Despite the abundance of evidence to the contrary, it seems that some metalheads do actually have a sense of humour! The story goes like this; one fateful night, the singer of Give Zombies The Vote got smashed (alone it seems) and decided to make a video to his own music, whilst dancing with his cat. His friends band-mates then found said video and posted it on that mecca for the socially incompetent, Reddit. (Then much, much later, I showed up to this party/found the video.) Oh and the cat is called BILL MURRAY.
While some cynical creatures that dwell in metal sub-forums seem to think this was all done as a viral marketing move, I DGAF! It is one of the simple joys in life to watch a hairy dude lip sync his way through a heavy song, as he holds a bewildered cat, and makes the facial expressions that every metal/scene/hardcore fan makes in the privacy of their own house or vehicle.
And if it IS a calculated marketing move then I say congratulations sir.
If it wasn't for all the French ppl I'd consider moving to France for some sweet easycore action. As well as Can't Bear This Party!, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! and (the female fronted melodic hardcore)Bigblast, there is also newbies (I think?) Buddies Say: Ho!
Is it me or do the rest of the band seem sheepish because of ZANY GUY at the back? I'm guessing he's the keyboard player?
The Good Days And Cliches Guide To Becoming A French Easycore Band goes as follows:
Choose a wacky band name. It doesn't matter if it makes sense, you're French and that's charming! Exclamation marks = fun!!!
(Closely linked to pt 1) Grammar? You don't need it! Your potential fans won't care that you've made yourselves difficult to find online because you've thrown punctuation in like a blind man trying to season a meal cooked in a blender on a bouncy castle.
Sing in English, with a slight American twang while maintaining your French accent at times. This will ensure no one has a fucking clue what you're singing about and you'll seem more poetic.
Breakdowns are essential, if your vocalist can sing any of his styles over them, all the better.
Occasionally throw in a curveball to distinguish your sound from American easycore. This can be achieved with an intelligent drummer, forays into metal(core), a xylophone (though CBTP! have done that..still it sounds good so copy it) and maybe a singer who isn't whiney but can actually sing and for bonus point can do heavier stuff too.
BSH stick to this rulebook like the smell of garlic, onions and cigarettes stick to your beret. This makes for a winning combination for me at least! I'm pretty impressed with the range of vocals and while I may joke about them being slightly generic, there is a huge difference between the mid-tempo easycore and breakdowns of Breathe, My Hero, the crabcore-esque Fury and the epic Saved By A Living Dead, which could possibly be the first easycore song that could work in a festival/stadium rock gig or even as support to BMTH. 'Now everybody scream "OHHHH!"'
I'm a sucker for nostalgia. If I'm reminded of a certain album/song/game/whatever after several years I get hit with several years of withdrawal symptoms and need my fix. It's why I have (fairly recently bought) Time Crisis guns for the ps2 in a drawer at home, guns that I will never use again but can't bring myself to throw away.
While looking through some cds in a second hand store (yes, i sometimes buy cds lol/in b4 cds r retro) and I found Kerrang 2 The Album with songs circa 2000-2002. Some bands I still listen to (Alkaline Trio, Blink 182) some bands are good for the lol/memories/occasional jammage (Slipknot, Limp Bizkit) and some were pretty much one hit wonders that I loved. It's these songs I'm going to concentrate on. Maybe I can cure myself of this nostalgia thing..
Papa Roach: Between Angels and Insects
The Nostalgia: FACT: This was one of the first songs I jammed in my first band. Papa Roach were a singles band, their albums kinda sucked but they could write a hit! I remember this song being HEAVY at the time.
The Reality:
No fuqs given if they stole it from Maiden, DAT RIFF!
Jacoby Shaddix is still lol.
Super jelly of their practice room.
00.27 OH MAN DAT CAMERA TRAVELLING INSIDE YOUR BODY THING, OLD SKOOL!!
Missed a choreographed, synchronised headbang op though.
Chorus riff is still HEAVY.
Dem matching outfits. Dem moves.
I've actually ripped off that slide on the high note down to slamming an open chord at about 1.27. Srs.
The transition 'in' to the guitarist and 'out' again from 1.54 onwards haha, so close to being sweet, not quite there.
Srsly wtf is he dancing like that for haha
Slow mo of cymbal crash = never not cool. srs.
Ahahaha dat snare roll.
Don't remember the bass riff in the bridge, prob cos I was struggling with playing the challenging guitar riff
The verdict: Good for lols and a bit of nostalgia mosh, but I'll be putting this away for another while.
American Hi Fi - Flavour of the Weak
The Nostalgia: I remember this being one of the few 'proper' bands that you could actually hear on the radio so I was pretty into this song. I was just barely a teenager and the radio, mixtapes and music channels were still pretty much the only way of finding new music. Plus the taking down the crappy boyfriend of an unrequited love obviously would have appealed to me at that age. feelsbadman.jpg.
The Reality:
Oh shit! They start the video with a Heavy Metal Parking Lot reference from 1986! Nostalgia within nostalgia..
