It seems as though all the really passionate artists are breaking up nowadays doesn’t it? After having been together for about seven years, Lydia (2003–present), has finally announced that they will be disbanding. Perhaps this was brought about sooner than intended by the departure of vocalist and keyboard player Mindy White. Or maybe this break up was in the works even before then, but Lydia has announced that after a fairly lengthy tour towards the end of this summer, they’ll no longer be together. Last week Lydia posted a note on Myspace officially announcing their future break up; this note was posted along with an unmastered version of a new song entitled “We Clean Up So Well”. The Lydia Finale: A Goodbye and Farewell Tour kicks off in July and it’s said that the tour will feature different special guests and performers every night of the tour. The band has also announced that they will be releasing a video for every song on their new album so it seems as though they’re not quite ready to say goodbye just yet and unfortunately, neither are we.

Having released only two full length albums and one self-released EP, Lydia’s existence certainly seemed short lived. In 2005 they released their first album This December; It’s One More and I’m Free and it picked up quite a lot of buzz from surrounding artists. After doing several tours and even doing runs on the Vans Warped Tour and the Zumiez Couch Tour, Lydia released Illuminate in March of 2008. Shortly after, they were slated to play the first annual Bamboozle Roadshow and also the Bamboozle festival itself that same year. Having witnessed their Bamboozle performance firsthand, it can be unquestionably said that Lydia may not have the liveliest performance, especially given the mellow demeanor of their music. However, that’s not to say they didn’t have one of the better performances at the festival that year, for they did, and regardless of whether or not you happen to be a fan of their music, it’s difficult to deny the fact that Lydia are a group of excellent performers.
Late that summer Lydia did a tour with the likes of The Dear Hunter, Eye Alaska and You, Me and Everyone We Know. For the majority of that fall it seemed as though Lydia had suddenly disappeared but out of nowhere, however, Lydia resurfaced and announced that they were to tour with musical aesthetes Copeland.  The group accomplished their first headliner, the Illuminate Yourself Tour, in February of 2009 after releasing a music video for their single “I Woke Up Near The Sea”. Later in 2009 they did a short west coast tour with Straylight Run.  Following that tour, the next time anyone heard of Lydia was this past March when they announced the departure of Mindy White.
So here we are, present day, surrounded by an overwhelming amount of news regarding this supremely talented group. They’ve announced that their new album should be released in June of this year; they’ve announced that they’re saying a final farewell this summer and they’ve announced that although the end is near, it’s not quite here yet. Maybe it’s not quite time for puns just yet but it’s with sincere dismay that I can say that the band I once loved is leaving and they’ll be greatly missed.

Review by Clarisse Hansard

Photos by Ali Carcache

2010 is just getting started with its musical releases and if Four Year Strong’s new LP Enemy of the World is any indication as to the quality of the releases this year, we’re all in for a really good year.  In 2007 Four Year Strong released their second full-length Rise or Die Trying on I Surrender Records. This album not only picked up buzz from both hardcore ‘bros’ and pop-rock fans but also from Decaydance Records and they signed in 2008.  A little over a year after their signing, Four Year Strong have brought you Enemy of the World and this album  is sure to leave you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

“It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now” opens the album with the guitars and drums that everyone’s always loved about Four Year Strong. After FYS released …Explains It All there were plenty of people hesitating as to whether or not the quality of their next release would be as good as Rise Or Die Trying. Anyone who hesitated, including myself, was slapped in the face with this first track. What are some things that stand out to you about Four Year Strong? Is it A:their recurrent use of catchy gang vocals, B: their hilarious song titles, C:  the way the use riffs as hard as A Day To Remember without falling into those same vocal capacities or is it D: a mixture of all of them? If you answered yes to any of these then Enemy of the World is the album for you. Moving on to tracks #2 and #3, the energy just keeps throwing punches and if you thought the titles were good, the lyrics are even better. Track #3, “Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)” is probably a universal song; with lines such as “I’d give this all up for a chance to find my way back to that summer in 2003 when I felt alive… It was the first time I didn’t fall asleep until the sun came up cause we never had enough. It was the first time that we could rush the streets feeling no defeat cause we were ready to ignite the sky. It was the last time that I had the time of my life,” how can you not relate? Everyone’s felt that way before and if they haven’t, they’ve just been inspired by Four Year Strong to go out and make it happen.

“Nineteen With Neck Tatz” opens with signature FYS gang vocals and doesn’t disappoint in its 3:23 run time.  Actually, everything about this song is virtually perfect for Four Year Strong. It incorporates every single aspect that the fans love about them. If I could go through and highlight everything good about this album, I’d surely end up listing every song but instead lets go through some absolutely flawless tracks. Track #6 , “What The Hell Is A Gigawatt?” is instrumentally AND vocally one of the strongest on the entire album . The drums and guitar are overwhelming and lead vocalists Dan and Alan deliver gruff, fast paced vocals then entire duration. “This Body Pays The Bill$” tells the story of a girl who is, according to Four Year Strong, “everything that possibly could go wrong, a lifelong tragedy” and although they maybe want to contend for this title, it must really suck to be this girl right now (much pun intended). Hell, apparently this girl “couldn’t hit a fly if she was standing in a pile of shit”. If I were this girl, under normal circumstances, I would be pissed that they wrote this about me, but considering how outwardly great this song is composed, I would actually be pretty flattered.

