August Burns Red is a band from Manheim, Pennsylvania a place you don’t really hear about when it comes to music let alone hardcore. The band has been in the scene for several years now and have released what is now four full-length albums on the label Solid State Records. I had heard about these guys from a mutual friend in college after their second album Messengers but kind of brushed them aside considering they sort of sounded like everyone else in the scene. Some years passed by and I was substitute teaching in a high school and saw multiple kids wearing August Burns Red shirts throughout the year, I didn’t pay much attention to it. Probably about a month ago I get a post on my Facebook Wall from a friend telling me to check out their new single “Empire” so I reluctantly click the clip and instantly fell in love with the song. The heavy breakdowns to original choruses and riffs, something I hadn’t heard from the band my first listen several years ago. Needless to say I instantly picked up the album once it was released and couldn’t be more surprised how awesome and original the band sounds now. If you have any sort of passion or interest in hardcore and metal I would suggest picking up their new album Leveler.
The album starts off with the kick ass song “Empire” that has been playing on my gym mix for the past month now and really sets the tone for the album. Many old fans of the band seem to not like this too much because they start to focus on a more progressive style rather than increasing their aggression. I feel this is absurd because the album although has some very progressive Between The Buried And Me type songs such as “Internal Cannon” it still has very aggressive playing. The songs “Divisions”, “40 Nights” and title track “Leveler” all remind me of the classic August Burns Red I heard back in 2006 with just more polished hardcore singing. My favorite track on the album thus far is “Salt & Light” that mixes very heavy breakdowns, great metal guitar work and a sing-a-long chorus that ends the song beautifully. This band has really won me over big time with this release and I can only see them making it bigger in the scene after showing their ability to progress in a very monotonous genre. This is probably the best hardcore album I have heard in the past two years hands down, check out the track “Internal Cannon” below.
On Wednesday June 22nd the group currently known as Underwater Country Club made their Summer 2011 debut at Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park. The night was warm, humid but beautiful and perfect for a night filled with Indie Rock. Andrew Robinson was calm and collected at the bar drinking a Dos Equis while Anna, Catherine and Skip socialized with friends before they hit the stage. When the time came for the band to perform they were cheered by friends, lifeguards, Ogden representatives and local Asbury “scenesters” when they ripped into their hit song “Surfing Lessons.”
Throughout the set the crowd was smiling and having a good time enjoying song after song while enjoying some fine Latin beverages, I mean you can’t beat $5 Margaritas and $3 Latin beers while listening to some good Indie Rock music all night. About halfway through the set the band hit through a few newer songs such as “Saline” and “Mile Marker” the latter being one of the more popular songs among the lifeguard attendees. The band closed with my new favorite song they just wrote “Distraction” that most of my colleagues agreed was the strongest song of the set and couldn’t have ended the night better. Afterwards the band walked off stage drenched in sweat after performing around 8 songs in just under an hour. If you haven’t checked them out live, please do, they are playing every Thursday at Trinity And The Pope and TBA soon again at Langosta Lounge. Check back here for more info on their schedule and check the links below for more.
Hey guys we are currently looking for volunteers for “A Day at the Beach” for kids with autism and their families. So many families of those with autism find themselves isolated by this life-long developmental disability. Many children and adults with autism have sensitivities and other issues which keep them from participating in community activities. Some activities that are designed specifically for those with autism often don’t include siblings and other family members. This event includes the entire autism family and is provided free of charge to all who participate.
The event will be held on July 18, 2011 in Seaside, NJ. We know its a Monday but what better excuse to take a day off work! You cant beat a fun filled day on the beach with good people and good food. Even if you cant surf or swim you can still volunteer, we need just as much help on the beach as we do in the water. This is our first year involved with the event and we’re stoked on everyone that makes this happen; POAC, Mark Colino and Family, plus more local sponsors(we’re new so still figuring it out).
