Broken Heart

Check out Motion City Soundtrack's New Video for their single "Broken Heart.". It's pretty sweet.




Also, if its not already sold out, you should try and make it to their tour this summer. They're playing a bunch of small venues and it should be amazing!!





-Clio

Motion City Soundtrack's New Single

Update from the band:

We are excited to finally release new music from our forthcoming album Even If It Kills Me (In-Stores Sept. 18) . On Tuesday, JUNE 26, we will release our new song "Broken Heart" digitally in the USA, UK, mainland Europe, and Australia on Epitaph.

You will be able to buy the song through digital outlets in the US like iTunes, Napster, Downloadpunk, eMusic, insound, and so on. In the UK/Europe you will be able to find the track on iTunes (all European stores included), Napster, eMusic, Virgin Digital (UK), HMV Digital (UK), etc. And Australia check out iTunes...






Also, the band has set up a new site for their street team. If you're a MCS fan, you should sign up at www.theboomboxgeneration.com. Once you join you add up point to get sweet prizes for helping out the band.


-Clio

Max Bemis Finally Says Something

Say Anything, an up and coming band, who have recentely finished up their tour with Saves the Day, have been busy in the studio recording their new album, In Defense of the Genre. Max Bemis, father of Say Anything and lead vocalist, gave an update saying:

"a) we've completed drums, bass and guitar on 95 percent of the songs
except for a few strangely arranged ones that will involve much more
than drums bass and guitar.alex is playing all the bass on the record,
wheras I (Max) played the bass on... Is a Real Boy.
b) we recorded most of the record at quite-famous electric lady studios
in new york city (built by hendrix). we even tracked a lot of the
record in the same room that weezer recorded the blue album in, and
most recently guns n' roses completed their unreleased opus.
c) as of now there are A LOT of songs on the record.
d) our friends from various projects and bands will be involved in
singing and playing on the record.
e) the record is another "concept album" (god help us) but this time
(tentatively) the songs will appear in order of the story they tell,
which is far more direct and personal than the last record's story.
f) brad wood is producing our record. he produced sunny day real
estate's first two records as well as liz phair's and albums by
placebo,smashing pumpkins, mewithoutyou, that dog and more. he is our
dawg, and doing an amazing job.
g) this record will be the best say anything music you've heard thus
far, at least in our opinion. i mean we're four years fucking older,
max is four times dirtier and crazier, coby's got four times as much
party in him, and alex has quadrupled his collection of gnomes,
bathsoaps and other hippy shit. the point is, we are proud of what
we've created; it's not just somethign new but something deeply
connected to the direction the music has been going for the 8 years of
this band's existence..."

This is all that's been said thus far so I'll keep you posted
-Clio

Men Women And Children, Alone and Labeless

This is straight from the horses mouth, Men Women and Children have broken free from Warner Brother Records and are in search for a more supportative label that will be able to help push their music and are actually passionate about what they are duing. In the end, this makes a lot of sense because try and find the Men Women and Children album in your local record store...you probably wont be able too.
-Clio

The Alley

On Sunday, June 10th, I had the pleasure of finally attending a show, seeing how I had not been to one since late April. It was a co-headlining tour of The Junior Varsity and Thunderbirds Are Now!, and they were supported by Street to Nowhere, Putnam Hall, and Sound the Alarm.

I arrived at the Alley, a venue in Fullerton and very similar to the chain reaction in size, around 7:00, when the show was supposed to begin, only to see that box office had not even opened. So I went to wait in line and finally purchased my tickets.

The show was kicked off by a local band, Sound the Alarm, which was extremely similar to Epitaph's The Higher. Their music was generic, but still enjoyable. They played about a twenty-minute set, during which the lead singer managed to dance exactly like the lead singer from the Higher (neither of them can dance). Overall, they were decent and could be considered radio friendly, in that they fit a formula of bands that have been achieving mainstream success lately. If you want to hear a song that is a good representation of their sound, check out "Suffocating to Stay Alive."

The next band was Putnam Hall, which sounded like early Phantom Planet. They were also reminiscent of Against Me!, but with a dash of pop. They also played about a 20-minute set, which I must say was pretty good. They, unlike the Sound the Alarm, did try to bring some originality to their music, which I greatly appreciated. They ended with their song, "Fight the Format," which they deemed their anthem, so if you want an idea of what this band is, check out that song.