The album closes with the title track to the album “Enemy of the World” and it’s probably the perfect outro. Quite frankly, I don’t think Four Year Strong is an enemy of the world. Actually, after the release of this album, the world is probably going to love them. This is a group of strong guys no doubt and I think they know that they have some seriously loyal supporters. “Enemy of the World” opens with “Well if you’re in from the start then we’re in this together. If you’re not then I’ll have to take on this world cause this world can’t take on me.” Whether or not you support Four Year Strong, whether you actually purchase this album, go to their shows or buy their merchandise won’t be the determining factor of Four Year Strong’s future. See, while they really can’t do it without their fans, there will always be someone who will fill your shoes and Four Year Strong has no intention to give up, despite having people who may turn against them or try to bring them down. They may feel like enemies of the world but come on, it’d be a little foolish to believe that anyone has the entire world on their side; and even throughout them feeling this way, they “still put their trust in this world cause this world can’t trust in them.”

Review by Clarisse Hansard

Maika Maile, lead vocalist of There For Tomorrow took some time to talk off from the New Jersey date of their Hit The Lights tour to talk about what he was like in high school, what their future touring plans are and how high strung he thinks people can be.

Introduce yourself and your role in the band.

I’m Maika Maille and I do my best at playing guitar and singing in There For Tomorrow.

What would you say are some of the differences between the EP that your first released and your full length?

Obviously, we’re firm believers that being a person is the best way of being a musician in general so with the first EP, half the songs we wrote, we were sixteen and we were playing them until we were nineteen. With Faster we were 18-19 and we’re twenty now. It’s a couple years ahead; we’re a little more mature. It’s like a soul searching process because it is new to us. We’re talking about relevant things, not talking about like high school break ups and we’re not talking about getting drunk etc. It’s real stuff, I’m not putting down any of that but yeah I think it’s just more growth.

What do you think has been the most memorable part of this tour so far?

Every day is a memory. With Hit the Lights everything is up in the air, funny, light hearted. I’d say Orlando was a great experience.  I mean we’ve been playing Orlando since I was like thirteen so it seemed like they were getting a little bit tired of us but this time around they caught us off guard. There were so many people there, so many people passionately singing lyrics. It was a good time.

What’s something about you that people wouldn’t expect by looking at you?

I think people have definite presumptions that they’ve made. A lot of the bands that we associate with, that we tour with, they think of us kind of as just another come and go band and just another… trying to write hit songs and appeal to little girls. But we don’t try to appeal to little girls or anyone really. We just do our own thing, write what we like, we naturally graduate toward whatever… especially females.  These next few years are really just proving grounds for us.

If you could pick a five band lineup of any bands, dead or alive, which would they be?

I would say [Jimi Hendrix] but he’s not alive. Okay it would be us in the parking lot, Third Eye Blind, Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters and then Rascal Flatts would headline.

Is there anything that you think sets you apart from other bands?

Geez, those crazy girls out there. Jersey people are so high strung. SO HIGH STRUNG. SO HIGH STRUNG.  Anyways, what were you saying? Oh, I don’t know. I guess I could sit here and say we do this, they do that, but I think it’s just that we’ve become comfortable with letting our music speak for us.

Is there an album or artist you can’t stop listening to?

Drake! His mixtape is amazing. I’m really into dub-step music. It’s from the UK and it’s just very bass-heavy club music.

Do you have any future plans for after this tour?

Yeah Mayday Parade is right after this. We’re doing that and then, that’s B-market tour that hits places we don’t usually go to. Sorry, NJ. We’ll be back in February, I would jump the gun and tell you but you’ll know soon enough.

Headliner?

Why would we headline? We’re terrible. Ha. No. Pft.

What do you think is one of the biggest issues in the music industry right now?

Well, I mean, we’ve become very hands on with what happens but I think as of late we’ve gotten to the point where we think we know it all almost and it’s like, alright, where’s the road because I think we should start walking down that one. We’re learning a lot. The music industry changes every day and it’s all about thinking forward and that’s the risky part because you can’t see the future. It’s just kind of seeing down the path and how things are going. There’s a lot to understand but… you don’t really need all the understanding. Like, you don’t have to go to college and read, actually, go to college, but yeah just do your own thing and there’s a lot you could find along the way. Expect to make mistakes.

What were you like in high school?

I was that kid that hung out with everybody. At lunch time I was bouncing everywhere just goofing off. I took school serious in the most not serious manner. Like I just had no drive. Okay one over two equal five over I DON’T CARE. It’s not gonna matter to me because I want to be on stage. I did well in school, trust me. I got accepted to a couple of colleges, I could have done that whole thing but I knew from a very young age what I wanted to do. But I did graduate with an unweighted 3.9. I just didn’t care enough to do well.

What would you classify each of your band members as if they were to all fit into a high school stereotype?

