New albums from The Almost, Say Anything today

[ImmortalSix]

I wrote them up in my blog that no one reads, but these albums are good enough to get individual mention.

From TLA:

First up is an album I'm really excited about. The Almost is a band a lot like the original Foo Fighters --- a pop rock outfit with all songs written by and every instrument played by the savage drummer from another well known heavy band. Aaron Gillespie, if you don't know him already, is the badass drummer, clean vocalist, and principal songwriter for the ha-mazing melodic hardcore band, Underoath. Below you can see what an artful songwriter and capable vocalist he is. Don't be fooled, though, most of Underoath's music is more like this. The drums on the song I just linked in the previous sentence have resulted in numerous near-car-crashes for me, as I can't refrain from air-drumming. This applies to almost every Underoath song, so if you see me on the road and you hear Underoath, pull over and call the police.

Video: Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear

The amazing part is how The Almost is so unlike Underoath. Aaron notes, “As much as I love what I do in that band [Underoath], there are songs in me and music that I enjoy just as much that comes from melody."
I like Aaron Gillespie, Underoath, and The Almost so much that I'm going to come off pushy if I go any further. Dive into YouTube and hit some Underoath and The Almost videos.

Start with this undeniably Foo Fighters-meets-90's-radio-single track from their (his?) upcoming "Monster Monster," and dive back to their Billboard #7, "Say this Sooner"

[ImmortalSix]

From TLA:

Video: I Hate Everyone



There's a new "Say Anything" album coming out on November 3rd. If you're not familiar with the band, let me describe them to you a little bit:

They are led by Max Bemis, who sings a very clever and snappy stream of consciousness, telling what is apparently everything he feels. I'm not talking minutiae here, more not filtering everything to see if it's going to sound politically correct or cool. He just tells you what's up. The sincerity and candidity will draw you near immediately. There's a wit that's always present that gives you the feeling you get when you're talking to the person that you know gets all your jokes.

He's backed by a band that magically kicks out music that has all the pop and punk and indie and alt hooks you've ever heard, blended and on tap.Every song they write has something, at least one thing, that will play over in your head all day long --- whether it's a progression interval that you can't get out of your mind, a drum part that hooks you, or one of the many guest vocalists they sneak in on you - The singers from Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, The Starting Line, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, Underoath, The Almost, Hot Rod Circuit, Saosin, and Circa Survive all appeared on their appropriately titled 2007 "In Defense of the Genre," and that's not even a complete list. Seriously.

Anyways, the thing about this band is that the candid nature of it is off-putting to a lot of people. They're not singing about balls and weiners or anything, but with lyrics like "My people were slaves before yours invented hip-hop," (the lead singer is Jewish) I can understand how some folks would feel a little uncomfortable cranking it with the windows down.

It's got a little juvenile / punk edge to it, but I don't listen to music to show the world how classy and grown I am. You definitely won't be in the mood for this band all the time.

Anyways, cruise YouTube, buy their album, etc. They are definitely something refreshingly different.

Recommended listening: Alive With The Glory of Love (about the Holocaust), No Soul, which has a super-glue hip-hop chop in the chorus, Belt, and the self-aware / mocking Admit It!!!