After a short break, the next band was Street to Nowhere, natives of the bay area, and a band I was very excited about seeing. Their set was probably about thirty minutes and was nothing short of amazing. I do not know if I could name a band that could be considered similar to them, but their myspace labels them as "melodramatic popular song." I do not know if that is just a fancy way of saying emo, but these gentlemen are far from the thousands of bands that have been created over the past years. With witty lyrics and a truly "different" sound, Street to Nowhere is a group that all should experience. After listening to their album, I can safely say that they somehow have a consistency throughout and yet no two songs are a like. Because of this I recommend two of their songs, "Dead Cliché" and "They're Not Like Us."

Thunderbirds are Now!, another difficult group to categorize, could be considered an electronic pop band, which puts on an engaging live show. With great stage presence, this band is far from shy, as they thrash around on stage, even jumping off stage to greet the audience of no more than thirty people. Their recorded music does not do this group justice, in that when I listened to them before the show I thought they were going to be mediocre, but their live sound was great. Being the co-headliner they played about a forty-five minute set. I recommend checking out their song "We Win Ha Ha," and see them live if you have the chance, you will enjoy it.

Finally it was time for The Junior Varsity, a band out of the Chicago area, to perform. Personally, they were the original reason why I decided to attend the show, so I had been awaiting their performance all night. They opened with a fan favorite "Mad for Medusa" and played a variety of songs from all of their albums, even some new ones off of CINEMATOGRAPHIC, which hits stores on June 19th. There was definitely a difference in the level of musicianship these guys had from the other bands that had played throughout the night, and their experience could be easily seen. This band in not your everyday band, and they definitely spice up their songs with light keyboards, and now even a song with saxophone. I recommend checking out "Get Comfortable" from their sophomore album, and "the sky," which will be on their new album.

After the show my friend and I, who was nice enough to accompany me on this trip, went and bought some merch, so I got some cds and a shirt. However, when I returned home, and opened the Junior Varsity cd, which I was waiting to listen to, I was greeted by an empty case. I am currently in the works in obtaining the cd that I had paid for, because I only make minimum wage and cannot be buying duplicate cds because someone gave me an empty one the first time.

Also, afterwards, my friend and I spoke to some gents from the band Fire Rocket Red, who did not perform that night. They were pretty much hilarious so I checked them out only to find that they were damn good. So if you have time check them out on myspace or something.

-Clio

The Matches New Video

Oakland based pop-punk band, The Matches, have made a new music video for their song Salty Eyes, the first track off their latest album. Their lead singer, Shawn Harris, has said that it was filmed in one take, so prepare to be amazed. The video is very creative and well executed considering their budget. So here it is:




For more information of the making of the video, check out Shawn Harris' blog, Heavy Breeding, here: http://shawnmatches.blogspot.com/

-Clio

"Ode To Ochrasy" Tour, May 22, 2007

The night of Tuesday, May 22, 2007 began after a group of Emoes was leading the head of the line to get into John Weston's Troubadour--the tavern where the night would begin with less than a bang, and end with a feeling of consolation—the feeling emerges whenever I see a decent band live.

We entered the tavern, which felt more like a homey wooden cabin, isolating one from the noise of outside. There was a line for the merchandise; purely Mando Diao shirts, albums, buttons, and bags, there was also a small section on the edge of the table with Pop Levi LPs. I stood in line while my friend entered the restroom, apparently the installations are small; and the flushing knob on the toilet comes off--beware when you go to the Troubadour. Apart from the wooden cabin feeling and scenery, the Troubadour is encompassed with photographs of old artists hanging on the wooden walls, and on the wall near the restroom hung a large six foot poster of Jim Morrison. I apologize for descriptions that aren’t entirely necessary.

You would think that some Swedish lads would be humble and glad to share the stage with their opening bands, but that is not the case for Mando Diao. It was obvious that the stage where they were to play was small, but it was even worse for the opening bands. The first band had to deal with a blue drum set—that of Mando Diao's—behind their own red drum set, cutting the front stage space in less than one third of the size of the stage. There was a thin strip, a strip so narrow that you would think that if the members of this band were not as sober as they seemed, they would trip on a chord and fall off the stage. The second band had more space to perform.