Seriously what the fuck are those girls out there doing? They’re going crazy! Anyways, Chris was like a little skater kid that didn’t really skate. He played drums; he liked music and loved to vandalize things, just a little Blink-182 kid. Then in 12^th grade he started getting into other music.  He went to a private school and he graduated early. Christian… he was the nice, young, innocent, rabbit. Back then he was really exuberant. Jay in high school, I don’t think he took education really seriously. He’s just always, always, always loved music. We would get together at least four times a week and just play shit. I think our main education came at band practice.

How did you all meet?

I knew Chris because we played football together in fourth grade. We starting jamming with Jay and this other kid and they called me because they wanted another guitarist and I stumbled into singing.

What’s your favorite thing about performing?

Just getting… That’s like our one time to show what we can’t show. It’s our one time to be the biggest, most retarded assholes and just get away with it. Not pretentious, rock star, cock sucking assholes. We’re just having a good time and having fun. I just look forward to escaping being a normal person while I’m up there.

Do you have a favorite song to perform live?

No. Not really. It always changes. I like Deathbed. It’s one of the newer songs but other than that there are songs that I look forward to because of crowd reaction but all of our songs come from the heart so it’s hard to favorite one of them. It’s different for the rest of the band but for me, I look at the set as one whole song.

Interview by Clarisse Hansard

Mikey and Dan of Set Your Goals took some time out of the day for an interview while they were on the AP Fall Ball Tour. Read more after the cut

How has the AP tour experience been so far?

Dan: It’s been good, we’ve been playing some really different crowds but it’s been pretty good overall.

What do you aim to bring people with your music lyrically? Does it reflect your morals?

Mikey: Real life stuff. I don’t know, I don’t write the lyrics but that seems to be the overall theme.

For anyone who doesn’t know, who does write the lyrics?

Mikey: Our two singers Matt and Jordan. We have two of them… which is kind of weird.

Dan: A lot of our stuff is mostly geared towards just positivity. Not necessarily overly sappy, obviously but more just living your life.

Mikey: We try to not focus on girl topics.

Dan: Yeah, nothing cheesy. The new album definitely touches on a lot more topics though. There are actually a few specific themes. Like, “Gaia Bleeds” is about the way that human beings are depleting the earth’s resources and we have another song about capital punishment so we kind of got a little more in depth but there’s still a general ‘good times’ idea going on in our lyrics.

When did you decide you wanted to play music professionally?

Mikey: Are we professionals? (laughs)

Dan: About as close as we can get, I guess. We don’t have normal jobs.

Mikey: For me it was when I graduated high school which was in ’05. That’s when we started touring full time because I’m the youngest one so it was hard for me to get away but I got the parental stamp of approval and we’ve been running with it since. That was kind of all of our turning points.

Dan: As far as me, I’ve always wanted to play music ever since I started playing guitar when I was fourteen. I mean as you get older you kind of have to weigh out what you want to do with what you need to do and I actually quit Set Your Goals in 2005 right before they signed to Eulogy Records. I just didn’t feel like I could commit myself to touring full time due to work related issues and not being able hold a steady job at home. Then they asked me to fill in on a couple of tours and I ended up just sticking with it and I rejoined as a permanent member.

Mikey: We took him to Australia his first tour back so it wasn’t so hard for him to say yes.

How do you feel on this tour? Do you feel you fit in considering there are so many different genres?

Mikey: Not at all. It’s just the strangest bill we’ve ever been on. Lucky for us everyone has been really receptive. The shows have been great. It seems like they all keep getting better as we move around the east coast. The crowds been receptive even though we knew coming in we’d be playing crowds that the majority wouldn’t have heard of us and that’s what touring’s all about.

How do you feel about being looped in with both Hardcore and Pop-Punk bands? Where would you place yourself?

Mikey: We’re like one of those chameleon bands. I guess we take influences and listen to all kinds of bands in the spectrum. You pick up our iPods and you’ll be pretty shocked I’m sure.

Dan: I think it really benefits us because it creates that much bigger of a spectrum that we can tour in. If you look at hardcore bands, they pretty much tour with hardcore bands and anytime they try to break out of the hardcore scene, it’s really a struggle for them because it stands out so much.  Trying to get a Metal crowd to be receptive to a Hardcore band isn’t always the easiest thing.  For us it’s like because we have so many influences and because we’ve toured with so many different bands, it’s easier for us to just kind of go with a different flow on every tour. With our last tour it was kind of just all our friends’ bands and before that it was the New Found Glory tour. We’ve toured with Terror, there was Warped Tour.

Mikey: Metro Station was on the Saves the Day tour. We’ve toured with Anti-Flag. We’ve kind of dipped into everything. I’d definitely say we got lucky with that.

What do you love to see at your shows as far as the crowd or the atmosphere?

Mikey: Interaction. Any kind of response from the crowd makes us go off more. The hardest thing for me is when the crowd isn’t responsive and we’re still trying to perform. It never really was about “performing” per say, you know like some bands do. We’ve always, since we’ve started, have just thrived on the crowd interaction. It was vital to our performances.

What song would you say means the most to you to play?

Mikey: I like “Our Ethos” which is the last song on the new record just because I think it encompasses the reasons why I got into music and sonically I think it’s awesome, it’s fun to play, it covers all my bases I guess.

Do you play it on the tour?

