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Due to overwhelming volume, OpeningBands.com regrets that is not accepting CD admissions at this time.
| by jordan schwartz (awhitesuit) / jason norris (AsInChuck) | |
1. Tokyo
2. Centuries
3. Everybody Needs A Fence To Lean On
4. It Isn’t Easy To Live That Well
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Band: Headlights
CD: The Enemies EP |
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Review #1 - Jason Norris
Rising from the ashes of the local giants Absinthe Blind and Maserati, Headlights are one of the latest additions to the Champaign-Urbana music scene. Their debut, The Enemies EP, was released on August 31 and commenced their 26 show, nationwide tour.
A quick listen will undoubtedly bring comparisons to Death Cab For Cutie, The Getup Kids, and The Anniversary. However, Headlights do not simply regurgitate the sounds of their peers.
The instrumentation on The Enemies EP is layered and musically complex enough to satisfy even the most discriminating indie hipsters while remaining palatable and catchy enough to make your preteen sister nod her head. The drums and bass are tight and almost constantly moving and the guitar sounds drift from jangly arpeggios to Grandaddyesque power chord chugging. Tastefully placed synth parts swell and fill at all the right times, reminding you of why you love bands with keyboards (or at least it should!).
The highlight of this EP for me, however, is the vocal work. The half male/half female lead vocals blend together nicely and are quite reminiscent of the late Absinthe Blind. Unlike a large number of recently popular bands, Headlights lyrics shy away from broken hearted introspection and lend themselves more to clever, worldly observations and mild social commentary. Whether it's feeling at home in a foreign place like in "Tokyo" ("If home is where the heart is/then home is here") or coping with modern paranoia in "Centuries" ("If we all read between the lines/We'll all die someday"), the lyrics on The Enemies EP won't change your life but they will more than likely make you think.
All in all, The Enemies EP is a very strong debut for Headlights and this particular reviewer can't wait for a full length release.
Review #2 - Jordan Schwartz
How exciting. Its yet another "the ____s" band. Hopefully their brand of garage rock will be just like everyone else.
What? No! This is not garage rock.
Just to be fair, here is a genre for The Headlights: Indie-Synth-Pop. Or something. A little bit of The Postal Service and Galaxie 500 and The Shins all put together.
This is one of those cds that most people will like if they have decent taste in music. Two vocalists, one male and one female, switch off vocals. They're voices are nothing out of the ordinary, but they work with the mood and sound. The sound is nothing jarring on the ears. It's pleasant, but not too much so. I don't have the desire to throw this album across the room and grab my Sonic Youth.
The cd opens with noise (some neat sounding white noise, a little static, and a little cymbal), but then in comes the guitars and drums and vocals and the whole everything. And it's pretty! So maybe some of the lyrics are cheesy, like "if home is where the heart is / then home is here," but they're delivered so well and with such conviction that it really doesn't matter.
The third song, "Everybody Needs A Fence To Lean On" is easily the strongest song on the album. It opens with a quiet keyboard and a female vocal setting a somber mood for the song, until the rest of the band comes in, bringing up the mood. And when the chorus comes with a distorted guitar everything seems at least a little better.
The Enemies EP is a solid indie rock release, though nothing atypical of the genre. Even still, I approve of the album and I'm a pretentious prick.
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| by jessica cochran (lemmingcontrol) / phil prather (AnalogBoy) | |
1. Beg, Borrow, Steal
2. Uniforms
3. Gang Sign
4. Paradise
5. Get Um Up
6. Song Away from You
7. Road Less Traveled
8. Sing Along
9. Put Me in a Photograph
10. Hard to Say
11. No Engine
12. Last Dance
13. On The Night the Boardwalk Died
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Band: Army of Freshmen
CD: Beg, Borrow, Steal |
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Review #1 - Jessica Cochran
Army of Freshmen is a very catchy sounding band from Southern California. They combine synth-pop with pop punk to get a pleasant, if not wholly new, sound. All the songs from Beg, Borrow, Steal are well-written and mostly upbeat.
The album opens up with a slow synth intro, and then suddenly busts straight into a driving drum beat with fast moog and guitar melodies. The moog and keyboard are quite prevalent in most of the songs, making up the backbone of Army of Freshman's music. The guitars mostly play your average punk riffs, and the drums fill in with a quick tempo.
