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T3M ALBUM REVIEW: MODERN BASEBALL - HOLY GHOST

Modern Baseball is a band that has been close to my heart for years now. On purely a creative level, they have inspired me in more ways than I can count. They have an established sound that is unlike anything else, and I think that’s a major reason they have just sort of stuck to me. I can only describe my connection to them like one of those rubber toy dudes, that you throw onto the wall and watch him slowly creep down towards the floor, except mine got caught in the ceiling fan, and is constantly spinning like an astronaut in training. They are a band that I can honestly say have been interesting since their first couple of releases, and they have steadily matured up to their most recent release, “Holy Ghost.”

“Holy Ghost” dives into personal and deep recollections of both Jake Ewald, and Brendan Lukens’ past, while maintaining an upbeat lightheartedness at points, which might seem like a contradiction, but it’s fitting considering the band’s earlier work. An interesting aspect of the album is the fact that both Lukens and Ewald wrote their own “half” of the record, because it splits the album down the middle into two very different, but unified sides.

The opening track, entitled “Holy Ghost,” (fitting I know), is a very raw sounding acoustic track, in which Ewald reflects upon the “holy ghost,” which is hovering over him, almost like a guardian angel keeping tabs on him as he is “passed out on the floor.” With my favorite lyric,“yeah my first wish, has always been three more,” feedback begins leaking into the background, and tensions rise just a little bit. The end continues the feedback from before, and at the climax, the next track kicks in, “Wedding Singer,” and oh man it’s a banger.

“Wedding Singer,” is drastically faster and more upbeat than the intro track, and it’s sort of a relief after the tension that built up from the previous track. The lead guitar line is incredibly memorable and I find myself humming it when I’m trying to sleep; It keeps me up all night. Jake’s vocals blend incredibly well with the guitars, and as the song gets a bit heavier, the higher register vocals underneath the lower ones sound really nice. There is a grittiness to the vocals which I haven’t really heard too much from Mobo in the past that brings the band into a new, more aggressive direction, which is really awesome.

From here, there is a really solid balance of more-so technical songs, and more “strummy,” and punkier songs. Just as you start easing into one mood, you are thrown around into 7 different others based on tone alone.  This balance is seen in the beginning couple of tracks, “Note To Self,” which has a a strong “no bullshit” vibe, with lyrics such as “you ate the words that you use to say, there will be no more fucking around today,” and “Everyday,” which is a lot chiller as far as guitar parts and lyrics go.

Lukens begins his “half,” with  “Breathing In Stereo,” and once again there is a sense of relief, after all of the tension built up from past songs. His vocals are piercing compared to Ewald’s, and for me this signified a new, and reuniting change for the album’s tone as a whole. The drum fill at the beginning of “Breathing In Stereo,” reminds me a lot of Phone Tag (It’s Cold Out Here,) and it for a split second brought me back just a tiny bit to their earlier stuff. “Apple Cider, I don’t mind” gives me a real Killers vibe, which is no surprise to me, considering the band’s frequent covering of some of their songs. Lukens’ voice is incredibly emotional, yet strong, and at points it truly gave me goosebumps. This tone carries on into “Just another face,” which for me was an incredibly emotional track. There is an overall self deprecating tone towards the beginning of the song, but at the chorus there is an incredibly uplifting change of tone with “I’m not just another face.”  It is almost anthem like, and I can picture a crowded room full of people screaming this at the top of their lungs already.

Overall Ewald’s songs are incredibly reminiscent of past work as far as structure goes, but in general they take a much darker turn than said past work, but in a good way. From the first previews of the album I had this impression, especially with the preview video they put out with the title track. The emotions were almost too much for me, and closeups of tears running down faces and screaming when recording really made me gulp a little because I knew that what would come from them would probably be one of their most emotional and impactful albums to date. Luken’s songs also carry similar qualities of past work, but it veers off to a whole new sound.

Sonically, the album sounds a ton different than previously recorded work. There is a warmness to “Holy Ghost” that is lacking in previous albums, and it’s not to say the previous ones don’t carry the same mentality, but it’s certainly a noticeable difference. This is definitely a result of the band’s decision to work with Joe Reinhart, whose previously recorded work includes bands such as High Tide Hotel, and Algernon Cadwallader. Reinhart certainly has a particular sound in mind for his work that pairs incredibly well with Modern Baseball, and I honestly feel like he’s someone they could, and should work with again, because it really is a solid sounding record.