Mikey: It’s been in and out of our set list so I’m not sure if we’re playing it tonight. We decide that literally two minutes before we go on stage.

So if you could only play one song live the rest of the tour, would it be that one?

Mikey: Oh well I don’t know if this would be the song that would win people over but it’d definitely be the one I’d have the most fun playing.

Dan: I’d probably stick to an older song because it’s an old standard that people sort of know the words to. That’s a tough one because our set is really dependent on older and newer songs.

Mikey: Yeah we just had our record come out in July so we’re still transitioning with new and old songs because there was a long time gap between our last release and this one. So for us we were kind of burnt out on playing all the old songs but those seemed to be ones the fans enjoyed and knew the words to.

Dan: Yeah we couldn’t just dive right into the new ones.

Mikey: Yeah we always hated that when we’d go to see bands we liked and we’d see them the tour after their latest record came out and it’d be all new songs that you wouldn’t know the words to yet and you’re just like ‘come on…’

What’s your opinion on bands in the industry nowadays that are in this for the wrong reasons?

Mikey: They’re plentiful.

Dan: There’s always going to be somebody in it for the wrong reasons. More often than not though, light tends to shine on those reasons and people kind of find out and they end up just dying. It comes full circle, it really does. If you’re in it for the right reasons, you know, for what you want to do and playing music then you’ll end up lasting.

So would you say that’s the greatest issue with the music industry nowadays? If not, what do you think it is?

Mikey: That you don’t actually need to play your instruments to play a live show and have kids like it. The average music fan doesn’t really know what goes on behind the scenes and the mechanics of it all. If a performer can make it seem like there’s all this going on by just blasting stuff on the PA, it’s just too perfect nowadays. I’m not going to go into specifics…

Dan: It’s the age old debate of substance vs. style and that’s what it all boils down to and I think that’s always going to be an issue in music. There’s going to be bands and musicians that are making it big only because they look good and they sound good and it’s all a load of ear candy but they really don’t have substance. They’re not really saying anything meaningful, like he said they’re not playing their instruments and it’s just a bunch of fluff and this kind of sensationalism that ends up blowing over. You look at bands in the past that made it huge but it’s just sensationalism and  it’s all just an act and they were never really there for anything meaningful at all and anybody who was behind them was probably aware of it and just used them to make a few quick bucks. Once that flame died out they just get pushed aside and some other piece of manufactured nonsense gets put in their place and it just starts all over again. There’s always going to be the kind of off to the side bands and musicians that really focus on playing from the heart for their fans, for the people who care about them and they may not get the limelight as much as some of the poppier, fluffer nutter bands but they’ll end up lasting longer and making more of an impact in the long-run. That’s what I think.

How was the recording experience and working with some of the guest vocalists on your new record?

Mikey: This one was draining. Not the guest vocalists’ part, that was great.

Dan: That was probably the easy part.

Mikey: It was just three years in the making and it got to the point where like, all we’d done for the past three years was tour and we hadn’t written a lot or made a lot of headway into what the next record was going to be so we had to step off the road and just focus on writing. It was really concentrated. Jordan and I, our other singer, were the ones who kind of started the process and then everyone was brought in. There were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of emotions but I feel like the more we put into it, the harder it was to make, the better the outcome. That seems to be the overall consensus, everybody make their own sacrifices in their own way and we got through it and I think we can do it again. It’ll probably be easier this time, especially if we keep the momentum going. We want to just keep writing in our off time and have a record out earlier rather than later, another record. You know, try to survive.

Does having two singers ever pose as an issue?

Mikey: When they run into each other on stage.

Dan: Their chords get tangled.

Mikey: Its cool, I mean it something that people aren’t really used to seeing and you know, having a second voice to do various vocal jobs makes it easier on the other. I guess they can kind off bounce off each other and do each other’s harmonies. It’s double the vocal strength and excitement I guess.  It’s one more person on stage though, that’s the only downfall, when we play smaller stages.  Like last night at Toad’s Place. Usually you’ll have a drum riser with the headlining bands set and then their backline and then everyone kind of lines up in front of them and the opening band plays on the floor. Well last night there was just one stage, no drum riser and they still had two kits on stage and the second kit was almost all the way in the front and we have five other people in that line and everybody was just kind of stationary jumping around. We make it work though.

What are some small bands that you would recommend to listeners?

Mikey: Well we’re trying to think about all sorts of small bands right now that we potentially want to take out on tour next year.

Dan: Title Fight

Mikey: Yeah Title Fight, they’re great. Cruel Hand, Trapped Under Ice, those are a little heavier but they’re great. My brother plays in a band called The Story So Far and I’ve been listening to their new demos a lot lately. They’re all seventeen but they’re pretty talented.

So you’re headlining next year?

Mikey: Yeah at some point we will. In the spring, probably sometime before the summer. Nothing’s finalized yet because we’re looking at a few other tours but there’s your exclusive information for the interview!

So are those your immediate plans for after this tour ends or do you have any plans before that?

Mikey: We’re going to be going to Europe and England like ten days after this tour. We’ll be home for Thanksgiving and then we’re going overseas with Fireworks and Broadway Calls. We’ll be there for two and a half weeks and we’ll have some time off in January and then we’ll be out again on the road and I can’t tell you who with* and then after that… we’re just going to stay on the road as much as possible. [*Set Your Goals will be touring with Motion City Soundtrack and The Swellers early next year.]