Many of the songs have very sing-along lyrics, especially the song "Get Em Up" that has the infectious chorus of, "...get em up, get em up, let's go, we're finally going home..." The only problem I have with this CD is the lead singer's voice. It's not bad per se, but he sings out of his nose, which annoys me to no end. The only reason I don't take off major points for that is that when the rest of the band sings, the harmonies sound really great.
Beg, Borrow, Steal is a good album for lovers of poppy synth-laden punk, along the lines of Motion City Soundtrack. If you don't mind some nasally singing, definitely check it out Army of Freshmen. www.armyoffreshmen.
Review #2 - Phil Prather
Army of Freshmen serve up an album that is fast, upbeat, catchy and pure ear candy. Coming from Ventura, California, Army of Freshmen is a power-pop-punk outfit armed with two keyboards, lightening fast lead vocals and catchy chorus'. Army of Freshmen is fresh off the 2004 Vans Warped Tour and is preparing for a tour with Lucky Boys Confusion, Plain White T's and The Matches in October.
Beg, Borrow, Steal opens up with a 30 second cello and synth intro that leads into the first real song of the album, "Uniforms". After the opening chorus, the moog kicks in, it's a great first track I couldn't stop bobbing my head. The chorus goes "When they come for us in Uniforms to burn the tree house down / Tell my friends I'd rather die than ever run away". The second song is still as catchy and upbeat as the first, but the chorus is slightly more humorous. I still find myself singing along to, "I cant' wait to see you smile / I've thrown every gang sign / Blasted every stop sign". Some of the lyrics may seem a bit childish, but the songs are so fun to listen and sing along to that it hardly even matters to me.
Chris Jay (lead vocals) fires off lyrics so fast that he is almost rapping. It took me a few listens through the album to figure out every thing he was saying. Although Chris is the lead singer, the chorus' are most always sung by the keyboard player and guitar player. This formula stays the same throughout the album, but it works quite well.
My favorite two songs would probably be "Get Um Up" and "Sing Along". "Get Um Up" would is the perfect song for a sweaty all-ages show pogo-fest. It has the perfect jumping rhythm and the chorus is good to jump around to, "Get Um Up, Get Um Up, Let's Go! / We're finally going home / I'm here to tell you that the war is over". "Sing Along" is about a relationship breaking up as the result of a music scene breaking up. The chorus reminds me of being at a show of my favorite band and singing out the lyrics at the top of my lungs (and I enjoy those kind of shows the best), "Sing Along / I sang along / with all my heart ‘til my voice was gone / words were me / the music you / now it's over and I don't' know what to do."
Beg, Borrow, Steal is a pure energetic sing-along album. So if you like catchy song lyrics, addictive keyboard riffs, or just something upbeat and energetic to listen to, check them out. I highly recommend this band if you like the Red Hot Valentines, Motion City Soundtrack, New Found Glory or The Hippos.. You can download the first single, "Get Um Up", at www.purevolume.com/armyoffreshmen.. Also visit www.armyoffreshmen.
for information about the band and tour dates.
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| by iris lee (Isis763) / mike heiber (TheUglyOrganist) | |
1. Futures
2. Just Tonight…
3. Work
4. Kill
5. The World You Love
6. Pain
7. Drugs or Me
8. Polaris
9. Nothing Wrong
10. Night Drive
11. 23
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Band: Jimmy Eat World
CD: Futures |
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Review #1 - Mike Heiber
Jimmy Eat World, one of the leading members of the 00's wave of indie rock popularity, continues to rock on new label Interscope with their newest album titled Futures to be released on October 19, 2004. The album starts out with the powerful title song "Futures" and continues to be a mostly upbeat album. There are a few ballads on the album namely "Drugs or Me", "Night Drive", and "23", but the album is definitely no Clarity.
Overall the album is similar to Bleed American, but in general I think it has more of a serious, emotional feel rather than a pop feel. I think this will be a great album for long time fans of Jimmy Eat World and newer fans as well. With the removal of the only pop sounding song "Jen", from the album. There will be no pop hits like "The Middle" from this album, but I think this is a good thing because now that Jimmy Eat World has been exposed to more people, it will give more listeners a chance to notice the great songwriting on the album.
I personally found each song to be unique and engaging in different ways, while still maintaining an overall style. I think it will be interesting to see how the masses digest this album. But no matter what happens, this is a very solid album from a very solid band, and as a long time Jimmy Eat World fan, I have no complaints.
