Song by song: New Found Glory - Radio Surgery

New Found Glory have grown as a band, and on me, since I first heard them. I initially saw them as jumping on the blink-182 bandwagon but in truth they have stuck with it, been consistently good (except I've never gotten into Coming Home) and they were pioneers of Easycore. I heard that with new album Radiosurgery they were trying a more '77/power pop sound which I've always found a bit hit or miss (NFG pun, sorry.) but I was looking forward to it nonetheless.

Radiosurgery

The opening riff and production harks back to an early time for melodic punk and this song really sets the tone (sorry again!) of the whole album. Everything is simplified compared to the hardcore-influenced output of the last few releases but it is a catchy song and the vocals help it retain their sound.

Anthem for the Unwanted

This starts suspiciously like something Green Day would produce since they 'grew up' ie got boring. Luckily the rest of the song is fun and has more hooks than a pirate in a butcher shop. The guitars and bass work really well, and the song is structured nicely.

Drill it in my Brain

Okay, there's 5 guys in the band, how did none of them clock that the opening riff is from Motivation by Sum 41? Someone must have noticed.. Srsly gize? I guess it has been about 10 years since Motivation but it's gonna be pretty awkward when they co-headline the kerrang tour. The chorus is good though, which is of course one of the things they can do well. The outro is pretty sweet as well, just a hint of hardcore influence and then some good vocals back and forth.

I'm not the One

One of the best songs on the album, if not the best. All the hallmarks of one of their classics (After ten years they get to have classics, right?) It starts with what sounds like an infomerical from the 50s/60, which is an era they revisit here and there. Anyway, hardcore elements, great vocal work, slightly more complicated drumming and tempos, everything really. And a 2-Step 101 bit! Quick, go mosh with your bros and join in some GANG VOX before you go back to hanging out with that girl you like at the gig! Really good stuff though.

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Again I'm amazed that no-one called out whoever wrote this and asked them how much Lars Fredrikson they'd be listening to..Or Billy Bragg.. Or a version of I Fought the Law... Basically a mish mash of all three. Not even a good song to boot...

Dumped

Ah this sounds like one of their own songs. Experimenting with some Beach Boys style backing vocals that are sure to annoy the REAL PUNX even more but actually are probably as much as a nod to Ramones. This will be stuck in my head forever I fear. And more woahs than....The Offspring karaoke?

Summer Fling, Don't mean a Thing

I love this song! It sounds like a P0P PUNK C0VAR OF KELLY CLRKSN LOLOLOL that you'd see on youtube. Except some 30 something year old dudes with tattoos wrote it instead. So well put together I could see it getting into the chartz. They say 'summer' a lot of times in it and even though it's dark, wet and miserable here in Ireland, in October, this makes me want to go hang at the backyard pool of one of my big circle of friends from high school, or whatever it is that American teens do these days. Chooon. And check out the backing vox around the 2 minute mark.

Caught in the Act (feat. some beure who sounds like Hayley from Paramore)

This song is slow and I'm not really into it. It has a kind of 50s/60s/prom night/grease musical feel to it in the chorus. I'm sure some girls will like it. I guess. It even has a RADIO ROCK SONG GUITAR SOLO. Neeext.


Memories and Battle Scars

Thank goth this is uptempo and sounds like a pop punk song. It reminds me of the old powerpop songs where the singer tries to explain their feelings through the love-you-so-much-it-hurts kinda shtyle. Jordan is 32 now but whatevs, he got married two years a go.. still, good song.


Trainwreck

This sounds like AC/DC a bit..Not sure if I'm into it..that is all.


Map of Your Body

For 90% of this it's a great pop punk song. Relatively fast, melodic, woahs, the works. Then they go back into the 50s/prom/grease thing for some reason. It sounds a bit like a more fggty version of Saturday Night by Misfits, if that's possible. Maybe if some beure had dumped me lately I'd get it a bit better. Still the rest of the song is good and it's a positive to end the album on.

Gonna give this 7/10 even though I've had conflicting emotions on the album for two weeks about at this stage. I'm Not The One and Summer Fling, Don't Mean a Thing are great, there's lots of solid catchy ones too but the occasional dud and I hope they don't go down the 'mature' means boring route.