Dan: Yeah you’ll be seeing plenty of us on the road.

Mikey: It’s all we do. The only time we’re off is when we need to be writing, demoing or recording. The rest of our time is spent in this thing and on the road playing shows.

Lastly we have a little cliché word association. You have about a second and a half to answer otherwise you’ll get voted off the island… if you catch my drift.

Mikey: Oh man this is dangerous. We have filthy minds. Lay it on us. [Dan] You’ll go first.

Twilight.

Mikey: Whack!

Timon and Pumba.

Both: Awesome.

Cagefighting.

Mikey: Cool.

Dan: Eh…

Slayer.

Both: Awesome!

Neon.

Mikey: Bad!

Dan: No.

Bro.

Both: Never.

Cheeseburger.

Both: Yeah! Road Noms*! [*http//:roadnoms.tumblr.com]

Billy Mays.

Mikey: Dead!

Epilepsy.

Mikey: Sucks.

Clark Kent.

Mikey: Cool! Yeah, he was my childhood idol, there you go.

Interview by Clarisse Hansard

Let’s be honest. Set Your Goals doesn’t really fit into any particular scene. Even their drummer, Mikey Ambrose, will admit that. So why did they make it onto the AP Tour Fall Ball’s bill? This is a question that takes hardly any deliberation. What separates this band from others out there today is the fact that they’ve still managed to keep a message within their songs. Instead of losing their focus and turning towards what the crowd or the public may want, Set Your Goals has taken on a no-one’s-forcing-you-to-listen attitude. Despite this, they’ve picked up a lot of buzz in the recent past. Admittedly, their “genre” isn’t always received well and if you showed up at this year’s AP Fall Ball Tour looking for artists falling along the lines of fellow tour mates The Secret Handshake, you might not want to sit through them; but just give them a shot because they deserve to be heard.

Although they weren’t headlining this year’s Fall Ball Tour, that doesn’t mean that the crowd was any less receptive to Set Your Goals. As a matter of fact, even the band will admit that they’ve gotten a much better response than they expected. There were several points during their performance where it almost felt like the floorboards were going to collapse from so much activity in the crowd. Whether it was from all the jumping or the intensity of the crowds shouting and sing-a-longs is unsure but, for the thirty minutes that Set Your Goals took the stage, no one in the crowd seemed to care about anything else.

Before they even began performing, Set Your Goals let the crowd know that they were in for a good time. Eruption of shouts and laughter came from the crowd as vocalist Matt Wilson danced on stage wearing a formal shirt and tie carrying a blow-up doll in a prom dress. They then proceeded to open with “Summer Jam”, a song that, even if you didn’t experience the particular moments they sing about, makes you feel nostalgic of your previous summers. Their set continued as they played both older songs such as “Mutiny!”, “Echoes” and “Goonies Never Say Die” as well as songs off their new album. It seemed that the atmosphere only became progressively more riled up as they carried on and by the time they reached their final song, the title track off of a previous album, the room almost felt like it was going to burst from excitement. That night there wasn’t a doubt in the world that the crowd wanted to hear more from Set Your Goals. Even if their set was too short, they’d certainly made their mark.

Sometimes people aren’t in the mood to hear sad songs about break ups and mourning. Sometimes those issues become cliché. Hell, they’re almost always cliché and Set Your Goals can appreciate that. So if you’d rather hear songs about something else, songs about being on the road, good times and even songs about capital punishment, then Set Your Goals might just be your saving grace.  This is a band that is truly on your side and something tells me they always will be.

“Because when there is no one there to hear you, the music will listen.
And when there’s no one there to tell, the words will write themselves.”

-          “Our Ethos: A Legacy To Pass On”, Set Your Goals

Feature by Clarisse Hansard

Photos by Ali Carcache

On their second tour after the release of their arguably disappointing album, Nothing Personal, All Time Low has decided to switch things up… well, some things. With their opening acts including The Friday Night Boys, Hey Monday and We the Kings, it seems as if it’s impossible to escape certain bands these days because they all tour in the same, minute circle. This summer All Time Low did a short, two week run with We The Kings and Cartel. Earlier in the year the band also toured with Hey Monday in support of Fall Out Boy, and late last year All Time Low did a string of holiday shows with The Friday Night Boy. It’s becoming tiring.

The Friday Night Boys deserve honorable mention in this lineup for having actually brought something new to the table. With the release of their full length earlier this year, they played a string of new and considerably enjoyable songs that warmed up the crowd nicely. Hey Monday, having been on perhaps three or four tours(including one headliner) with just one album have almost barely changed their set at all. The band has become somewhat of a nag to sit through…unless you’re into that. We The Kings have a somewhat similar dilemma because you really only want to hear aboutJuliet so many times before you’re prepared to gauge your eyes out. Perhaps once their new album, Smile, Kid, comes out, the liveliness of their set will return but until then, they have virtually the same set and appeal that they had on their headlining tour early last year.

