I think I like the new Wonder Years song (eh, I think)

LET'S HAVE A SRS TALK ABOUT POP PUNK 

As we all know The Wonder Years used to be a really fun pop punk band, then the weight of the world fell on Soupy's shoulders and they wrote the amazing Upsides all about not fitting in, loneliness and generally whining but trying not to be so negative and figuring out wtf is going on.

It just so happens that I had left college and was in a wasteland at the time it was released and the album really resonated with me (maaan). Then I took my head out of my ass, picked myself up and started to have fun again. Unfortunately by the time TWY released Suburbia..it seemed Soupy had not gone through the same metamorphosis and the album was kind of a wet blanket. Good in places mind you but overall..meh..just not where I was..selfish of me but hey...

Now the lads have a new album on the way, (the worryingly titled) The Greatest Generation and a new song 'Passing Through a Screen Door' dropped today.

At first I was underwhelmed until DAT BRIDGE hit and suddenly I had a reason to listen to it FIVE TIMES IN A ROW. The vocals almost sound like they're being sung by a grown up now (besides the little whine of an inflection at the end of some lines) but they lyrics have always been what sucks the kidz in. And here's the thing: I'M 26 AND A LOT OF MY FRIENDS HAVE GOT MARRIED. Not many have kids though thankfully.

A lot of what I'm hearing (from Absolute Punk) is that this isn't the best song on the album and this gives me hope. Maybe I should ease up on these guys, I mean Man Overboard have the most cringe-filled lyrics of all time and I don't judge them so harshly. Then again Man Overboard didn't drop breakdowns for hipster coffee table books. The jury is still out but if I can come to terms with the Emotional Hipster Punk vibes then this might be my album of the summer, who knows?

My Chemical Romance break up

Looks Legit: Online Business edition

I've started a new job that basically involves analysing lots of websites, paying particular attention to potential revenue through ads on the sites. Hundreds or thousands of sites per day. Usually devoting a few seconds for each. Every so often one sticks out. So I'm going to start sharing some of the more sketchy stuff I find. And I don't mean sketchy as in porn/gore/whatever. I mean sketchy as in people chancing their arm in an effort to get people to give them money/contact info/time!

Are you old? Like to carry a child? Have a happy family? Then congrats, you fit our demographic and we'll be happy to give you the tools to make you $$$!

Just what is in this Internet business starter pack? I don't care, because for some reason all I can think of is money and $ signs.

Hmm, well before I make any decision I like to talk it over with the moany beure from The Room...

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE ANYMORE

Sum 41, Billy Talent and more, Vancouver, March 14, 2013

From the moment Deryck Whibley hits the stage, it is clear the diminutive Sum 41 singer has not aged well. But more on that later.

Taking our seats in the old person section, we did not have long to wait for this hockey arena show to kick off. And the time we had was filled with the running, slack-jawed commentary of two Canadian rednecks who were in the row behind us, every word coated in pot smoke.

Indian Handcrafts

Like an ugly, 'warts and all' music documentary at the Oscars, Indian Handcrafts both surprise and merit smatterings of applause, but really they are just tolerated rather than appreciated. Which is a shame as their slightly psychotic blend of blues, doom, hardcore, shrieks and indie was quite fun to behold. Never the type of music I would listen to at home, but good live music for a certain period of time regardless.

Hollerado

That guy...

More on par for the night these fresh faced guys have parent-and-teen-friendly good vibes as they cliche their way through some indie poprock.  It wasn't my thing but I can understand why the kidz might like it, especially if they have never seen an arena show before. The singer had a bit of That Guy going on, but hopefully the incident at the end of their set will make him reconsider his stage presence. In a preplanned move, the song built to an ending where he rebelliously launched his guitar a whole 4 feet in the air and caught it with the final cymbal crash. Pretty cool, eh? Unfortunately he caught it WITH HIS FACE, which caused the redneck to hoot and holler, and caused quite a bit of bleeding also I imagine. Still, chalk it down as a lesson learned.

