The Best Band That Never Was

That was the title Kyle and I bestowed upon a little known Buffalo, New York rock band called Silhouette. Kyle first found these guys on the internet back freshman year and quickly turned me onto their infectious style of rock. Their songs are extremely catchy and well crafted in a style that I think can just simply be described as rock. They have heavy guitar riffs with soaring melodies and hooks in their songs that blend together to create great songs. Really, they have two of the things that I look most for in rock music and that is lots of energy and also memorable and catchy songs. Plain and simple they make songs that you can rock out to and sing along to at the same time.

Now back to the story. So we picked up the couple songs they had one purevolume and listened to them continuously while waiting for Silhouette to get signed and put out an album. The year came and passed and Silhouette put out a couple more songs on the internet, but yet no record deal. Then tragedy struck and the band decided to call it quits, sometime sophomore year I think. Anyways they broke up, never to be heard from again. Here we are a couple years later now and all that we're left with is the 7 demo songs we were able to get off the internet and wonders about what could have been. Hence, the best band that never was.

I'll never quite know why these guys couldn't get signed. They had the musical talents, the song writing abilities, the marketability, and most importantly amazing energy. I just get energized every time I listen to their songs, and the thought of being in the pit for one of their shows just gives me chills, too bad it'll never happen.

Normally we just post a few highlight tracks in order to show off the abilities of the bands we're writing about. But since Silhouette is no more, I'm just gonna go ahead and post all 7 of the songs I have. This was kind of a rainy day post, because I've been busy moving and such and haven't really listened to too much new stuff, so I wanted to go back and feature an older (and extinct) band. So check them out, and if you like them then please enjoy these 7 songs, cause that's all you're ever gonna get.

Silhouette - House of 1000 Cobras

Silhouette - Smokescreen

Silhouette - Part Of Life

Silhouette - Cosa Nostra

Silhouette - Speaking In Vowels

Silhouette - The Fuse

Silhouette - Rock, Paper, Beartrap

I think my personal favorites would be Speaking in Vowels, House of 1000 Cobras, and maybe Part Of Life, but in truth I really love them all.


-Alec

What is Mae

Alec and Mike just dropped by Pittsburgh this past weekend, which was really awesome. We drank Miller Lite from dixie cups, watched a 55 year old lady take a hit of ganja at a Wailers concert, bar-hopped around Carson Street, and caught a Pirates game in which there were 10 runs before there were 7 outs. What does this have to do with music? We also saw a pretty cool show put on by Dear and the Headlights, As Tall As Lions, and Mae.

Dear and the Headlights was my personal favorite, putting together a nice mix of their songs and really coming together as the show went on. They seemed a bit loose at the start, but were really feeling it by the end. As Tall As Lions was nothing too special in my opinion as songs seemed to flow in and out of one another with no real distinction. And then Mae. Mae is one of those bands that I have missed every time they come to town for the past 4 or 5 years. It's too bad that I caught them so late, because they are currently on tour for their hideous new album, Singularity. This album took everything that made them so unique and special, crushed it, and ejected a hollow shell of what was Mae.

Well...what was Mae then? To really understand that I like to go back to their debut album, Destination: Beautiful. From the opening track Embers and Envelopes, Mae begins to glide along and take you for a ride. The higher-pitched vocals then slice in, as an almost ethereal keyboard line is floated in the background. From here, it continues into a driving chorus that will get you straining yourself to hit the high notes. The rest of the CD continues to take you on a journey with ambient bass lines, distant keyboards, mathy guitar lines, and long notes that will make your car vibrate ever so slightly. Sun is my favorite track on the album, and it opens with a verse that is just waiting to break out. It finally does in the chorus with a sliding guitar line and simplistic drums before sinking back into the next verse. At the end of the track is a beautiful piano solo that you may find yourself playing over and over again. The last track that I am posting is called Skyline Drive. This song begins like nighttime and slowly builds until you find yourself moving incredibly quickly under the moonlight. I don't really know how else to describe it. In fact, I think that this CD is the best CD for Nighttime Driving (hence the photo up top). Give it a shot, buy it, and you won't regret it.

Mae - Embers and Envelopes

Mae - Sun

Mae - Skyline Drive

The Dear Hunter

Today I want to focus on the other "Dear" band making noise this year. Kyle recently covered the progress of Dear In The Headlights, a great indie band from Phoenix (where I will be moving in a month), and now I present The Dear Hunter. Actually, we already did a short piece on them as the opener for the Say Anything/Saves The Day show back in the spring. However, that was short and in the past, and since then The Dear Hunter have dropped their sophomore album Act II: The Meaning Of & All Things Regarding Ms. Leading.

Yes you're correct in guessing that their albums tell a story; a sort of play/musical if you will. This is nothing new, but its an idea that I sort of like in the way that it really brings more out of the lyrics of the music, especially when done by prog rockers Coheed & Cambria, but they deserve a separate post of their own.