The starting band began after eight and a half. The Capshuns, very creative name, but the sound was not only a pop rock construction of old sounds that we've heard with a hint of The Higher—I am using this band to compare them with because they are generic. There were two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer and the lead singer. I feel for the girls in the audience that have low self-esteem--the lead singer had the body of an anorexic woman, no kidding. The instrumentals of the band were decent; there was nothing of great acclaim. The pop sound of the band and the deep voice of the vocalist clashed, making me want to go up to them after their set ended and telling them to get a different vocalist. The Capshuns played a good thirty five minutes, and then led to the half hour intermission.

Pop Levi... [Pronounced: Leevaye]. I thought it was Levee, but apparently it's not, the vocalist of The Capshuns was corrected on stage, so, I mustn’t do the same mistake, or else the fans of [Pop Leevaye] might come kick my arse. This band was not only picky, but also annoying. Their bassist was brought from the sixties; there's no chance in hell that he is from our current era. Pop Levi has a time machine; you should go ask them for it. Their bassist and their backing guitarist were out of place, as was the drummer, I think the vocalist of Pop Levi [Leevaye] should go solo, he can pull it off, he’s a good guitarist and performer. The vocalist was out of this world, no seriously, he was a robot with a hint of insane. He would dance out of nowhere, with these movements that only robots that we have seen on films and television would perform. He had energy, but his band mates diminished whatever he had going on with their inability to belong to his style. I am guessing that the vocalist sang too high pitched because of his tight clothes; he was like a tall pitchfork moving unsynchronized to the well-noted but too simple instrumentals behind his voice. This band played for forty-five minutes, which was fifteen minutes short of the intermission between their amusing performance and that of Mando Diao. They can be compared to any psychedelic band out there, except their lyrics are horrible; a hint of The Velvet Underground and The Black Angels.

As any good European band would do, Mando Diao's stage crew began flashing the stage lights on the audience for some minutes before the band members appeared, all band members wearing black. As Gustaf entered the stage, and stood there smiling at his crowd, I noticed that the man had no shoes on; he wore black socks. Their performance began with "Welcome Home, Luc Robitaille" followed by "Down in the Past." The third song in the first set was "Song for Aberdeen." What surprised me the most was that they included songs from Hurricane Bar and Sheep Dog. From experience bands that headline their concert with the name of their newest album means that they are only going to play songs from that album, and nothing more, but Mando Diao gave its audiences good old songs like "God Knows." The energy that was experienced came more from Gustaf than from Bjorn who has been given more vocal leads than previous years. As far as performance, Mando Diao have energy, and talent but the inability to realize that their instrumentals do not underscore their vocals. At the beginning of the show, their lyrics could be heard but as their performance resumed, it was harder to decipher what they were singing; to the point that sometimes it was hard to figure out what song they were playing. Gustaf's amazing vocals were heard when he sang "Ochrasy." This is the last song on their new album; perhaps the most political that one can relate to. For this song Bjorn was the only one on stage whose presence was underscored. The other band members hid either with their head down over keyboards or on the grown near an amplifier. This was one of their dramatic appeals that we experienced that night. Thirty minutes before they ended their show, they got off the stage. Gustaf and Bjorn placing their guitars softly on the middle of the stage, and everyone except for the drummer leaving the stage quickly. To the inexperienced audience this would have been the end of the concert, but everyone knew that these humble lads were just going out of stage so that they could be brought back by the screaming, clapping, and chanting of "MANDO DIAO." Humble, indeed. After about five minutes of keeping their audience begging for more noise, the drummer—now wearing nothing more than his slacks—the keyboardist and bassist ran toward their instruments. Bjorn came down the stairs of their lair before Gustaf did, and when Gustaf decided that it was time to please us with his presence the upcoming song of the second set began; I don’t recall it’s title, sorry avid readers. Ha.

Mando Diao might not have the deepest of lyrics, but they do have the instrumental abilities that WE seek in bands these days. There is no routine in their sound or in their lyrics. There is power rock, and there is power pop as well; all fused in to create a sound that can't be compared with any other American band that we have heard on the waves (radio stations) or on the local MTV channels. When Mando Diao leaks into the mainstream waves, it won't be because of their worn-out, trite sound, but because of their Swedish sense of sound and performance. Their music is a fusion of Led Zeppelin and Incubus, and a hint of The Beatles somewhere.

--C.S.H.