PLEASE EMAIL US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. WE’RE COMPILING A LIST: INFO@OGDENCLOTHING.COM
I was never really into this band till they released their pretty cool concept EP entitled Zombies, a hardcore/experimental batch of songs that talked about a Zombie Apocalypse. The band is very heavy and mixes very harsh with few clean vocal choruses but the band crushes pretty hard in their breakdowns. I thought this new single was a move in the right direction from their intensity of Zombies. The new track is called “Born To Lose” and it straight rips.
Brian Fallon has recently posted on his blog the track listing for his recent side project the Horrible Crowes and it’s posted below on the blog. Fans of The Gaslight Anthem shouldn’t expect to hear b-sides from the critically acclaimed American Slang but should expect something completely different from Fallon. He has been known to be heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and some various blues artists but he has also stated he has influence from artists such as Tom Waits and Nick Cave. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear latter Tom Waits style songs on this album with use of obscure percussion instruments such as pots and pans and glass being broken. To sum up the concept of the album Fallon had this to say ”I’ve always wanted to experiment with the darker side of soul music and one day we were just like, ‘let’s write some songs and see what they sound like’ and it turned out that it sounded great.” The release date is Septemeber 6th and is going to be released on Side One Dummy Records.
The Horrible Crowes- Elsie
Track Listing
1) Last Rites
2) Sugar
3) Behold The Hurricane
4) I Witnessed a Crime
5) Go Tell Everybody
6) Cherry Blossoms
7) Ladykiller Crush
9) Mary Ann
10) Black Betty and the Moon
11) Blood Loss
12) I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together
It’s been several years since Casey Crescenzo was asked to leave the Experimental/Post-Hardcore group The Receiving End of Sirens on somewhat friendly terms. Long story short he was constantly calling out of shows due to sickness and wasn’t very interactive in the band due to the fact he was focusing on his current project The Dear Hunter quite heavily. I’m sure there was some bitterness at first but it seemed to have disappeared quickly with the positive response to his first EP Act I: The Lake South, The River North and full length Act II: The Meaning of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading. But wouldn’t you know it, The Receiving End Of Sirens would call it quits shortly after Crescenzo released Act II and would ask for his permission to join them in their fair well show to play songs he was involved in on their first release. Things were looking good for Crescenzo at this point, he had squashed any hard feelings with his former band mates while releasing his very well received Act III: Life And Death by the end of 2009 and he could only move up from here. It seemed almost natural he would tour heavily for his newest release and be expected to set foot in the studio to work on Act IV of his Ms. Leading series of albums but that was not the case in early 2010 for the young musician. He decided to pack up his bags with his significant other and travel around the country recording music in various studios with different concepts to work on something completely different then anyone had in the past. An album that reflected the various aspects of music and the music he was influenced by all in one big packaged collection. Simply titled The Color Spectrum from Triple Crown Records, a set of nine EPs with four tracks on each one reflecting each color in the color spectrum. Crescenzo believed music was like the color spectrum and if played correctly could transition the music from song to song just as colors change from one to the other. After touring the country and recording in various states he had completed his work with 36 songs in total in the complete collection, which is only to be released in a box set of 9 vinyl records. A collection of beautiful songs as diverse as the colors they represent and I would suggest anyone who enjoys good Indie rock to check this out.