Douche Chill Durst: Travel

When cover versions are better than the original: Up All Night (Blink-182/Kyle Scott)

Kyle Scott put together a cover of Up All Night from the new blink-182 album in a style he thought the band would have played in 1999. It's sweet and captures the sound that blink fans loved and is rightly getting a good bit of attention online.

Check it out

Honest Game Confessions

Band names that make you lol: Anthem Part Two

Lots of bands take their name from the song of a favourite band. Inspiration can be hard to find and there aren't many original names left in fairness. Sometimes this technique works when the homage is subtle, other times it goes down like a brick. If you mix in a band for whom English is not a first language to this technique the lols are pretty much guaranteed, amirite? It's the continental Europeans that are usually guilty of this and that brings me on to the lolfactory that is Anthem Part Two.

I get that they live in Europe but listen to so many American pop punk bands they feel like they grew up in a suburb and crash the mall on a typical day out, I'm of similar stock, but this is redonkulous. Was this the only blink-182 song name that hasn't already been maced or do they genuinely think it sounds artsy or something?

I can see their appeal to an extent, but is it me or does the singer sound Welsh?

Song by Song: Man Overboard - Self Titled 2011

Good 2 see they're sticking to their lazy album cover rootz

I don’t think I would have liked Man Overboard if I heard them when I
was a teenager. They would have offended my ideal as to what a punk
rock/pop punk band should have been what with their vocal effects and
emo lyrics. I saw them live in Dublin last year though and their
guitarist/singer was drunk and wonderfully out of tune so they
actually had a fun, punk element to them and that was the catalyst to
me giving them a second chance and actually growing to really like
some of the songs on Real Talk. They’re basically pop written by pop
punk dudes but they’re catchy and seem like good people.

So anyway, here are my impressions of each song..

Rare

Straight away I don’t like the intro, I can see what they're going for  but it sounds like a record sped up or a badly tuned radio recorded through a washing machine. Once it gets going properly the verse is good and then the chorus comes in at a weird off time tempo that takes a while to get used to. The bridge is nice and chorus works well the last time around, and once you're used to the changes it's a solid, catchy song.

Teleport

I like the stop-start guitar style with vocals running underneath. The second song off Real Talk goes the same way as this and I guess if it ain't broke... Zacs vocals haven’t changed much from the slightly whiney nerdy teenager next door singing in his first band but his melodies are good. The chorus works well, they’re going for a ‘big chorus’ type vibe and the song grows as it continues. There are some parts that they won’t be able to pull of live I'd say, but it's a good song overall.

Voted Most Likely

This is another one that builds up well with a nice galloping rhythm that comes in during the verse, something I haven’t heard them do before. Works well with their melodic, sugarsweet singing style actually. Chorus is definitely one for the girls to sing along to. The 'breakdown' bit is sweet and the whole song leads to that and then the bridge after where there's alot of back and over vocals and then the purdy chorus again. You can see exactly they're going for but I’m a sucker for a melodic chorus and a b it of a breakdown so sue me for like this more than I should.

Dead End Dreams

The acoustic ‘gang vocals’ intro...ehhh...yeah, it's a bit cringey but it does help get the chorus stuck in my damn head.  They’re still rhyming ‘world’ with ‘girl’ but at least they're talking about the transition between being a boy and a man.  Then they bust out the STADIUM ROCK CHORUS, perfect for clapping along to or, for hardcore kids who are secretly emo kids at heart, chanting along to. There's a lot of 'how to write a song for a bigger venue' parts stuck into this song but it might grow on me.

Something’s Weird

Nice fast pace to this one, I’m reminded of the descendants for some reason. The singing could do with a bit more balls and angst during the first part of the verse but I should man up and listen to some man music if I want that I guess, The second part of the verse(?) is great and the chorus is good too. The bridge has a lot going on, and grabs your attention more than alot of pop punk bridges would. There's a good bit going on in the song and structure-wise it's pretty complicated for them. Good song overall.

Punishment

There’s about a minute of music at the start without vocals, which makes this song drag and it’s largely unremarkable for the most part. There’s a part in the middle where the vocals go back and over that I really
like, Nik with the stronger vocals and Zac coming in after. This has more of a teen movie soundtrack vibe to it I think, and if your bros got into your car as this song came on they'd be within their rights to call you a total fggt.

