Review: A Lot Like Birds - No Place

Trying to describe this album is… difficult. It is certainly different, unique and captures you almost immediately. An eerie album, filled with an entire mix of strange, technical weirdness, it grabs you almost immediately. Something that you must be open-minded about when listening to it as things do get very weird.

Not that it is a bad thing, in fact, it is the opposite. It is something beautiful and different, an album that will stick out to you, striking and intriguing, an entirely different sound, one that has never been explored before hand. It is going to be difficult to explain this album but, here goes.

It starts on the opening track, ‘In Trances’. From the offset, the strange, eerie feel of this album is established. This opener does actually feel like you’re in a trance too, making this all the more strange. Imagine taking acid, now imagine that feeling without actually taking any form of recreational drugs. Yeah, that is what you get from this. The album moves into the track ‘No Nature’ which is even stranger than the previous track. It’s like Punk, Post-Hardcore and System Of A Down has been thrown together to create a weird, technical blend of experimental post-punk metal. Well, at least that is how I can explain it.

However, although strange, this album has a unique beauty about it. It intrigues you and outstands you, both at the same time. The album makes great use of rock and metal, infusing rock riffs, technical bass and guitar with odd drumming and a perfect blend between hardcore punk vocals and intriguing rock vocals.

Each track is different, getting more and more unique and eerie, whilst maintaining its haunting beauty that lasts throughout the album. Tracks such as ‘Next To Ungodliness’, Connector’ and ‘Kuroi Ledge’ are stand outs here, tracks that are so mesmerizing that you have no idea what to think about them. The closing track, ‘Shaking of the Frame’, serves the album justice, being just as creepy and yet still just as effective as its predecessor tracks.

This album is so mind-bending, you have no idea how to approach it. It’s like an anomaly has entered your mind, like a whole new entity has just taken over your body. It is creepy but yet beautiful. Well-crafted and put together, it is something to truly behold and to be astonished by. Mixed so well, making sure that it maintains its beauty and eeriness whilst being careful to make sure you can hear every little detail that is going on, it amazes you, triggering every sense in your body. It has a profound effect on you, something you can’t describe. But yet you love it
for being what it is. It is unique.

I already stated I had no idea how to explain this album, nothing can help do it justice. With all its creepy, technical, up-beat beauty, it grips you and doesn’t loosen its grip on you until it is finished. This is an album that will make you feel so many things. Angry, happy, confused, maybe even uneasy. But that is the beauty of it. It feels like a huge daydream, an endless trance, but in music form. Take your time to listen to it, you’ll somehow find something to love about this.

It’s worth the listen for its beauty alone but also based on the effect it has on you and on how much care and thought has been put into such an astonishing album. Listen and make up your own mind. It’s all I can say because everyone will feel something differently about this album. A stand-out of the year, something that will stay with me for a while. Just eerily beautiful and I love it.

9.5/10

- Asa

Review: Dance Gavin Dance - Acceptance Speech

Dance Gavin Dance’s new record “Acceptance Speech” has proven itself to stand solid in place with the rest of this band’s discography.

Editor’s Note: Fixed the egregious error about Jonny Craig being the singer.

Although the album doesn’t do much to stand out from the band’s past work, this is the perfect collection to listen to if you are a new fan. “Acceptance Speech” captures the band’s high energy atmosphere and very high-pitched singing melodies that make up Dance Gavin Dance’s style that launched them to popularity. For old fans, this album doesn’t bring much of anything new to the table, but will be a satisfying listen to hear the most updated set of the band’s sound.

“Acceptance Speech” starts off fast and energetic, sets the tone by sporting the impressive vocal skill of Tilian Pearson. This album touches on a few other genres other than it’s own, featuring a rap segment and heavy electronic effects. In addition to these positive aspects of the album, the band represents their ability to create an album that captivates a post-hardcore sound. Each song more compelling than the next, Dance Gavin Dance delivers a fluid album that shows the mastery of their sound. From their nearly feminine sounding vocal support, to the metal-core fundamentals, this band has proven once again that they can represent their genre fully.

This newest release is a blessing and a curse. Although this album fits perfectly in line with the band’s direction, sound, and style, it fits a bit too well. Dance Gavin Dance seemed to play it safe with “Acceptance Speech” sticking very closely to the vibes of their earlier releases. To add on to the redundancy, many of the vocal techniques are repeated throughout the album. Towards the end of the album, many dynamics and vocal melodies start to sound very similar to those in the other songs. There is a line between fluidity and repitition and this album walks that line very closely at some points.

For first time listeners, this is a great album to represent the sound of Dance Gavin Dance. To long time followers, some might find “Acceptance Speech” as a disappointment. Although the band holds up to it’s sound, this album isn’t much of a refreshment for old fans to dive in to. But, with such selective cons, this overall fluidity and originality overpower the blandness of the album. Definitely a good choice if you are looking to spice up your play list!

Rating: 7.5/10

-Nic

A Lot Like Birds Announce New Record, No Place

Sacramento, CA’s A Lot Like Birds will release their new full-length album, and Equal Vision Records’ debut - No Place, on October 29.

The dynamic ten track album takes listeners on an eerie roller coaster of beautiful chaos, with arching cinematic interludes laced between destructive gut-wrenching, chill-inducing masterpieces. The complex construction of No Place sets one into a mesmerizing world of darkness and dread led by urgency, intensity and fear.

Track Listing
01) In Trances
02) No Nature
03) No Nurture
04) Next to Ungodliness
05) Connector
06) Myth of Lasting Sympathy
07) Hand Over Mouth, Over and Over
08) Kuroi Ledge
09) Recluse
10) Shaking of the Frame

Lions Lions Announce "The Road to South By So What Tour"

Boston’s Post-Hardcore Lions Lions will hit the road next month for a full headlining tour kicking off October 4 in Rochester, NY.  The tour is being called “The Road to South By So What Tour” and will feature A Lot Like Birds, who will join the tour from 10/11 to 10/26. Indirections will be on the entire tour and Anchorlines will join from 10/27 to 11/3.  Check out the full list of dates… 

THE ROAD TO SOUTH BY SO WHAT TOUR:

10.4.13     The Waiting Room    Rochester, NY
10.5.13     The Pike Room     Pontiac, MI
10.6.13     The Basement     Columbus, OH
10.8.13     The Hoosier Dome    Indianapolis, IN
10.9.13     The Nether Bar     Minneapolis, MI
10.11.13    Black Sheep     Colorado Springs, CO
10.12.13   Marquis Theatre    Denver, CO
10.14.13    Backspace Café     Portland, OR
10.15.13    The Center     Spokane, WA
10.16.13    El Corazon     Seattle, WA
10.18.13    The Boardwalk     Sacramento, CA
10.20.13    Chain Reaction     Anaheim, CA
10.21.13    The Underground    Phoenix, AZ
10.24.13    White Rabbit     San Antonio, TX
10.26.13    Quiktrip Park     Grand Prairie, TX
10.30.13    The Backstreet Café    Roanoke, VA
10.31.13    Kingdom     Richmond, VA
11.01.13    Stanhope House    Stanhope, NJ
11.02.13    Radiant     Nutley, NJ
11.03.13    Tobacco Road     New York, NY