I have only been able to get my hand on the short CD release that has about 11 tracks of various songs from each EP that seemed to be the favorites for Crescenzo to represent his work in a smaller more affordable fashion to fans. The album starts off with the electronic dark track off Black called “Filth And Squalor” a song about the dead coming back to takeover the Earth. If the entire black EP is as dark as this song it’s probably going to be one of my favorites of the 9 released. The second track is another solid track off Red called “Deny It All” which actually sounds more like The Dear Hunter you are used too from his previous records and what makes the song so great is that Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra produced Red and lends vocals on this track as well. The track off of Orange has a nice rock feel to it that you would expect from Crescenzo but has a very southern hard rock feel which shows up heavily at the end of the track “But There’s Wolves?” The album starts to make more of a shift at this point with Yellow and the track “She’s Always Singing” a traditional pop-rock song that seems like it could be sung from that movie That Thing You Do starring Tom Hanks. But don’t get thrown for a loop, this collection is supposed to be an experimental album that shows the diversity of Crescenzo and music, so keep an open mind while listening. Green is exactly what you would expect with tracks like “The Canopy” that have a blue-grass and country touch to them but by no means have Crescenzo singing about cold beer and his cheating wife. When you reach Blue you get almost annoyed the only track to listen to is “Trapdoor” a beautiful ambient rock song that makes you want to hear what the rest of Blue sounds like, which unfortunately you can’t get your hands on unless you purchase the whole collection. Indigo really changes up the tempo of The Color Spectrum and has a very digital and ambient rock sound to them which is similar to Radiohead and a good example is the song “What Time Taught Us.” The Violet EP is very orchestrated with strings and piano and the song “Lillian” shows a very different side to The Dear Hunter as does the track “Home” off of White. Don’t be discouraged if it’s not like the Act albums because it’s not intended to follow that suit. The album is a beautiful amalgamation of songs that represent the various colors in life and Crescenzo does a beautiful job displaying this through song. I think this is one of the most beautiful works of music I have heard in a long time and can’t wait to get the full collection in the near future. The rack “Deny It All” off Red and complete track listing below.
Complete Tracklist
Black
1. Never Forgive, Never Forget
2. Filth And Squalor
3. Take More Than You Need
4. This Body
Red
1. I Couldn’t Do It Alone
2. A Curse Of Cynicism
3. Deny It All
4. We’ve Got A Score To Settle
Orange
1. Echo
2. Stuck On A Wire, Out On The Fence
3. A Sea of Solid Earth
4. But There’s Wolves?
Yellow
1. She’s Always Singing
2. The Dead Dont Starve
3. A Sua Voz
4. Misplaced Devotion
Green
1. Things That Hide Away
2. The Canopy
3. Crow And Cackle
4. The Inheritance
Blue
1. Tripping In Triplets
2. Trapdoor
3. What You Said
4. The Collapse Of The Great Tide Cliffs
Indigo
1. What Time Taught Us
2. Mandala
3. Progress
4. Therma
Violet
1. Mr. Malum
2. Lillian
3. Too Late
4. Look Away
White
1. Home
2. Fall And Flee
3. No God
4. Lost But Not All Gone
Switched it up from the traditional ad: pic of surfer in action->pic of surfer hanging->logo. That shit gets boring and this is alittle more interactive. People make some pretty intense faces while trying to get barreled, we want to see yours. Send us in a pic of your best or a friends best barrel face and get the chance to win 3 TEES of CHOICE. This is Leifs (sorry Leif!) we couldn’t help but post it, its pretty awesome! Send your pics over too info@ogdenclothing.com. We’ll be picking a winner by August 31st, 2011. And seeing how this summer swells been… your either gonna have to go on a trip or pray for some hurricanes…
It’s kind of embarrassing when you are considered the biggest music magazine in the country and you can’t even edit your music reviews correctly. I’m of course speaking about Rolling Stone the legendary music magazine that has reviewed countless legendary albums over the past few decades and been known to give very unfair or biased opinions. In a recent online review of the new album Torches by the breakthrough band Foster The People, one of their reviewers botched the album review by calling their single “Pumped Up Kids” while comparing them to MGMT. If you live under a rock and haven’t heard the hit song it’s actually called “Pumped Up Kicks” and even more embarrassing, the review has been up for three days now and still hasn’t been edited. You think after several people flipping out on the comment board that the magazine would take the review down and edit it to the proper title. I’m just a blogger on a clothing website and make my share of typos and spelling errors but never my research on a particular band I am discussing or reviewing. The review shows a kind of phoniness to Rolling Stone and makes them look very illegitimate in their professionalism on what music is good or bad. Did they actually listen and review Torches by Foster The People or just read the press release for the album and give it an average star rating because the band is popular right now. This is an embarrassing moment for what used to be considered a great music magazine even though they tend to have some assholes review music genres they aren’t familiar with. If your a rap fan than you shouldn’t be reviewing heavy metal and hardcore albums and if you like hardcore your probably not a good candidate for reviewing an indie rock album. Stick with what you know and what you like and that makes you a tough but good critic. Check out the mishap on the link below.
Crush