Opening with one of the more enjoyable songs off of their latest release, “Lost in Stereo”, All Time Low has thankfully never forgotten how to be a crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately there’s plenty of disappointment in store for the “old school” fans because the only old song they’re going to get is the obvious… “Jasey Rae”.  See now, this is where we have an enormous problem. When even favorites such as “Coffee Shop Soundtrack” and “The Party Scene” don’t make it onto their set, but songs like “Dear Maria” and the almost sickeningly terrible “Too Much” do, it really makes you wonder exactly what the band was thinking. All negativity aside however, their set was fun. After flipping the mood completely and playing “Remembering Sunday” followed by “Therapy”, what came next is something that no one would have expected. The medley that followed was something you would either enjoy, or be disgusted by. The positives of this medley are that it included about thirty seconds of crowd favorites such as “This Is How We Do”, “Coffee Shop Sound Track”, “Let It Roll” and “The Girls a Straight Up Hustler”. The negative aspect to this is that if you were going to this show in hopes of hearing any of these songs, this is probably the last way you’d want to see them performed.

Overall, the night was enjoyable. As usual, regardless of whether or not you liked their choice of songs, it would be difficult to say that you didn’t enjoy All Time Low’s set.Perhaps things will change on their next tour and they’ll play a more diverse stretch of songs. Or maybe they won’t. Perhaps Nothing Personal needs its chance to be in the spotlight and I understand that completely. However, for now let’s hope that All Time Low will jump out of the touring clique that they’ve been a part of because, honestly, if I have to hear about Homecomings or Skyway Avenue one more time, heads will roll.

Review by Clarisse Hansard

Photos by Ali Carcache

Two weeks ago I got the opportunity to sit down with Andy Horst of This Providence on their New Jersey stop of their tour with Cartel and The Summer Set. After the jump, find out about the concept for their new music video, Andy’s dream tour and the prank Jersey Moriarty of Hey Monday pulled on him this past year.

Please introduce yourself and your role in the band.

My name is Andy and I play drums for This Providence.

What do you think sets you apart from other bands out there today?

I guess I want to kind of answer it as what separates us from our scene. I don’t know, I feel like we’re way more of an “indie band” than most of the bands in our scene. Like, I think we definitely have a large respect for music and classical music and I think that definitely comes across. When people meet us they’re like “oh you guys are actually musicians?”

And when you say bands in general, do you mean the bands that you tour with or strictly Fueled by Ramen?

I’d say more like, bands that we tour with and just in general with what’s big right now. A lot of the bands we go on tour with, we might sound similar but I like to think we have a different level of depth… but hopefully not in an arrogant way.

What’s your favorite song to perform live?

Probably ‘Waste Myself’, I think that’s definitely been the band favorite to perform.

What would you say you’re most thankful for?

Most thankful for? My family.

What’s something most people wouldn’t expect about you?

I’m actually a total bookworm.

Really? What are you reading right now?

I’m just finishing Robinson Crusoe. I’ve been reading a lot of classic literature lately. There’s an author named AJ Jacobs who’s an editor for Squire Magazine and also an NPR contributor. He writes these hilarious books. The one I’m reading right now is called The Know It All, and basically he read through an entire encyclopedia from A to Z. It’s just hilarious.

A few England fans are wondering if you have any future touring plans in the UK.

I hope so.  We have nothing set for the UK or Europe but hopefully… We’re crossing our fingers for early next year. It all depends on the right opportunity.

So you posted a picture on your blog the other day about your “artwork”. Is that something you’re serious about or is it just something you call artwork?

No it was totally joking. I really just sat down last night in the green room and drew a cow on the drum head. Sometimes we’ll draw stupid things on drum heads and try to sell them at the merch stand and it worked and I was like ‘yes’!

So is that something you’re considering doing more of are you just going to put it away?

I think I’ll be putting it away. (laughs)

If you could pick any four bands to tour with, dead or alive, broken up or together, which would you choose?

Oh that’s a good one. It’d be Death Cab, easily, Jimmy Eat World, two absolutes, The Beatles is like the obvious answer and I’d say Queen too. It’d be a very mixed tour but it’d be awesome.

What’s an artist or album that you can’t stop listening to right now?

Uh, Thrice, Beggars, it’s their new album and it’s incredible. I listened to it for like three hours on repeat today. It’s just too good both musically and lyrically. It’s awesome, I think it’s my favorite actually which is kind of hard for me to say because I’ve been listening to them since I was like twelve or something. It’s been a long time.

What are some of the simplest things in life that you enjoy?

Food. I love eating, I don’t know. I try to be observant of the world around me. Simple things like leafs and stuff which most people don’t really pay attention to. I love rain which is why I love Seattle. And here it’s pouring rain today. It’s like home!

What’s one of the most embarrassing things ever happened to you? Tour, home, high school, anything.

People have asked me that before and nothing’s really happened to me that’s been that embarrassing.

Well, what about any tour pranks you’ve been victim of?

On the Hey Monday tour that we just did this past June/July, Jersey, their bass player took an entire thing Gold Bond body powder and dumped it on all my drums. We have like a little intro before we play and then we run right on stage and just play right away. So I didn’t have time to look or anything. So I’m up there and I run on stage right away and plug my headphones in and hit my drums and all of a sudden this white smoke goes EVERYWHERE. I was just coughing while playing and it was pretty funny.