Overall the album progressed severely both musically and emotionally. Emotionally, the band was a lot more open with the reasoning behind some of their songwriting, and even despite the release of their mini documentary, which revealed a lot about Lukens’ struggles with depression, and how his friends and family aided him to a road of recovery, these struggle are more obvious than past songs, and less coated in metaphor.

For me, the album came to me at a perfect time. While most of these thoughts are coming quite a bit of time after the release date, they are thoughts which I feel have remained the same, and will continue to remain the same for quite some time. “Holy Ghost” often provokes pensive moods out of me, which as a 20 year old who soon needs to figure out what to do with life, is greatly appreciated. As I have been with all of their albums, I am really curious to see what comes next from them. Whatever it may be, I know they will carry along the same energy and dedication that they did with this album, and for that reason they are the first band that I have truly just wanted to see kick ass for as long as possible, and at this point, they are past kicking ass, and are moving to mortal kombat “finish him” status.

Rating - 9/10

Favorite track: Wedding Singer

Written by Ryan Bartlett (@RyanBartlett12)

[tablethreemedia]

T3M ALBUM REVIEW: TINY MOVING PARTS - CELEBRATE

Tiny Moving Parts is one of those bands that I can consistently listen to and never get tired of. They just make me happy, and the energy they exuberate is done in such a way that it instantly picks my spirits up. With their newest release, “Celebrate,”  I reflected on the clever lyrics, twinkly, unbelievable guitar parts, solid, often complex drums, and powerful bass tones that were developed so craftily in their previous releases, and was instantly excited for what would come next. While the album certainly takes their music in a slightly different, more distorted direction, the same energy is carried from past releases and for me, it puts a goofy smile on my face.

The opening track, “Good Enough,” starts with exactly what I wanted. A sliding, open tuned, delicate guitar part, followed by a massive meeting of the rest of the band after Dylan Mattheisen, the band’s outgoing guitarist and singer belts, “Nothing’s ever good enough.” Off the bat the album seems more melodic than past releases, and this is apparent in Matthiessen's vocals, which are a tad less screamy than they normally are. In addition to the album being more melodic, the guitar and bass parts seem to be more distorted than normal, which is definitely an interesting change which gives the album a fuller sound. There are also breaks in “Good Enough” which are really tight and I relistened to them a couple times and marveled at the technical aspects of playing them. Another part which I relistened to a lot was the use of delay in “Breathe deep,” because it was just super unique and sick.

There are some moments of songs, such as in “Birdhouse” where the vocal play between Mattheisen and Matthew Chevalier, the band’s bassist and backup vocalist,  really get into the gritty, screamy side of things, and it balances well with the melodies and harmonies which are heard in other tracks. The instrumentation of this song almost reminds me of the Fall Of Troy, just with less references to intergalactic space and time, and blood curdling screams.

The guitar parts in “Stay Warm,” are tuned a lot lower than I am use to hearing from them. They are still just as technical, twinkly, and tappy as normal, but the tuning allows the lower register, distorted, strumming as well. The change of direction explained above is definitely seen in “Common Cold,” and I would even go as far as saying this song could be considered more punk-y than normal, while simultaneously remaining true to the band’s past work. There is also a guest appearance by Connor Murphy of Foxing in this song which is really freaking cool. Mattheisen and Murphy’s voices blend well together and it’s a fitting addition to the song.

Lyrically, Mattheisen  dives into themes of hopefulness, struggling to feel accepted, and hesitance to move on. One of my favorite lines from the album comes from “Minnesota,“ “I will try not to self destruct myself with recurring dreams.” It also appears the Mattheisen alludes to past work as a metaphor for the past in general, in  “Headache,” with the line, “ This couch is not as long as I remembered.” While I don’t want to assume, I like to think this line was referring to their past album “This Couch is Long & Full of Friendship.”