Review #2 - Iris Lee
It's been three years since Jimmy Eat World released their third album Bleed American and many fans started to wonder if they were ever going to finish their long-awaited fourth album. Well, they finally did it. Futures exemplifies the band's effort to release an album of the highest effort both musically and lyrically. After their third album, some people wondered if they would be able to release an album that matched the integrity of Clarity. Not only did they match it, they outdid themselves for many of the songs.
Unlike many emo bands, JEW doesn't have the whinier edge like bands such as Saves the Day, Dashboard Confessional, etc. However, they still put in all the heart that is a common trait of "emo." In the past, JEW has balanced most of their albums with soft ballads and pop-driven emo songs. However, Futures has an edgier sound to it. There are still ballads, but JEW is definitely growing as a band. Unlike some bands, they give you a new spin on their sound so you're not buying the same album over and over.
Futures opens with the upbeat title track that older fans could compare to many of JEW's hits. This song starts with "I always believed in futures. I hope for better in November. Try the same booth, same lucky numbers. It could be a cold night for a lifetime." "Pain" is definitely one of the more edgy songs with harder guitars and a more urgent sense to the song as they sing "It's a lie. A kiss with opened eyes and she's not breathing back. Anything but bother me. (It takes my pain away) Nevermind these are horrid times. I can't let it bother me."
The album closes with "23," a gentle ballad with a very well composed layering of guitars. Clocking in at over seven minutes, one can tell that this song is to emphasize the music rather than being a short radio hit. This song is beautiful and honest. The lead singer softly sings "I won't always love what Ill never have. I won't always live in my regrets."
As a long-time JEW fan, I was thoroughly impressed with how well this album came out. It is one of the best albums they have released and is a strong album as a whole. There are no weak songs that bring the album down and the track order has been put together thoughtfully to bring the most out of the album.
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| by phil prather (AnalogBoy) / chris earnhart (Pocket) | |
1. Clampdown (The Clash)
2. We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing (Heaven 17)
3. The New World (X)
4. Let's Have a War (Fear)
5. Divide and Conquer (Husker Du)
6. Complicated Game (XTC)
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Band: The Poster Children
CD: On the Offensive |
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Review #1 - Chris Earnhart
The Poster Children's new cover album, On the Offensive, is out as of September 21st. It's a great compilation of political punk cover songs. Even though I am only really familiar with The Clash and Husker Du, I feel like the band pulls off all the tracks wonderfully.
It is a well-put-together album, given that the songs are all covers. Many times, such albums don't flow well as they are just the band's favorite songs all thrown into a clam chowder of music. I can listen to the album in one smooth flow, recognizing each track's distinct sound, while still losing myself in the transitions. Also, for those who don't know, the Poster Children have a way of using their two vocalists (one male and one female) to a masterful effect. This combination isn't something often seen in punk music, and it is quite refreshing in giving songs like "Clampdown" and "The New World" a distinctly Poster-Children-sound.
My favorite song on the album by far is the cover of XTC's "Complicated Game." It's a slower song that starts off soft and ends up hard, and it is a great way to end the album. A little boy is asking which way he should part his hair, and the tells him it doesn't matter because someone else (his parent) will move it anyway. The song then compares this to voting. The song makes clear this band's ability to have a cleaner sound than most punk bands while keeping a punk attitude and not falling into poppiness.
I am hard-pressed to find any flaw here, so I'd say that this is a great addition to the collection of any Poster Children fan or anyone looking for a new spin on some old songs, without a doubt.
Review #2 - Phil Prather
I had never heard a Poster Children song before and when I first heard this CD I wasn't sure what I was going to hear (I didn't look at the song list before I heard it). After 5 seconds I said out loud to myself, "Hey! This is a Clash song!". I am pretty picky when it comes to bands playing covers, especially of the Clash (they are one of my favorite bands), but the Poster Children stayed in the vein of the Clash and made the song sound just as good as the original. On the Offensive is the Poster Childrens' latest release, which is a collection of war-related cover songs, which are all perfectly executed.
I will probably lose what little or no indie-cred I have, because I have never heard any of the original songs that the Poster Children cover on this EP with the exception of "Clampdown". I enjoyed all the songs on this EP, especially the Clash's "Clampdown" and Hüsker Dü's "Divide and Conquer". I recommend picking up this EP when you get the chance. If you live in the Champaign-Urbana area you can catch the Poster Children live at Café Paradiso in Urbana on October 8th.