Is there anything you can share about the ‘Keeping On Without You’ video? Is there a story behind it?

Yeah we just shot it about two weeks ago. The concept, well, lyrically the song is about losing someone or having someone that you love die. So it’s kind of a heavier song but basically we shot it out in The Salt and the Sea which is east of Palm Springs I believe. It’s out in the middle of the desert and it’s like this really little salty lake, sea thing. There’s dead fish everywhere because they can’t survive anymore and it’s kind of crazy and there’s all these old abandoned buildings. The whole idea is that we’re kind of playing in a memory wasteland. I think the video is going to be ridiculously visually stimulating because there’s a lot going on. The concept is pretty simple though. There are a few characters that come in and out of the video but it should be sweet. We got our second draft back yesterday and we’re already just stoked. I think it’s going to be our best video yet.

When do you think it’s going to come out?

I have no clue. I think hopefully this tour, so probably sometime soon.

Interview By Clarisse Hansard

Without dissuading you, Say Anything’s self titled album isn’t at all what you’d expect. If you’re anything like a lot of people, their long anticipated release is going to be lacking something. If you’re anything like me and your personal favorites fall along the lines of ‘Walk Through Hell’, ‘Into the Night’, ‘I Want to Know Your Plans’ and the almost purely awful ‘All Choked Up’, then you’re probably going to want to see something similar to those on this album. No… sorry, there’s no room for that here. See, if it weren’t for vocalist, Max Bemis’, crude and witty lyricism and gruff vocals, I would have assumed that this album was Cash Cash’s sophomore attempt. Say Anything is no Menorah/Majora nor is it even close to …Is a Real Boy.  Hell, it doesn’t even compare to the arguably disappointing In Defense of the Genre. Truth be told, whether or not you like this album will depend entirely on what kind of person you are. My inner angst-filled teenager that I’ve so long suppressed is raging.

The first track to stand out on this album is the band’s blatant single, ‘Hate Everyone’.  If there’s anything that singer/songwriter, Bemis, deserves hats off for are his continually inventive lyrics. ‘Hate Everyone’ is that first slap in the face that the lyrics of Say Anything give you. See, Max Bemis has grouped you all together and displayed exactly how little he thinks of you, though subtly and subliminally. That’s alright though, because from him, you’re used to it.  Following is ‘Do Better’, which, if judged solely by the instrumentals you would think belonged on the soundtrack for a Sims video game. However, there’s a spark in this song that jumped out at me almost immediately. Apart from the bland and unoriginal chorus, the lyrics to this song are facetious and entertaining. If you happen to be a fan of the show, then you’ll get a good laugh out of the opening lines “Life is not… an episode of Will and Grace, controversial yet mundane, Debra’s messing with your brain”.  ‘Less Cute’ sounds like a rock-infused bonus track for Chicago. In ‘Mara and Me’,  about a minute into the song I could have sworn Sum 41 was playing instead of Say Anything, Max openly bashes Kings of Leon for singing songs about girls while there are “babies with guns beheading their friends…”. The irony is… aren’t most Say Anything songs written about some girl who broke his heart or left him for dead? I smell hypocrisy. The song that deserves the most criticism would most likely be ‘Crush’d’, a sappy ode to current wife, Sherri Dupree. When first released acoustically for Spin magazine, I had incredibly high expectations for this song. Max had warned that it sounded like a Timbaland-produced-song on the album but I didn’t think he was so serious. In fact, I doubt even Timbaland would produce such a terrible song.  ‘Cemetary’ is the closest Say Anything comes to the old material. While it isn’t that raw, gritting-your-teeth type of song that reminds you of ‘Ants In My Pants’ ,it’s still unsettling, in a good way. The eleventh track on this LP, ‘Death for My Birthday’, is unfortunately the last track to stand out even a little bit, for good or bad reasons. The song is cute, in a sick and twisted way of course. It has that disturbing, wry quality that so many people love. The last two songs are bland, perhaps not lyrically, but instrumentally.

Say Anything is not a horrific album, nor is it a wonderful album. After my first full listen, I was disappointed, maybe a little sickened too. Towards the end of my second listen, it had grown on me as I picked up little points here and there that reminded me why I loved this band to begin with. For anyone hoping to finally have that album that would replace …Is A Real Boy, you haven’t found it here. To those of you still hung up on anything prior to Baseball, you might actually hate this album. However, to all of you that can see past that and appreciate this band for what they’ve become, you’ll probably enjoy yourself. See, this album is a growth, certainly. Whether for better or for worse is left entirely up to your interpretation, but remember no one’s forcing you to listen. Being comical, upsetting, bland and… different, Say Anything is bound to have both its high and low points for each listener. If you can take even one thing from this album and say it means something to you, then it’s served its purpose.

Review by Clarisse Hansard

Formed in 2005, The Scene Aesthetic is a two piece group from Washington state formed by Danger Radio frontman, Andrew de Torres, and Eric Bowley. After taking a hiatus in 2007, the band has returned and with their return came a new album and an excellent end of summer tour.

