Tag Archives: rise against

07.05.12
by

[MUSIC REVIEW] Make Do And Mend – Everything You Ever Loved

MAKE DO AND MEND
Everything You Ever Loved
[Rise Records]
Verdict: 8.5/10
RIYL: Polar Bear Club, Rise Against, Hot Water Music

The first spin of Everything You Ever Loved didn’t grab me really, but that was mainly because of the vocals. When at their smoothest, they feel a bit too low for the music (even though they are, in all fairness, very well done). Luckily, they did grow on me with repeated listens; that, and James likes to go rough with his singing more often than not. It is when he does this that I feel like I’m listening to a more matured version of Polar Bear Club, which is pretty sweet. While Make Do And Men do pick up their speed multiple times on this record, Everything You Ever Loved does feel more even paced than anything. Molding alternative rock, indie punk, and a sprinkle of hardcore, the band produce a sound that is very relaxing and passionate sounding. The instrumental work is all top notch and impressive, and the writing feels very “real” (as in, the band is doing what they want, and not making the kind of songs they think the mainstream crowd wants to hear). Tracks “Disassemble”, “Count”, and “St. Anne” are some of the strongest moments of the album, but Make Do And Mend have collected a very strong track listing here. There’s a lot to love, even if it did take me some time to fall for the vocals. Everything You Ever Loved has certainly grown on me more with every listen, so you bet I’ll keep playing it. – by Nathaniel Lay

>> Classification: Indie Rock/Punk
>> Recommended Tracks: “Blur”, “Disassemble”, “Count”, “St. Anne”, “Royal”, “Lucky”, “Hide Away”
>> In Conclusion: For some reason, I still feel like the clean singing should be a tad higher, but otherwise, Make Do And Mend have a great sound to them. When James gets rougher with his voice, the band brings to mind a blend of Rise Against and Polar Bear Club, which is great. Ultimately, this has a very indie rock vibe to it, so fans of that genre should certainly look into this (while fans of punk will definitely find some strong elements on this record as well).

08.25.11
by

[MUSIC] Polar Bear Club – The View, The Life [REVIEW]

POLAR BEAR CLUB
The View, The Life
[Bridge Nine Records]
Verdict: 9/10

In preparation of their upcoming new full length, POLAR BEAR CLUB did fans a great favor by releasing this 7” to hold us over. The View, The Life is composed of three tracks: “Killin’ It”, a track that features an excellent bridge about two minutes in – “Screams In Caves”, which opens gradually, keeping a pretty steady pace throughout, and leading into one of the best sequences POLAR BEAR CLUB has written – and “Close Knit”, an anthem that plays out like a gathering (which is fitting, considering this 7” is preparing you for the upcoming LP). As a whole, these three tracks are all fairly light in sound. There aren’t really any angry or “heavy” moments, which may lead some listeners to compare this release to later RISE AGAINST material. Nonetheless, The View, The Life is an excellent 7” that serves its purpose in getting fans pumped for the full length. Whether you’re new to the band or not, this tease should easily get you excited for what’s coming next. – by Nathaniel Lay

Second Opinion

Verdict: 7.5/10

Rochester, N.Y. natives POLAR BEAR CLUB have released their latest 7″, The View. The Life. The three-song EP is a precursor to PBC’s full-length Clash Battle Guilt Pride,  due out in September. The album is short and sweet and a great little teaser for the band’s fans. The View. The Life opens with ‘Killing It’, a track filled with plenty of sing-along oh-oh’s and heavy base lines. I can’t help but hear similarities between PBC and bands like THRICE – and that’s not a bad thing. This release is heavy without being in your face. There are no breakdowns or violent vocals, but it is a nice change in the genre. It’s a solid release with nice, tight production work, and this should hold over fans for a few more weeks until the full length is released. This is a band worth checking out and adding to your music library if you are looking for something hard but not generic.
-by Jonathan Adams

Third Opinion

Verdict: 9.5/10

I have to admit, I’ve never really been a POLAR BEAR CLUB fan, even though they’re basically a local band for me. Their hometown is about 40 minutes from my home, which sounds far, but in upstate NY it’s basically right across the street. For some reason, their previous material just never really appealed to me, despite the fact that they’ve experienced some critical acclaim, and that they play a variant of some of my favorite genres. However, with their new EP, The View, The Life, they’ve succeeded in reversing my previous point of view, and have even created anticipation for their upcoming full-length. The songs here are excellent, with the throaty vocals dominating, and solid pop-punk/hardcore guitars and drums pounding. The music isn’t too heavy, but has a nice balance of head-banging and mellowness. “Killin’ It” has some interesting guitar lines, and takes some unexpected turns melodically, which is always a good choice. “Screams in Caves” is a bit more on the mellow side, and again POLAR BEAR CLUB has created something interesting and different here. The EP closes with “Close Knit” which is a fantastic pop-punk song. The music and vocals work well together to pull the listener in, and you really can’t help but nod your head along to the sounds. The EP, which is only three songs, is far too short. But therein lays its purpose; to leave you wanting more. All that can be said is that The View, The Life is an unwavering success. -by Trevor Kirch