Well, I'm a jerk

Yesterday, my good friend Mark Santos, an up and coming musician had a gig at the Whiskey A G0 Go in Los Angeles. Being the nice person I am, I bought a ticket and found a ride to the event. Everything seemed to be going well, and we reached the wonderful city of Los Angeles with an hour to spare. With this in mind, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat to ensure that none of us passed out. For some reason, due to our horrible luck, we completely missed my friends gig. It wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that everyone voted at the end because it was a competition so he, sadly, did not receive my precious vote.

The real purpose of this blog is to help my friend, who is quite a musician if I do say so myself, and tell you all to check him out. If he advances in this competition, he will be playing at the key club, which would be pretty amazing. So check him out at:

http://www.myspace.com/joevsvolcanorock

So help an aspiring musician out!

-Clio

A Short Forthcoming

I am currently not on my own laptop, and am unable to post any concert reviews that I have written about the previous concerts that I have attended. I will be posting about the Ode to Ochrasy Tour led by the Swedish band Mando Diao. Their opening bands were: Pop Levi, and The Capshuns. Mando Diao are an indie band that have been around since 1996, and toured Europe for most of these years. They have led two tours in the U.S. One which finalized this May 22, 2007 at the Troubadour, and the other which was in 2004, I believe.

I would consider them power rock, but are more on the verge of pop rock. As far as comparing them to other bands, they might sound a little like Blondelle, or if you want a reference to mainstream, they would be a mixture of rock music you can dance to. Sorry, I can't compare them to a mainstream band because my list of mainstream bands is short, but one of my friends said that they remind her a little of The Beatles, could it be because both come from European countries? I do not know. Until the day that I post the review of Mando Diao, listen to them and if you have a band with whom you can compare them to, please let me know. You might find them on youtube, myspace, and perhaps on a rerun of Conan O'Brien's late night show of May 25, 2007.


-C.S.H.-- I will be posting with my initials instead of with my name. Thank You.

Since we started a bit late, here is an old concert reviews...well not too old

On Sunday April 22, myself and one of my pals decided to attend Men Women & Children's show in Anahiem, California at the Chain Reaction. I must say that it was an great experience

The first band to go on was Hopefield, and they were pretty good. Football isn't really their thing, because they were definitely playing in front my car when we were waiting and the bassist couldn't catch the ball to save his life. Other than that, they were pretty darn good. Nothing extremely memorable, but I couldn't complain.

The next band was overnight lows. Now the lead singer was supposedly a woman, but I couldn't really tell. It took me on an emotional roller coaster. I'd be like, its a girl no a guy...damn, I don't know!!! They're really good though, so its okay. I recommend listening to their song Delay the Wait, its extrememly catchy

Afterwards, the oohlas came on. Now, I had seen the Oohlas perform before and I had mixed feelings about them. This time around, they were pretty good but I couldn't hear the lead volcalist very well, which sort of sucked. They are very orginal, and their song Across the Stars in Blue is addicting.

Then, Bedouin Soundclash, which is officially one of the most amazing bands ever, came on. They're sort of like reggae/indie/popish amazingness! Words can't explain how good they were. There were these kids next to me who were trying to dance, but they couldn't. I just wanted to be like, stop, please stop, spare yourselves. During there last song, some of men, women & children came out with congas and they held it up to audience. This band had a great live sound and excellent stage presence.

Finally, Men Women & Children came on. Let me just say, if you have not seen this band live, you are missing out. Their live show is great. everyone was really into it. Not to mention Todd (ex-guitarist from glassjaw) is in the band. They were just really good. Also, for anyone who has seen them, you know that they always use a bubble maching during their show, which seems the facinate much of the crowd.

It was definitely a memorable night, and I recommend checking out these bands live.

-Clio

A Brief Introduction

Despite the deceiving title, the purpose of POP! Music is not to talk about mainstream music of today because it doesn't need us and most of it is not worth the attention it receives. This blog has been created to talk about up and coming talent or even talent that has been established but not yet acknowledged by much of middle America. POP! Music is here to do exactly what we said, pop the common held notions of today's music, and spark conversations on artists who have proved themselves to be more than the formulated groups created by our capitalistic society to cash in on the obsessions of spoiled teens. In the end, this is a work and progress and input is greatly appreciated. POP! Music is just two college kids attempting to write something of substance and I apologize if we fail you in our mission.

-Clio