In January of 2005, a band stepped into the scene that made a surprisingly large amount of people rediscover their love for acoustics. The Scene Aesthetic developed a following almost immediately in late 2005 when they posted their first single entitled “Beauty in the Breakdown”. Following the release, in 2006 their debut album, Building Homes from What We’ve Known, hit stores. Their popularity grew immensely to a point that when Andrew de Torres was referenced, it was normally when talking about The Scene Aesthetic rather than his other, more upbeat band, Danger Radio.

In 2007, The Scene Aesthetic released their self-titled, second album compiled mostly of re-recorded tracks from their first album and a few new tracks as well. Following the record release however, in late 2007, the band announced their hiatus because vocalist Eric Bowley was headed to Argentina to do missionary work. During his time there, Andrew focused on his side-project , Danger Radio, and in 2008, released a full length album, Used and Abused.

Good news came for TSA fans in December of 2008 when the band announced via Myspace that Eric had returned from his missionary trip and that they would begin to write and record a new album. On July 14^th, 2009, The Scene Aesthetic released their first record in two years entitled, A Type & A Shadow EP. With their comeback finally underway, it only seemed appropriate that they would tour, which is precisely what they did.

Aptly named The Summer To Remember Tour, TSA has embarked across the east coast after countless pleas from their fans on a tour with The Color Fred (ex-Taking Back Sunday), The Ready Set, Stephen Jerzak and Tyler Brown Williams. Having had an opportunity to attend this tour, it can easily be said that the tour is one that you don’t want to miss. The Scene Aesthetic put on a show that, although the atmosphere is calm, the show itself is vivifying. Their set is made up of both very old and very new songs so that all fans can enjoy, amongst these are “The Alamo Is No Place For Dancing”, a song from their first full length, and “If You’re A Bird”, a brand new song that has yet to be recorded and includes guest vocals from fellow tour-mate, Stephen Jerzak.

It can easily be said that everyone is glad to have TSA back and judging by the size of the crowds being drawn to their performances, they’ve indeed been missed. Having confided in their crowd that they are soon going into the studio to record again, it can definitely be expected that The Scene Aesthetic won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Feature by Clarisse Hansard

7.14.09 – Brandon Wronski, lead vocalist of Eye Alaska talks about his favorite artists, what it was like producing their latest album and what he does on his free time.

Musically, what do you think sets you apart from other bands out there right now?

Well  I think, especially on Genesis Underground we dabble into all types of sounds. You know into Hip-Hop stuff and the more Cinematic Rock type stuff and the R&B stuff. We have some Country influenced songs. We do everything differently, we switch up the style. A lot of people have told us we’re not going to make it because people aren’t going to understand [our music] or because of the different styles we use but I always disagree with them, obviously. I feel like I grew up and the kids around me grew up with iPods and shuffle mode and playlists at the click of a button but I feel like no one really listened to this style of music so we put all the styles on one CD.

How did you pick the name Eye Alaska? Is there a story behind it?

Yeah, ‘to eye alaska’ in the Aleutian language means ‘Look to those that which the sea breaks against.’ The Aleutians were like the original inhabitants of Alaska, the natives.

What are some of the biggest differences between the Yellow and Elephant EP and Genesis Underground?

The Yellow and Elephant EP was basically just me in my room recording in GarageBand, just on my computer. I mean we re-did a couple of things in the studio but mainly it was all GarageBand. On Genesis Underground we got to work with Matt Wallace, our producer, and then I co-produced it. We were able to work in this awesome studio and get some really good sounds. It was an awesome experience and I learned so much just being in the studio. The whole process was just awesome. Matt Wallace would take us to dinner after we were done in the studio for like milkshakes while Cameron and I were in the studio. It was just great.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you have off-time from tour?

I love just kicking it and watching movies. I’m not super… like doing anything crazy. Just relaxing. When we have an off-day it’s awesome. Just sleep in, watch a movie. We went and saw Niagra Falls for a little bit which was cool. We went shopping in New York City with The Cab. We’ve been having slumber parties with The Cab dudes lately so it’s been fun.

You toured with The Dear Hunter last year how was that experience and how was it different from the last two tours since they’re such a different genre?

Damn, that tour was awesome! Everyone on that tour was so sweet and they’re just a really, really great band. I don’t know it was really cool, I felt like we fit in really well on that tour. You know, we’ve done a bunch of tours with a ton of different genres. This one’s’ a lot different than that tour, we were on tour with Lydia right before this but it was awesome. They’re a great band, I love those guys.

What’s an album or artist you can’t stop playing right now?

Drake. I’m a huge Drake fan. All his mix tape stuff is just awesome, I feel like that guys really going to change music for sure.

What’s been the most memorable part of this tour so far?

Most memorable part? Well today we got all of our stuff stolen. We had our van broken into and all the money we made this tour got stolen. So that kind of sucks but everyone’s been really supportive.  I mean, everyone’s been offering to wire us money through PayPal but we can’t accept that so just… buy a CD or a shirt, you know, anything can help us awesomely.

What can we expect for the future of Eye Alaska?

For the future of Eye Alaska, well  I don’t know, I mean hopefully we’ll be able to do big things, have a voice, influence people.

Interview by Clarisse Hansard