Album Review - "Crazy World EP" by Boys Like Girls

I have to admit I was a lot more excited for this EP than I was letting on. I have had some issues with the change in their line up (some big issues) and I've had some issues with the direction in which they seem to be promoting things, (still not sure why they released the EP and not just moved the album date up and gave us a single for the radio like Matchbox Twenty is doing but this is Boys Like Girls! They're back. It'll be an EP of Martin crooning with at least two of the best musicians floating around pop music right now backing him. Not so much. The single, "Be Your Everything" is great. I'd heard leaked versions and live acoustic versions and I still have a copy of Martin singing it by himself last summer. It's gorgeous. It's so very Boys Like Girls. Everything we missed, everything...

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Album Review - "Winds Will Change" EP by William Beckett

William Beckett's newest solo endeavor, Winds Will Change, lives up to its name. If the winds will change, they're doing just that and taking Beckett in a completely different direction than expected. Leaving behind the pop punk tunes of The Academy Is.. , which he was the former front man for, he's proving that he's more than the pretty face to front a band. We knew that, if every youtube video and cover he's posted online wasn't proof enough, Winds Will Change is the certified stamp. "Great Night" is one I heard live a little while back when he came through Atlanta, and the album version of it actually sounds a lot like the live version. It's the song played at your favorite bar that everyone sings along to and yet it's more than that....

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Music for Monday: Tyler Hilton

With him being in town it only makes sense to turn on Tyler Hilton's tunes today, just to prep for the show that I may or may not be going to. I'm still not sure. His new album, Forget the Storm is out and I do really enjoy it. It's similar to my favorite album of his (Tracks Of) but a little more rock and roll, which just makes it all the more fun. Give it a listen on Spotify and enjoy. The single off the album "Prince of Nothing Charming" is fantastic, downright perfect, an the rest of it? It's fun, easy to listen to, easy to get into while working, studying, or just doing housework. And if you feel like going back in time? Grab some of the older stuff and let yourself get sucked into it. Sure he did a stint on One Tree Hill, but that was when the show was good and honestly I always...

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Album Review: "Fire It Up EP" by Fossil Factory

On the list of eagerly awaited music for this year, the new tunes from Fossil Factory have been pretty high on the list. The genius behind this EDM group out of Boston, Mass is none other than Luke Dent, who joined Boys like Girls members, Morgan Dorr and John Keefe as part of the Empire Kids and is part of the genius behind that as well (I saw them last year with Early Morning Blues--that's a babbling fan girl post. Sorry. There's a few good shots of Luke manning the keyboard though). So trust me, I hear he's working on something new? I've spent a while, living off samplers on the soundcloud site, itching for more, studying the short list and waiting for a hint that there was more to come. And more is finally here. The EP, Fire It Up debuted...

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Thank God it's Friday the 13th

Thank God it's finally Friday right? Of course it would be a Friday the 13th, but that doesn't have to mean a bad thing right? We've had some strange weather here in Atlanta (that's what we get for complaining about how hot it was) and I think everyone spent the week recovering from the holiday weekend. The new weekend is on the horizon though and just to get you through those last few hours, here's some treats. Travis Alexander of Ghost Thrower tossed this gem up on his tumblr earlier this week and honestly this guy + a guitar might be all I need. (Okay not all, but I love it). I feel horrible sometimes because I do love when he's screaming in a mic and the whole place is burning with energy, but the fact that just him and the acoustic covering "Small Skeletal" by Crime In Stereo is this...

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Album Review: "The Approach" by Kyoto Drive

Kyoto Drive out of Birmingham, England (one of my favorite places I saw in England by the way), just put out a new mini-album, The Approach on I Am Mighty Records and it's no joke. Overall they have a really solid sound, something kind of Mayday Parade esque, but minus the constant theme of 'just how sad can I make you with a song' that Mayday has. Think lyrics like Boys Like Girls or Cartel with a Mayday sound. The intro to the mini-album, "Receive This Little Breath" can make one anxious, worrying of an overproduced, studio phenomenon to follow, but it's not. It's followed up by a strong guitar intro in "Holiday" and in the second listen-through it fits the album and does just what it needs to prime the ears. Though honestly? "Holiday"...

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Music for Monday - The Goo Goo Dolls

Champ and I road tripped to Florida to visit my family this weekend, and with that much time in the car we were sitting there, the iPod hitting Hootie and the Blowfish, The Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty, just right in a row and all I could think was "man, remember when music was just so tragic and so good?" There really was nothing like the 90s with music that was so tragically depressing, but so beautiful that you listen to it over and over again. Take the entire Dizzy Up the Girl album. It's tragic, with songs like "Acoustic #3" and "Black Balloon", but it's gorgeous. I love it and I swear if the laser in my CD player could have worn a hole in the CD it would have. It was inevitable that I was going to put them on for the day after, while cleaning up around the house. The Goo Goo...

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