The story in the work of The Dear Hunter involves the tragic birth, life, and death of a boy known as the Dear Hunter. The story itself is interesting to follow if you like to really just sit down and study the lyrics and music, but words aside I think the songwriting itself can stand on its own. The concept for the band was born entirely out of the mind of former The Receiving End Of Sirens band member Casey Crescenzo. In fact in the beginning The Dear Hunter was nothing more than Crescenzo himself. What started as a side project for Crescenzo wanting to branch out musically from the post-hardcore box of TREOS has evolved into a fully functioning band now. The original EP Dear Ms. Leading was recorded entirely by Crescenzo, and the debut CD; Act I: The Lake South, The River North was all recorded by Crescenzo plus his mother for backing vocals and brother for the drum parts. However, the latest release features a full backing band, including his brother now signed on as the full time drummer.

Musically, Act II is an eclectic piece of work, and really demonstrates Casey's song-writing abilities. The album features pieces of posthardcore, prog rock and indie mixed with influences of folk and orchestral sounds. Crescenzo does all the main vocals and is a talented singer as well, with an ability to both sing soft and melodically but also belt out and really let the emotion into his voice when needed.

Here are a couple highlight tracks from the album to get an idea of their sound. But I really recommend checking out the whole thing, because there's a lot of variety in the tracks and its hard to get a good feel for the sound of the band without listening to the entire album.

The Dear Hunter - The Procession

The Dear Hunter - Smiling Swine

The Dear Hunter - Blood Of The Rose


-Alec

Ryan Adams: Discography Part 1 --> Easy Tiger

This post has been a long time coming. Alec knew it would happen eventually, but I have to slob on my favorite singer/songwriter's nuts for a bit. Now with Ryan Adams, where does one begin. He just ended an extended period where he would not talk to the media. He 'just recovered' from heroine and cocaine addictions. He's kind of an asshole to his fans, and kicks some out of his shows who jokingly request for 'Summer of '69' by Bryan Adams. And he is in general an overall douchebag.

However, all this aside, he has been one of the most prolific writers in all of music during the past 5 years releasing a total of 8 albums (most of which are real good). He is my favorite singer/songwriter since Neil Young. He infuses gentle pop songs and ballads with the perfect amount of alt-country twang. His recorded live performances of him alone on an acoustic often equal or better his recorded CD material. He is really an all around great musician, performer, and writer.

His newest album Easy Tiger just dropped in June, which was perfect timing for my European vacation. After the first listen, I have to say I was immediately hooked once again. Easy Tiger feels like all of his older albums rolled into one cohesive unit. The songs posted below show some of the styles evident on the album. 'Two' is the single that he released, which I may have listened to over 80 times already. It opens with acoustic and slide guitars, Adams's smooth crooning, and then breaks into a chorus with some real soothing harmonies. As the weather is just beginning to ever-so-slightly turn, this song should hold a prime spot on your Ipods. 'The Sun Also Sets' brings a sparser arrangement to the table, but the keyboard and Adams's strained voice really bring you in. By the end of the song you want to know 'how it all works out' as well. 'These Girls' is the final song that I put up, and it showcases his ability to craft great songs with essentially just himself and an acoustic. Enjoy!

I'm sure there will be more Ryan Adams to come (hence part 1), but if this leaves you wanting more...check out my favorite Ryan Adams album, Cold Roses.


Ryan Adams - Two

Ryan Adams - The Sun Also Sets

Ryan Adams - These Girls

The Annuals

This weekend was the most important musical event of the year in Chicago, and one of the biggest in the country. Yes Lollapalooza dropped upon the city for the past 3 days with tons of bands both big and small performing for the crowds. I did not make it out to Lolla, even though I had good intentions of going today, but decided to pass after drinking too much last night and not wanting to part with $100 for one day of music. Personally I don't like music festivals that much, I prefer smaller venues and shorter shows that you can really focus on. Also when I found out that the brilliant people running the thing decided to schedule Lupe Fiasco and Amy Winehouse at the same time it was the deciding factor. However in honor of the festival I am going to write about one of the groups that I could have seen today had I actually gotten off my lazy ass.

The group is the Annuals (much different from the previously mentioned Band of Annuals), an indie band out of North Carolina. Now I'm not that big of an indie person, especially with regards to posting about it because the two things the world does not need more of are lawyers and people who write about indie music. But my personal beefs aside, the Annuals have really gotten to me with their blend of indie-pop that maintains a nice balance between the quirky styles of indie and the more conventional melodies arrangements of mainstream music. The band's 2006 release Be He Me really showcases the bands great song writing abilities and the various styles they incorporate into their songs. They do a great job of mixing things up with slower more somber songs and upbeat higher-energy songs as well.

The first song Bleary Eyed shows the band's pop side a little more and is a catchy song that allows vocalist Adam Baker and percussionists Zach Oden and Nick Radford to shine.

Bleary Eyed

The next song is a personal favorite of mine, a great upbeat song with addictive rhythms with a little soul influence in them.

The Bull, And The Goat


Finally a song to showcase the range of their talents. The last one, Dry Clothes, shows their creativity in song arrangements and distinctive style.

Dry Clothes

So give the Annuals a listen, they've got a lot of good songs to offer, and maybe if I wasn't so lazy I could tell you that they put on a great live show too. But I can't.

-Alec