Sum 41

Avert your eyes, children!

And so with little or no waiting around Sum 41 blaze into The Hell Song and damn, they are good live! I missed my chance to see them 8 or so years ago when they played Ireland and then they pulled out of a tour a year or so ago. The sound is impeccable, a wall of noise that is complemented by a sweet light show but there is something distracting that is gnawing away at my pure, unadulterated enjoyment of the moment.

What is it? Oh yes; the singer has a fat face so he looks like the novelty 'blow up head' part of New Found Glory 'My Friends Over You' video (1.26), topped with 'older lady trying to look younger' messy, crimson hair. This, coupled with his extremely camp onstage demeanor, and a speaking voice that sounds like the aural representation of a pubescent child with lung cancer, means the whole effect is that of an elderly drag queen who is influenced by anime. So in between killing it with a whole backpack full of hits, we were treated to the odd spectacle of Deryck c 2013.

Not that it took anything away from the performance. I was actually the happiest I've been at a gig of this sort in a very long time. It is not often that you can see a band a decade too late and still really enjoy the set. Of course they did ham it up, with Arena Rock fan interaction parts in every second song, but that was counterbalanced by them bringing up some kids on stage for most of the set and, well, sounding pretty damn good.

Billy Talent

I've always meant to listen to Billy Talent a bit more, I've never heard a song of their that I didn't like and I've actually known them for a long time, maybe 10 years or so. This tour seems to be a BIG DEAL to them as they're doing coast to coast of Canadia, playing arenas, using big screens, nice looking sets and recording the whole thing. They took about 2 months to set up, with a huge curtain covering the activity behind. Then, the guitarist with the weird hair and the singer with the weird hair started the set by themselves IN FRONT OF THE CURTAIN. It did of course drop as the band kicked into the song and everyone cheered but I dunno, seems like they're still figuring the process out!

Five songs in, it becomes clear that I don't know a lot of BT songs and after a good opening, I'm beginning to lose a little interest. But hey, I'm getting old and I had work that day... This isn't really a discredit to the band, they gave it their all and I was kept entertained by the cool camera that was in the mic stand and gave really unique shots of the action. The band deserve major props for staying together for 20 years and I'm pretty sure they started in their mid teens, which makes it even more impressive. The fans seemed suitably whipped up into a frenzy and there was barely a note out of place during the entire set.

Again, it was a case of DAT VOICE in between songs and during the screechier parts of his range. But it is unique vocal experience and one that has gotten BT to where they are today, so who am I to judge, except a slightly cynical music lover with slightly damaged eardrums.

Twitter-sized reviews: Oz the Great and Powerful

Effects and set = skittles. Mila Kunis = tasty sirloin steak. Guy from Scrubs = cheese. James Franco = turnip. 6/10

And as for this....

This site is better than Craigslist (apparently)

So many questions! In what way is it better? Better ads for weird full body thongs or mankinis? Better ads for tacky chairs? Better for sideboob?

DAT POSE AND OUTFIT AND AGGHH

Seriously, she makes my insides want to run and vault out of my mouth. Least flattering anything, ever.

Some Paramore fan got a Headbanging is Crucial tat

Hayley Williams, who we all know is the first female singer in a rock band ever, apparently said 'headbanging is crucial' and a bunch of other stuff that is inspiring to aspiring young female rockerz. Naturally as their taliswoman, these are words to cling to and even live by. Maybe even get a tattoo of?? I mean, when you look at the evidence of Hayley in action, it seems pretty badass:

HELL YEAH! BADASS RIGHT?! I BET A TATTOO INSPIRED BY THIS WOULD BE AWESOME!

 

Ohhhh......cool carrot mic?

Still, this was retweeted by Hayley herself after she met the girl in an airport so I guess it don't matter what I saaaay.