Remember when every music video had an intro/'story to tell' haaaa
00.44 The song finally gets going and it actually goes harder than I remember!
00.50 Ahhh there's the pop vox! And I somehow knew the singer was gonna be blond.
How can we make fun of them when they're doing a video making fun of others/themselves?? GENIUS.
The stop/start thing in the chorus is a bit annoying but DAT HOOK.
Had no idea he said 'nintendo' there.
Radio Rock Solo!
Ah the ol' pretty chorus into the 'heavy' chorus. Works a charm.
The Verdict: I will definetely listen to this song again maybe whilst driving or partying..
Static X - Black and White
The nostalgia: There isn't really that much. I only heard one or two SX songs and though I could see where they were coming from with their cuhrazy hairstyles etc I never took it beyond sort of liking them.
The Reality:
Lol, that drum sound.
Yo brahs, Korn want their riff back!
00.35 Srsly, that's a Korn song right?
It's catchy but that's cos it's already a Korn song. KORN, MOTHERFUCKER. HAVE YOU HEARD THEM?
No matter how cool Tripp is make out to be in this video all I can think about is how he is a convicted kiddyfiddler. Having 14 and 15 year old girls into your music is the dream but actually taking it further than that? Dude. The fuck?
The verdict: That band with the rapist? Ah no, I think I'll listen to Korn instead. Srsly, how is this not the same chorus?
Srsly, what's going on in France? 2 of my favourite bands are already from there and now I've stumbled across Bigblast who combine lots of good elements like
Melodic hardcore
Female vox <3
A name that is just terrible
Undecipherable lyrics
Silly accents
A 'fun on tour' video
They've just released a video for 'Tonight we own this place', which I'm guessing is about living for that moment you step on stage and all the travel is worth it. Maaan.
Nice to see the chick singer helps with the gear, that's equality in hardcore. Srs.
Nooo idea what the lyrics are, really.
I really love the back and forth vocals, especially when the girl sings a line by herself with no music.
00.38 ZANY TOUR ANTICS
The singer has the right mix of keeping it real and keeping it cute.
01.04 ZANY TOUR GUY STRIKES AGAIN. Also, 1.73 per litre? Oof.
Hmm..these guys have defo been on tour
If you want to know what gigs are like most of the time on tour with a DIY band pay attention to 2.34 - band rocking out, giving it their all. 5 ppl standing around at the front, half watching :(
Alriiight they drink shots, maybe we should hang!
I've actually found a video with their lyrics..think it was better not knowing..
'keep direction, don't turn off'
Loving all the lingo 'bros', 'sick' etc
'Nothing in stomach' lolololol
'we ain't no fan' lolwat?
I probably shouldn't be so harsh seeing as I was pretty bad at French but hey, what's the internet for if not making fun of things you like?
When I saw that a high school band covered 'This Gigantic Robot Kills' by MC Lars with full brass section my ska/dork/troll sense went into overdrive! Then I clicked into the video and immediately knew it was going to exceed all my expectations!
Firstly naming your 3rd wave ska band Big Fish...srsly guyz? (I'm assuming they're a ska band..even so performing a ska cover with that name is damning evidence) What were the other suggestions you came up with while scribbling logos on your diary in maths class, More Than Jake? The Sublime Specials? And more importantly, are Reel Big Fish now the inspiration to a new generation of garage ska bands? Don't get me wrong, Sell Out was a tune (IN 1998) and Beer is my jam but even so..I'm not sure I want to live in a world where kids look up to RBF.
Then the video itself is a production line of Teenage Garage Band lols.
Practice/Combo amps!
The singer is the best example of a 'that guyyyy' that I've seen in quite a while. Yo brah, Saved by the Bell want their look back! Wanted him to be more of a douche but even so.
You can't see the drummer properly thanks to that guyyyy
Dem chorus vox..jello biafra much?
Dat solo...
Those hilarrriiious sunglasses..
The fact that the bassist wears regular glasses. OMGoth. I feel your pain dude. But on the plus side when you look back on this you'll look slightly less like a douchebag.
Lettuce be srs though, I'd be delighted to have access to a brass section and 6 other dudes who know MC Lars now, nevermind in my teens. And they get cheers at the end so maybe they won't get beat up, and some of them might even get the girl.
Anyone who knows me knows my penchant for sing-song rap songs by
female pop stars who desperately want you to believe they are bad role
models (via ke$ha and Millionaires) and my early teenage musical taste
that included rap metal like RATM and Limp Bizkit.
The more infuriating the sing-song rap is to tr00 music fans the
better and therefore I’m loving the new Ting Tings single. For now.
Until I end up hearing it too often and fly into a musical snob rage
of self righteousness, lock myself into my room, blaring Between
the Buried and Me (what happened to them actually?), shouting at people in my estate that the music industry is dead and generally hating the craic.
I haven't actually watched this video but anyway..Hang it up by the Ting Tings. Oh and aparently there's a sample of Smells Like Teens Spirit in the riff. Haters gonna hate.
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?