03.20.11
by

[REVIEW] Rise Against – Endgame

RISE AGAINST
Endgame
[DGC/Interscope]
Verdict: 7/10
Buy @ Amazon

Rise Against are one of those bands you can always depend on to sound like something you already know; safe and familiar radio-friendly three-minute punk rock anthems. Sure, they write politically relevant, heart-felt, emotionally charged lyrics. Sure, they rock their live shows and, sure, they’re currently one of the best bands at what they do, but haven’t we already heard a million Orange County hardcore bands from Bad Religion to The Offspring do this before? You’d think that a successful band that’s been around for as long as Chicago-based Rise Against (Endgame is their sixth album) would have evolved in some way by now. Love them or hate them, even The Ramones, a band notorious for using the same three chords and two drum beats on almost every song, broke their own “if you’ve heard one song, you’ve heard ‘em all” cookie-cutter mold on Mondo Bizarro. Regardless of their musicality, The Ramones were at least fun. Rise Against are serious as hell, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’d be nice to catch a whiff of humor, light heartedness, or vulnerability here or there. Yeah, yeah, hardcore bands aren’t supposed to be funny or quirky, I know. But that’s just it. If you’re looking for something sonically new from Rise Against, Endgame is not it.

Rise Against’s sound on Endgame is obviously not my thing but I’m pushing this album one point up from “stream it” to the “download it” category solely because the lyrics–intelligent commentary on the Bush administration’s negligence during Hurricane Katrina, America’s war-for-oil quagmire, September 11th, and the usual emo-esque tirades about dysfunctional families–are subjects that, in a music landscape littered with Lady Gagas and Justin Beibers, still deserve to be heard by mainstream American audiences. However, if I was really interested in filling my head with more anarchist political ideology, I’d read Noam Chomsky or Howard Zinn while listening to Crass instead of settling for this. For what it’s worth, the music is not bad by any means. “Disparity By Design” breaks your neck like a NASCAR at the starting line and races to the checkered flag with nary a pit stop. The musicianship and production are everything you’d expect from a mainstream rock band, but it’s just not something that will get plays on my iTunes. This is treaded ground that I’m sure will be tread again as long as there are angry kids with guitars and political/economic tragedies going on in third-world countries to rant about. In some vague ways, Endgame is a concept album about how Americans cope in times of crises, but for all it’s merit, it’s another album that may as well have been titled “Variations On A Theme.” — by Nick Garrett

03.10.11
by

[NEWS BITS] Rise Against, Balance And Composure, DRUGS…

- Check out a Track By Track discussion of the new Color Morale album at Altpress

- May 14th will be the reunion show of Fairweather as they celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their first release. It will be held at the Black Cat in Washington DC.

- Balance And Composure will be releasing their full length, Separation, on May 10th.

- D.R.U.G.S. is one of the latest additions to this year’s Warped Tour lineup.

- Bad Brains have new material scheduled to release this summer via Megaforce Records.

- Rise Against will stream a live performance from London on March 16th. You can catch the video at 9:10 AM GMT via the band’s official website.

09.30.10
by

October Release Schedule


Abandon All Ships – Geeving (10/5)
All That Remains – For We Are Many (10/12)
Atlantic/Pacific – Meet Your New Love (10/26)
Bad Books – Bad Books (10/19)
Bring Me The Horizon – There Is A Hell… (10/5)
Chiodos – Illuminaudio (10/5)
The Gay Blades – Savages (10/5)
Madball – Empire (10/12)
Middle Class Rut – No Name No Color (10/5)
Motionless In White – Creatures (10/12)
None More Black – Icons (10/26)
Pour Habit – TBA (10/12)
Rise Against – Another Station:Another Mile DVD (10/5)
Senses Fail – The Fire (10/26)
Ten After Two – If You Don’t First (10/19)
Trust Company – Dreaming In Black And White (10/12)
Vanna – The Honest Hearts (10/12)
Your Demise – The Kids We Used To Be (10/26)