one on the street anyways.

Even if you don't head to the show, be sure to at least check them out, because they are a great band with a very unique style. The first song is their show stopper, and pretty much their best song. Its an uptempo ballad about love during the holocaust, and lyrically and musically just an amazing song.

Say Anything - Alive With The Glory Of Love

The second is another great track showing off more of Bemis's songwriting ability.

Say Anything - Woe


-Alec

Youngblood Brass Band

As Alec and I were gone this weekend playing in the ultimate frisbee sectionals at sunny Naperville, the Youngblood Brass Band held a show in Chicago. It's too bad that we had to miss them, because they are really cool live...but hey, ultimate was awesome and we're going to regionals. To make up for the missed show, I decided to write about the band instead.

Hailing from my home state Wisconsin, Youngblood Brass Band combine elements of jazz, funk, dixie, and hip-hop to create a pretty unique sound. If you don't know much about brass bands, they aren't like a normal band in that all of the instruments they use are brass. That means, trombones, saxophones, and trumpets for the melodies, sousaphones for the bass lines, and drums as the beat and only non-brass instrument. When they perform live, there are actually three percussionists which mesh together real nicely and get the crowd moving, while the overarching brass instruments keep the people dancing. On many of the tracks there are vocals reminiscient of hip-hop. When I saw them in Zurich last year, a friend of mine commented on how he thought they felt like a jazzy 'Rage Against the Machine'. Sure, I can see the comparisons...it is definitely an in-your-face style of singing...but I would say listen to the tunes and give me your own take.

I've put three tunes down below. The first is 'Round One' off of their Center:Level:Roar CD. This is the tune that I play for people when I try to convince them to come to a concert. It displays many of the typical Youngblood traits with a piercing intro, driving percussion, and brass layering. The sousaphone base line is also pretty sick. The second is one of the more hip-hop oriented Youngblood tunes called 'Diaspora'. It begins laid back and flowing as the horn lines give breaks throughout the song to create a nice feel. The third is the most traditional Youngblood track, called 'Acousticon Theme' from their cd Unleran which weaves in solos throughout a tune that grooves and shows the talents of Youngblood. Enjoy!

Youngblood Brass Band - Round One

Youngblood Brass Band - Diaspora

Youngblood Brass Band - Acousticon Theme

The Envy Corps

Zach Johnson winning the Masters got me all pumped up with state pride, so I thought I'd write about an up and coming band from central Iowa called The Envy Corps. These indie rockers have started gaining much attention and recently signed with Mercury records and are working on their first major label debut. I must admit that I'm somewhat surprised to see this group making news, because for years the "scene" in central Iowa has been dominated hardcore and metal groups (see Slipknot, Stone Sour, 35 Inch Mudder, Indexcase, and others).

But nevertheless here comes The Envy Corps with something a little different. They have a pretty true indie style and rely heavily on the influence of Radiohead. Their songs are often melodic and catchy, but they refrain from becoming too "poppy". Lead singer Luke Pettipoole leads the group with his usually restrained vocals that can jump to life to add another dimension to the songs when needed.

All in all a good band with lots of potential. Be sure to check out the first song posted, from their 2006 EP I will write you letters if you tell me to, and then some of the other ones from their 2004 indie release Soviet Reunion.

Weakerthans back to life!

Back during my freshman year, Luke got me into this canadian band called The Weakerthans. They had recently put out a new CD called Reconstruction Site, had a great other cd called Left and Leaving, and were quickly becoming a new favorite band of mine. Well...in the four years that have passed since then, it had seemed like they mysteriously broke up or just fell off the face of the earth. Not much touring, no updates, no nothing. However, a few days I ago I got the awesome news that in October a new album would be released! How sick is that.

The Weakerthans are a band that combine quite a few genres from pop to folk to alt-country to a dash of punk now and again. Fronted by Josh Samson, who definitely sounds like an indie singer...meaning a touch off key, a bit rough, a bit nasal, a bit like he shouldn't really be a lead singer, but lovable all the same. Songs like 'Reconstruction Site' or 'Time's Arrow' have more of a chill, folky vibe to them with some harmonies weaved in and out, and slight slide-ish guitar pickings in the background. Others like 'Aside' bring out more of a rock side to The Weakerthans with a driving drum beat, punk-ish guitar, yet still that same languid yet compelling singing that is Samson's style. Then, there are also the straight up pop tunes like 'Plea From A Cat Named Virtue', which is a song written about a cat speaking to its owner....strange, but whatever. Check out the tunes, hopefully you'll dig them and get pumped for the new album coming out this fall!

The Weakerthans - Plea From A Cat Named Virtue off Reconstruction Site

The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site off Reconstruction Site

The Weakerthans - Aside off Left and Leaving