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| by megan kniepkamp (megnak) / yvonne guzman (QueenOfEarth1023) | |
1. Devil Helicopter Pilot
2. Reel Life
3. Instead (of standing in the dark)
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Band: The Infinity Room
CD: The Infinity Room EP |
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Review #1 - Megan Kniepkamp
The Infinity Room is a five- piece alternative/ indie- rock band from Millikin University, located just down the road in Decatur, IL. They have a rambling but pleasant sound, most easily comparable to early Radiohead. They feature primarily guitar and bass over detailed and meticulous drums, and are pretty original in the ways that they have found to use sampling and noise. Each song has a definite beat from the very beginning, making them easy to get into and tap your toes right along with. The harmonies are deep and enticing, drawing you into the complete picture of the song. Also, each has a distinct melody and theme that builds and grows beautifully as the song progresses, assuring the listener that there are serious musicians behind this recording. While the songs do have a unifying sound, no two are too much alike for them to become monotonous.
My only real problem with the recording is the lack of clarity in the vocals. The clearest of the three songs is "reel life", but overall I have listened to the disc between fifteen and twenty times, and generally still have no idea what they're talking about throughout. Their instrumental music is good, but it drowns out the already fuzzy vocals, turning the lyrics into just another sound, rather than words with clear meanings. The effect is frustrating, like trying to hear something across a crowded room, and leads to unnecessary distraction from what would otherwise be thoroughly engaging music. Another issue is that the songs have no flow or cohesion with each other, something that could easily be avoided with more careful arrangement.
Overall, The Infinity Room has produced an entirely admirable recording, with a fun and well- developed sound. Even if they do sometimes ramble, they soar in so many other places that the rambling ends up excusable and even enjoyable. I highly recommend them, and look forward to hearing more from them in the future.
band info at http://www.garageband.com/artist/theinfinityroom.
Review #2 - Yvonne Guzman
The first song on The Infinity Room EP starts out mellow. It has a light ambient sound helped by some sampling that is part of their music. The vocals are pitch perfect and guide the listener through to the end. My only nitpick is that the first song is a little repetitive. Nevertheless, the songs get progressively better. The next two tracks are a little darker in tone with more variation in sound and song structure. No two songs are the same on the EP.
There is definitely an indie rock influence in their music. They remind me of a slightly more rockin' Radiohead but definitely with a sound all their own. The Infinity Room are reportedly working on a full length album this fall and are periodically playing shows around Illinois. You can check their website at www.theinfinityroom.com for concert dates, mp3s, and more info.
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| by ben hsieh (bbhsieh) / dan gilbert (EyeScore4Fun) | |
1. Stay Awake
2. Under the Steps
3. Don’t Believe It
4. Contribution
5. The Beauty of Lies
6.
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Band: Finite Element
CD: The Beauty of Lies EP |
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Review #1 - Ben Hsieh
Finite Element is an Urbana, IL trio of UIUC students led by singer/guitarist/songwriter/guy who does a lot of things Sunil Chopra. Their newly released 6 song EP, The Beauty of Lies lets you know pretty clearly where these guys are coming from: with a name like "finite element", cover art that looks lifted from a 1980's shelf unit assembly manual, and nerd-friendly BASIC track listing, these guys are engineers through and through.
FE, in essence, is much like the 80's technology they allude to - clunky, confidently dated, organic. From the opening track "Stay Awake's" Pavement-aesthetic to the dreamy flute on the title track there's something for everyone here. And by "everyone" I mean people who like classic-rock inspired lo-fi indie music.
There are a lot of rough spots on this record that you would expect from any debut release. Chopra's whiny yet anthemic vocals aren't always on key, but it's consistent with the looseness of this band as a whole. Dream Theater fans who obsess over every inverse-gypsy-scale-triple-octave-arpeggio-whatever should probably swing clear of this act; so should those looking for hook-heavy catchy tunes. This is laid back slacker rock for the music lover who likes a song for what it is and likes seeing guys having a good time playing music together.
Review #2 - Dan Gilbert
When I opened the case to Finite Element's The Beauty of Lies EP, I got excited when I was presented with a track listing modeled after computer language and a disc covered in ones and zeros. After the engineer in me spent hours and hours admiring the binary, I remembered to actually put the disc in my CD player and give it a listen.