Pennywise, Lagwagon and Stick To Your Guns. Commodore Ballroom, Feb 21st

***Usual disclaimer: If you are looking for an in depth review that includes a set list then this is probably not the place for you, soz bro.***

So, I thought Pennywise were pretty good with Jim and really good with Zoli but now Jim is back even though it seems a bit awkward and forced but hey who am I to judge? If you've been a punk band 25 years and are making a living out of it then you can do whatever the hell you want in my book.

I showed up early and had the misfortune to be second in line behind a wigger in his 40s who was off his face. The gentleman in question had a pretty haggard wife sitting at the bus stop and he seemed genuinely amazed that I had heard of Bouncing Souls. I took a quick walk to rid myself of his attention and was rewarded with the sight of Joey Cape from Lagwagon walking towards me. We gave each other 'the nod' and said hey, just as a scalper asked the bemused singer if he was buying or selling any tickets for the show tonight. And so an incredulous Joey went back into the venue and I lost my chance to talk to the guy. Oh well.

Stick To Your Guns

Sticking out like sore thumbs, these passionate, vaguely emo hardcore menchildren (and a man from Evergreen Terrace) were probably always going to struggle to make an impact on this tour. I quite enjoy them in small doses so I joined the other 11 people who decided to watch them and they weren't half bad until the singer started his motivational speeches. The BELIEVE IN YOURSELF type of POSITIVE THROUGH STRUGGLE hardcore stuff is pretty lol already, but when they guys saying it are younger than 99% of the audience the lols go into overdrive.

'Yo, if you're in a bad place I understand man. I know most of you have kids and mortgages and I spend most of the year in the back of a van with a bunch of dudes, but I understand. My cousin is in prison so I've been through some shit.' - Jesse Barnett, Stick To Your Guns

Lagwagon

DAT SIZE DIFFERENCE

Undoubtedly on my list of 'bands I'd love to see but will probably never get to see' I was probably most excited about this set. On many levels they didn't disappoint! Cramming tonnes of old songs and new favourites into their relatively short set, Lagwagon strike a balance between fun, punk and good musicianship, a combination that is a rare thing in the punk world. The sounds was pretty awful, which sucked doubly as the sexy guitar work is half the appeal of the band for me. The sound is pretty much out of their hands though and they still joked and rawked their way through a set that included Mr Coffee, Lazy and May 16 amongst others so I was happy enough overall.

Pennywise

As well as the backdrop and general stage layout, the sound also magically transforms when headliners Pennywise go on. I picked my usual gig spot just behind where the bros were OPENING UP THE PIT and tried to avoid the plumes of weed smoke that are a staple of most gigs in Vancouver. It's pretty lol when men in their 40s introduce a song as being against fathers, but Same Old Story is one of my all time favourite P-wise songs so I headed into the flailing maelstrom that is the punk rock pit. Taking a breather at the front of the sweaty black hole, I got barged in the back in one of the continental drift movements that happens at theses gigs and somehow found myself at the front, with a hand on the barrier. With teenage years of experience at positioning myself as close as possible to bands, it was then no problem for me to ease myself into a spot along the front row, directly in front of Randy.

The Pennywises steadfastly ignored the new album and its solid to excellent material and stuck rigidly to the old stuff, which I guess is the point of a 25 year anniversary tour. I would have thought they could have been the bigger men and just played one or two songs, but I guess when you're still encouraging people to put their middle fingers in the air when playing a song called Fuck Authority 12 years later you're a bit set in your ways. The band are a well oiled machine and it looks like Fletcher at least is still enjoying it.

I obviously like a lot of Pennywise songs that aren't popular enough to be included in the set list (Open Door anyone?) but I had a good time shouting along about the System and Perfect People and all that noise. I got a mandatory neck crushing hug during Bro Hymn, delivered by an overly enthusiastic Mexican gentleman beside me.  While it was amazing to see the performance from a few feet away, it felt more professional than punk. Understandable of course and it did mean the songs were played to near perfection. I just wish I had seen them a decade ago. Best parts of the night were when a fan, confined to a wheelchair, rolled onto stage at various points to drink beer and sing along.

Still, another of the 'bands to see before I die (or they die)' off the list, next up; Bad Religion!