On last year’s Red, Green Or Inbetween, WSTR officially emerged as punchy pop-punk masters. It was, to say the least, a solid effort driven by great bass and effective songcraft. For Identity Crisis, WSTR have taken the next logical step for any self-respecting pop-punk outfit, cranking the dial marked “Maturity” and Read more…
Emo and pop-punk bands tend to travel through a series of stages as they get older. At first, their work can easily come across as immature – often because it is – before they gradually shift towards rockier sounds and come face to face with adult, not adolescent, challenges. Real Friends have taken that path, and it’s currently culminating in Read more…
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When pop-punk bands write songs about getting older, they tend to put a negative spin on their ever-increasing accumulation of time on Earth. The assumption is that aging is a bad thing, that each passing year must bring with it a mandatory reduction in fun, joy, and happiness.
The Menzingers disagree – and After The Party is their on-record counterargument. Yes, the pressure may be on to “grow up” and learn how to adult – but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a laugh and keep your spirits up. After The Party is an album designed to be played in barroom jukeboxes, its songs intended to be belted out by rowdy crowds across the world as they party hard, decades be damned Read more…
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Pop-punk may be a massively oversaturated genre, but good music remains good music nonetheless. Who could ever get tired of infectious songs that mix darkness with upbeat energy? While there are plenty of bands who stick to a formula in order to sell, there will always be a place for those musicians who use a given genre template to express themselves with raw passion, sincerity, and good humour.
WSTR made a huge impact with their 2015 EP SKRWD, a set of six sick tracks that got them deservedly noticed by fans-in-waiting. Now comes crunch time: Album One, Red, Green Or Inbetween. Read more…
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As the music industry slows down, its alternative end hibernating while the pop-enamoured mainstream hungrily ogles Christmas shoppers, the time has come to look back on a seriously strong year for organised soundwaves. For me, it’s been heavy, intense, and a hell of a lot of fun thanks to the releases listed below.
With so many exceptional contenders in the running for the top spot, the thought of ranking them in order of quality is plainly ridiculous. So instead, I’ve picked out three releases that had memorable impacts on me when I first heard them, and assembled the others in alphabetical order.
The Pretty Reckless’s Who You Selling For – along with previous effort Going To Hell – is conclusive proof (if it were honestly needed in 2016) that women belong in rock music, and are fully capable of kicking ass. The sexists of the music world are like Wile E. Coyote; they’ve run off the edge of the cliff, nothing surrounds them but empty air, they’ve looked down, and they’re panicking. Sonic Boom Six’s The F-Bomb picks up where that image leaves off – it’s cheeky, chirpy, happy and hard-hitting (sometimes simultaneously), addressing a wealth of gender-related issues and providing a great ska-fuelled party soundtrack as only Sonic Boom Six can.
Musically, Dissociation is The F-Bomb’s polar opposite. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s swan song is crammed with brutal and ultra-experimental mathcore – but it’s also Dillinger’s most delicate and diverse album. The Dillinger Escape Plan are living proof that you can achieve great things without compromise, by sticking to your guns and just going for it.
Beyond that point, you’re free to dive into an epic range of albums including solidly grooving rock sets, monolithic slabs of military-grade metal, and progressive masterpieces. Since I’ve not reviewed many EPs this year, I’ve also included a pair of extended-playing mind-blowers in the form of Dorje’s Centred And One and Toska’s Ode To The Author. Dorje specialise in utterly idiosyncratic rock tunes with added progressive spice, while to me, Toska (made up of Dorje’s backline, namely guitarist Rabea Massaad, drummer Ben Minal, and bassist Dave Hollingworth) represent the future of instrumental metal.
Both Dorje and Toska are bands on the rise – and they fully deserve to hit the same peaks enjoyed by the biggest names on this list.
There’s little more to say; for me, this list represents the top albums of 2016. Enjoy the full reviews linked below, follow TMMP on Twitter, subscribe to my brand new YouTube channel, and stay tuned for more world-class music next year!
1) The Pretty Reckless – Who You Selling For
1) Sonic Boom Six – The F-Bomb
1) The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation
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2) Read more…
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Playing the Borderline is a rite of passage for every musician who steps onto its legendary stage. Located moments away from Denmark Street, London’s own Tin Pan Alley, the Borderline is the perfect location for the world’s songwriters to showcase their latest efforts. Located below ground, it’s a place where songs can rise into the heavens, or sink without trace even deeper into the earth.
Hailing from Nashville, another of the world’s most important musical locations, Josh Farro naturally knows a thing or two about Read more…
Josh Farro knows there’s nothing like a fresh start.
From touring heavily from his mid-teens onward with Paramore to an acrimonious split, eventual civil resolution, and assorted post-Paramore projects all receding in his career’s rear-view mirror, Josh Farro has had a lot to move on from. Still, move on he has – and in the very near future, his next move is sure to have British fans hyped as Farro supports his debut solo album Walkways with a UK tour kicking off at The Waterfront Studio in Norwich and ending at legendary London venue The Borderline…
You’re due to tour the UK starting this Thursday (November 17) – aside from excitement, how’re you feeling right now?
I’m feeling quite a bit of stress. I forgot how much work it is to Read more…
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Fall Out Boy have attracted a lot of hate over the years – especially as they’ve gotten poppier and poppier. To some, they’re shiny, glossy sellouts – but really, Fall Out Boy’s popularity is just the inevitable product of a knack for writing great songs, making them an ideal gateway band capable of pointing younger fans toward more mature influences. If your lyrics and vocal melodies stick in people’s heads and you don’t push them away with too much intensity and ear-warping dissonance, you’re going to attract fans.
Pop is pop because it’s popular. That’s just the way it works Read more…
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Wembley Arena is drowning in not-quite-November rain. Within its cavernous confines, the metal-enamoured masses gather to chat and watch impatiently as an onstage drum tech runs through a standard-issue soundcheck. Slowly, showtime approaches.
Arenas are often accused of sucking the soul out of live shows – but what they actually do is present performers with the ultimate challenge, that of Read more…
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Pop-punk often gets a bad rep, with good reason. A good number of pop-punk bands prefer to go at it half-assed, pushing everything they can into live showmanship in a desperate effort to make up for the fact that they suck. This feels more true for new bands than old – but maybe that’s just because the earlier waves of pop-punk did everything so damn well that they set the bar almost impossibly high.
Bowling For Soup are the total package Read more…