Fake Your Death

One more post today. My Chemical Romance released their greatest hits compilation, May Death Never Stop You, earlier this week. This is the first track on the album. It was one of the last songs the band recorded together, presumably some time in 2012. Last week, it had been a year since My Chem called it quits and, I hope I won't sound overly melodramatic, left a void that cannot be filled. Fake Your Death is their eulogy.

FUCKMYLIFE666

Ha, it's been a long time since I posted something from vimeo. Against Me!'s latest album is without a doubt one of the highlights of early 2014. Here's a brand new music video for the song FUCKMYLIFE666. Thoughts?

I Hope You Suffer

AFI will release their ninth studio album, which is titles Burials, on October 22. Considering Sing the Sorrow is still one of the best pop punk albums ever released and that I've spent substantial amount of time with each of their subsequent efforts, I'm quite looking forward to this, even though the new song is far from their best. Watch the lyric video below. It's hard to imagine now, seven years later, that a record like Decemberunderground would top the Billboard album chart...

Pure Love: Anthems

The english hardcore band Gallows have never been exactly my cup of tea, so when their frontman Frank Carter left the band and formed a new outfit called Pure Love, I didn't pay much attention. Until now. Pure Love's new album, which is currently slated for a February release, is being streamed in its entirety over here. And it's rather awesome and completely different from what I expected. Be sure to check it out.

Conventional Weapons

Well, for any fan of My Chemical Romance it shouldn't come as a surprise, that after The Black Parade and before recording Danger Days, the band had made and subsequently scrapped a whole another album. Only a few songs from that album eventually made their way on Danger Days, while the rest stayed locked in the drawer. Fans, such as myself, have long been anxiously waiting to hear them one day. And that day has finally come...

The original letter from the band's guitarist, Frank Iero, describing the circumstances upon which the album was ditched can be read here. In the following five months, the band will release two songs each month and I honestly can't wait to hear the rest.

The two songs released so far are in the vein of My Chem's cover of Dylan's Desolation Row for the Watchmen soundtrack. It's pretty much straightforward rock'n'roll and I can't help but to enjoy it. As for this day, I just hope My Chem are far from over and keep releasing great albums. They never fail to blow me away.

Handwritten

The brightest and shiniest moment in the band's career is also their biggest setback. The Gaslight Anthem have already released their best album and I don't see how anything they'll ever produce in the future could top The 59' Sound. With that being said, Handwritten is, of course, a great piece of work in its own right.

Their sophomore effort took the world by surprise with its perfect combination of punk rock tools, retro imagery and Brian Fallon's irresistible growl. All its components were refined to the point of near perfection, supplying listeners with a monthly (at least) dose of nostalgia. American Slang only continued the trend, more or less, and so does Handwritten.

The lyrics have never spoken more urgently and the instruments have never sounded better or bigger, as they reliably send shivers down my spine on several occassions (the ending of Mullholand Drive for example).  Handwritten is no short of grand moments as well as honest statements, with themes being more personal than ever before.

However, there are a few obstacles along the way. Using the same old formula, The Gaslight Anthem couldn't avoid repeating themselves. Not that they even tried to, because this is everything the band is about now. Heart on sleeve, catchy riffs and a great deal of sentiment. You either play along, or you don't. But let's be honest, if they'll stick to what they do so easily come their fifth album, there's a chance the audience may become increasingly indifferent.

Pretended or not, the band's sincerity largely makes up for any of the album's flaws or the lack of progression. And while being a bit ponderous at times, Handwritten is still a fine example of good old rock'n'roll craftsmanship. Within the span of the last three albums, The Gaslight Anthem have gone a long way from being punk rock's best kept secret to having #3 album on Billboard and selling out shows across the ocean. Nevertheless, The 59' Sound will remain the band's defining work for a little longer.

Best tracks: "45", Handwritten, National Anthem, (Blue Dahlia - bonus track)

By the way, I just realized, they might as well call themselves ABBA... :)

45

Well, it was about time. The Gaslight Anthem's new single has been out for quite some time, but it wasn't until now that they've released a music video for the song too. Here it is. I have no doubts the new record's gonna be fantastic, and that's something I can't say about any other band right now...



The new album, Handwritten, comes out on July 24.

Make It Stop

Endgame is an amazing record, perhaps not as good compared to the band's older material, namely The Sufferrer and the Witness, but still very good and deserving attention. Rise Against have just released a new music video for the song Make It Stop (September's Children) concerning problems of the LGBT minority. Your thoughts?

Total Clarity

Against Me! will release Total Clarity on May 24th through Fat Wreck Chords. The record is a collection of demos and unreleased songs back from when the band was working on Searching For a Former Clarity.