Overall, I am really happy with where Tiny Moving Parts took “Celebrate.”  It is just the right amount of different from past releases, and it truly shows the direction of their maturation. The one aspect which I would say is a slight flaw of the album is the way some lyrics are delivered.  It seems like some phrases are hard to squeeze in, and they can come across as rushed at times. Despite this, the album as a whole is really great, and I know for a fact that when I get a CD, it will be the new resident album in my car, just like “Pleasant Living” is right now. I can’t wait to see them live again so I can hear how the new songs fit into their set, but more importantly, Dylan’s incredible stage presence, Billy’s incredible mustache and drumming, and Matthew’s incredible red jaguar bass.  

Favorite track: Birdhouse/Breathe Deep (super close tie)

Rating: 9/10

Written by Ryan Bartlett (@RyanBartlett12)

[tablethreemedia]

T3M ALBUM REVIEW: LONER CHIC - YEAR OF THE GOTH

Nestled in the corners of Connecticut’s underground lies Loner Chic, an aptly named band that’s managed to not only cement the framework of power pop into a 10-track record with instrumentation that isn’t afraid to stray from the drum, guitar and bass standard, but also infuses effortlessly-cool sardonic jabs at both the antagonists in the lyricists story, as well as himself. This story being one of coming of age; making mistakes, and hopefully, growing from them.

We have all been 15. For 98% of us, this is the ballpark in which we first found love--or what we thought was--unrequited or not. The uncertainty, the emotional unfamiliarity, the late nights of  AIM, AOL, MySpace (or for those who had it, BBM) fueled our lust, took our fragile hearts, and for lack of a better term, stomped on them with the Vans, Chuck Taylors or Docs of our young, now ex-lovers. Maybe this prompted you to watch Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind for the first time and sparked a desire to pack up all you bags and head to Monatuk, void of all responsibility. Possibly even pick up a guitar. Though now adults bearing the ability of self-reflection, the first track, (“Emo Phillips Revenge”) condenses the latter aspiration into a palpable, just under 3-minute track.

“I wrote some songs / I turn the tape-deck on / and I strum away my pain for everyone”

This, of course, setting the tone for the remainder of Year of The Goth. With fairly stripped down instrumentation (sans a trumpet in the later half of (“All Natural”) and spats of strings coincided with the occasional Organ), and most of the tracks hardly breaking the barrier of 150BPM, it becomes clear to the listener that the most prominent feature of the LP is not the music, rather, lyrics themselves. There is no flash, or self-glorified pizzaz, and yet, vocalist Chris Cappello is able convey a narrative following the limbo of adolescence.

Most importantly, possibly the greatest characteristic of this release is the brutal, albeit, harsh honesty. In (“All Natural”) Cappello sings out, illustrating nothing short of the reason why all of us who’ve chosen to be involved in independent music continue to be, despite being given dozens of reasons to not.

“There’s a small potential greatness / Concentrated in this basement / A small potential for something transcendent / Something that won’t make us all want to end it.”

What would a memorable record be without a heavy-hearted track about a love interest? Hardly one worth calling, Year of The Goth. Providing proof of that notion is, (“Childhood Bedroom”), a 5-minute mini-ballad containing what other than the yearning experienced in a relationship with feasible potential, with easter eggs of references that would couple this lust, like The Lemonheads and Rilo Kiley’s, Silver Linings. As for other reference to be found, the ever-popular Drake and Nothing Was The Same is a noteworthy mention before the eventual finish line that is (“Day Drunk At Gates of Hell.”) Of course, only making this more relatable, being that mix-tapes have been a staple in almost all subgenres and the relationships they spur.

While some of us were plagued with acne brought on by our body's internal hormonal pubescent clock, others scraped by with internal nervousness that stood as an incessant reminder that everything that leaves your mouth could leave lifelong scarring emotional memories like the kid who accidentally called their teacher, "Mom.” Though all of our levels of teen-aged dreariness vary, for most of us, regardless of highschool stature of coolness--or lackthereof, all became a little similar: We were all heartbroken. We all experienced our year; the year of the goth.

Rating: 9/10

Favorite Track: All Natural

Listen/Purchase here!

Written by Emily Balcerak (@emilybalcerak)

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