"Stay Awake" kicks off the EP with a riff that would sound at home on any Pavement or Sonic Youth album. Singer/guitarist Sunil Chopra chimes in with well-written and perfectly delivered lyrics that match the early 90's indie-rock feel the album. The next three songs deliver some more solid Steven Malkmus-esque hooks and politically charged lyrics. On the title track, Chopra plays flute to back a laid-back acoustic tune. The same acoustic approach is taken on the unnamed (at least in the liner notes) sixth song, where the vocal tracks are arranged in a whispery harmony reminiscent of Elliot Smith.
This EP contains some great songs from the Urbana trio. Some of the recording may sound a little rough, but the sound always stays in line with the spirit of the album. The percussion and guitars are solid throughout the EP, perfectly matching the vocals, while the flute and the simple-but-catchy hooks make Finite Element stand out from other more bland minimalist rock groups. Besides, any band that reminds me of Pavement without ripping them off is awesome in my book.
www.feband.com
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| by jeremy turinetti (coldplayer84) / casey best (happyhobo) | |
1. Accordion Metaphor for Life, In A Minor
Territorial Imperative:
2.-Part 1. Creepy Things
3.-Part 2. Crazy Doings
4. Carpal Tunnel
5. Professor Pennywhistle's Daddy Pants Boogie
6. Franks and Beans
7. Phoenix Eulogy
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Band: Fierce Mellon
CD: Sunrise at the Duck Pond |
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Review #1 - Casey Best
One of the most unintentionally funny things about band websites is the band's biography of itself. It's hard to find a biography that is lacking in both pretentiousness and ego-stoking. For example, if one was to hear a band's sound described as a "psychedelic experimental progressive jam funk blues-based rockish sound with metal influences," one could pretty much assume that some aspect of the description isn't true--or that they're trying to do too many things at once. Luckily, in the case of Geneva-based Fierce Mellon, a band occasionally lives up to its description and blows away expectation.
Fierce Mellon crosses into a variety of different moods and sounds throughout the EP--although I'd say that they "groove" throughout. The first track opens with falling rain and accordion sounds. After a minute, bass and drums are added and the song transitions into a beautiful Spanish guitar solo. After two minutes, the keyboardist comes in with a solo that seems to demand that the listener "sucks his funk." The rest of the song mixes repetition and improvisation to a skillful effect, keeping the listener enthralled until the end.
That song is pretty representative of the album. Although each song is distinctly different from the one before it, they're united in their quality. Some of the songs have distorted guitars that add a metal touch, and a couple feature some smooth groovin' vocals. All of these are pulled off with the skill of veteran rockers, despite being recorded by pre-20 year olds. The only downside about the album, as is often the case with great EP's, is that it is too short. Check 'em out at http://www.fiercemellon.com/.
Review #2 - Jeremy Turinetti
As I put this CD in my CD player I honestly had no idea what to expect. What I ended up hearing was more than I expected.
Fierce Mellon dishes out their funky jam-band style in their CD titled Sunrise at the Duck Pond complete with flurries of speedy guitar licks and bluesy melody lines. For the most part, the CD consists of instrumental pieces, with the guitar and keyboards alternating between melody and solo. As I listened to the CD, certain chord structures periodically reminded me of the Incubus's Fungus Amongus, even though Mellon showcases a much more relaxed, less intense musical presentation than the Fungus album. However, lack of raw intensity is not a negative aspect by any means. The album made me want to sit back and relax. The guitarist whipped out some talented bluesy lines on every track comparable to some of those blistering Satriani-style riffs that are his trademark. When the player hit track five, the jazzy "Professor Pennywhistle's Daddy Pants Boogie," I seriously thought I was in a secret agent film from the 70's. Track 7, "Phoenix Eulogy," boasted more of a piano-driven melody spiced up with a repetitive guitar line. There is a lot of evident talent here; each member knows his instrument and how to use it to complement the others.
Several tracks feature vocals also, which were somewhat disappointing at times in terms of lyrical content; they're not the group's strong point. In addition, some of the chord progressions seemed to play out forever, basically allowing an extended chance for the group's guitarist to solo for minutes on end. Not a bad thing if you're a guitarist here.
Overall I enjoyed the album. It was a break from the contemporary "stuff" everything is so often grouped into anymore. Even more, it's satisfying enough for me to know there're still people out there who have that passion for music to just sit around and jam for hours at a time. Fierce Mellon does this well. If you're looking for something short and sweet that's more on the instrumental side, check this album out.
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