Not the First

Intro comes straight from the Rise Against ripping off Bad Relgion school of riffs. Sure that'll piss off the purists but whatever dude. This song also grows well and doesn’t just stick to a three chord-played-at-different-speeds format. Not sure if I want to bludgeon myself into deafness with mp3 player when they sing 'know-oh-oh-woah-oh-oh-oh-oh' etc or eat ice cream and sing along. They can right a little hook as well as anyone though.

Headstone

Love the intro to this! Vocals work really well together with a nice harmony. Yeah, this song is great, really fast pace and vocals are good and catchy with ‘woahs’ and gang vocals, the works. I had a feeling there would be a bit of a slowed down breakdown to this and it arrives 2/3 of the song in, as predicted, but it mixes their melodies and hardcore-influenced drumming well. The transition into the fast part is seemless and I might have a new favourite song on the album, this almost sounds like skate punk. This is probably the song you won't be embarrased about your friends hearing you listening to.

Spunn

Slowing things down a little bit which is to be expected after the last song. I think they released this one in advance of the album, and it has all the things you would expect in a Man Overboard song. Solid song that flows well and one that I can see ‘people’ singing along in the car to. Kind of overkill with a piano bit towards the end, but I like the up-tempo chorus that follows.

Picture Perfect

Coming towards the end of the album and I think this is the first slow song that starts with just guitar and vocals. Thankfully its Nik singing so the cringe factor is kept down. Not sure what genre this is, again, wouldn’t be out of place on a teen movie soundtrack, except I mean that as more of a compliment than I did with Punishment. Not a lot of punk to be found in this, but it shows another side of their songwriting and I’m sure the 14 year old girls and older dudes with the blues/suburban issues will dig it.

Night Feelings

I'm reminded of AFI with this one, good AFI that is, not the screechy early stuff or the weird old man pop of later years. There's a really nice tempo change in it that slows it down but really shows their progression as a band, it doesn't feel forced but really adds to the song. This is followed by a soaring, uplifting chorus (can't believe I just typed that, ugh..) and there's a few layers of changes and hooks between vocals, guitars and drums. There's an energy with this song and I get the impression they had fun writing this one. There's a classic POP PUNK JUMP BREAKDOWN (I'm completely making these terms up) towards the end that makes me want to write a part like it into a song asap. One of the best songs on the album.

Atlas

Another slow starter, lyrics are about watching the world and again contemplating becoming a man, it's a welcome change. Verse is horrifically emo, filled with White Whines and I wonder if they'll ever get to the stage where they sing about drinking vodka and partying. Either way it at least adds some variety to the album and it might stand the test of time a bit better than most of their relationship lyrics.

Overall I'm impressed with this album. There's been a very slight progression in the lyrics but a leap forward in songwriting overall. Real Talk, for me, has a few stand out singles, some songs with good parts and a lot of filler. The album is self titled and there is a sense they have found their sound. Headstone and Night Feelings are the best of the faster songs, Voted Most Likely is a well-written song and Teleport should be a favourite with the ladies looking for non-threatening, music boys. This will be in my car cd player for a while. 8/10.

Durst to Durst: A weekly dose of Limp Bizkit wisdom, insults and deep thoughts

When I was 13 or 14 this guy who followed the cool kids around made fun of me for not knowing who Limp Bizkit. Ten or so years later and the ironing is delicious.  But The Bizkit were hot property around that time and most people my age went through a phase of liking them. For me they were like Korn, with some wiggers instead of gangly weirdos, Borland excluded.

They released a few more albums, one had ‘the’ at the start of all the songs or something like that, but they were a passing teenage fad. Then my housemate introduced me to Golden Cobra, which he assured me had all the terrible lyrics and catchy choruses of Bizkit of old..

It’s (entirely) possible that people will miss out on some of the lyrical gems in this album, so I’m going to put some up each week. They’re cheap lols. I’m macing the advice animal style for this, but I’ve no catchy title for it..

So yes, from the song Douchbag, which I’ll be returning to comes the brilliant ‘you just cryin’ cos you aint got milk, got nothin’ to spill’. Deep burn. Ah Deep Burn Durst, that’ll work? Or Douche Chill Durst...

Honest band confessions 2