Well, although I prefer the newer Against Me! and I love their last two albums, this is a sweet effort nonetheless. They will be streaming a song every day on their MySpace page until the whole record is streaming on May 21.

"Please, don't lose your faith in me."

As they say at the end, this is not a music video, it's just some random things to watch while listening to one of the new Taking Back Sunday's songs, Faith.

Taking Back Sunday

I count myself as one of the Taking Back Sunday's newer fans. I started listening to them by the time Louder Now came out and was one of the few people to thoroughly enjoy New Again. However, I never really got into their earlier stuff except for some songs on Where You Want to Be.

Last year, Taking Back Sunday announced the reunion of the Tell All Your Friends line-up and are set to release the eponymous fifth album on June 28. Here's the music video for a new song, called El Passo.

Sing (Director's Cut)

Many people say that it's the most bland and boring song on the latest album. Well, not for me, because I obviously love it. My Chemical Romance have recently released director's cut of its music video. You can watch it below...

Favourite Best of albums, part I

Well, I've been listening to quite a few greatest hits compilations lately. A thing, I wasn't used to do before. I tend to have all the records from my favourite artists, and I usually play them as a whole. Therefore, I used to consider best of albums pretty much unnecessary. That has changed. I thought it would be a good idea to sum up those compilations that made a difference to me and ask you, my fellow music lovers, to share yours. :)

This is only the first part, because I don't have enough time and wanted to post something already. Expect the other part(s) in a week. Hopefully.

Scottish Fiction: Best of 1997 - 2007

Idlewild
I have to agree with Pitchfork on this one. Idlewild were built for such Best of compilations. Don't get me wrong, I like all of their albums, but I gotta admit, there are always three or five tracks that really stand out. I've already made my point about this band here, so I won't go any further. If I ever wanted to introduce Idlewild to someone, Scottish Fiction would do the job just fine.

These Wooden Ideas


El Capitan

Your History Is Mine: 2002 - 2009

Funeral for a Friend

FFaF released this extensive double disc compilation album just two years ago, so it is still a pretty fresh pick. Along with the band's most famous tracks from all of their albums, it also features four brand new songs. And trust me when I say that they are no fillers. Wrench, being arguably the best of them, also marks a new direction for the band, who have been re-dicovering their heavier side since then. I dare to say this is a must-have album for all their fans.

Roses for the Dead


Wrench

Sing

I'm loving MCR's advertising campaign for the new album set in a post-apocalyptic world. They've just released another trailer for a new song, called Sing, and yet again it sounds completely different from what we were used to hear from these guys.



Listen to the whole song here:

On an unrelated topic, Good Charlotte's new album Cardiology can be considered a return to form, since it contains a bunch of pretty solid tracks. If you want to know what is the story behind all of them, look here.

Streaming Invented

 
Finally, Jimmmy Eat World are streaming their new album. I won't say any more, head to their MySpace to make an opinion for yourself.

Jimmy Eat World will also be appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman this Friday.

"Na Na Na Na Na"

My Chemical Romance are currently finishing new record, possibly scheduled for a November release and you can now see the first trailer. The album's gonna be called Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys and the tracklisting hasn't been revealed yet. However, the song you can hear is clearly the album opener "Na Na Na Na Na" (or something like that). It's weird, addictive and quite awesome.




Official website

Idlewild

I stumbled across the name Idlewild quite a few times in the past. A Scottish band similar to Ash couldn't be bad, I thought, but never truly gave them a shot. Until last week. And what has been heard, cannot be unheard. I don't understand how this band could be escaping my attention for so long.

Their sound cannot be easily described since they've moved from punk rock roots to alternative and indie rock with occational folk influences throughout their prolific career. However, you can clearly hear the inspirations they took from bands like R.E.M., Blur or Fugazi.

They've released one mini-album, six full-length and two compilation albums since formation in 1995. The band rose to wider attention with critically acclaimed sophomore album 100 Broken Windows and continued their success with The Remote Part, Warnings/Promises and Make Another World. Idlewild's latest record Post Electric Blues was released in 2009.


You Held the World in Your Arms



No Emotion


Little Discourage


American English


In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction


Band's MySpace
Official Website

The Gaslight Anthem

American Slang, new record from this New Jersey quartet, is due out in June and you can hear acoustic versions of few songs from the upcoming album here, as they were recorded by the lead singer and guitarist Brian Fallon.
The Gaslight Anthem gained their well deserved success after releasing The '59 Sound in 2008. On American Slang they've once again proved, why they're everyone's favourite punk rock band.



Band's MySpace

note: if you want to download the acoustic songs, just right-click on them and save as on to your computer ;)

#edit: Some behind the scenes footage...