Earlier this week we did a review of Punchline's new album Delightfully Please, which you can still read all about and pick up to listen for yourself. Now, as promised, we have a full interview with a member of the band. Bassist Chris Fafalios was kind enough to answer my questions and give you all the details about the new album Delightfully Pleased.

How did the band first get its start?

We have been a band for well over a decade now. We started as high school friends and never stopped. We learned how to play music in Punchline, and we're still in our first band.

You guys have that alternative pop/punk vibe which has always been a popular thing, how do you stay in touch with your fans?

We're all over the internet. We're facebookin' and tweetin' all the time. Staying in touch with people who like your band is easier than ever. People are often surprised when I know their first and last name. I'm good like that!

You're releasing an album on August 10th, how does it differ from your other albums and how is it the same?

Its still us. We like to play upbeat and feel good music, and we put out another album full of those types of songs. This one is different though because its our best album. Its our strongest collection of songs in every aspect – musicianship, lyrics, structure. We are very excited that these songs are now out in the air.

The artwork for the album is really beautiful and complex, what's the concept behind it?

We were inspired by a lot of art that depicted the idea of a "hell mouth", basically a mouth that rises up to take you to Hell. The cover has character representations of each of the four of us about to take our journey into Hell. As you'll notice, we're not afraid at all. We've all been through hell and ended up just fine.

How long did it take you to write and record the album?

Every song is its own story. Some took years to finish, some took one practice. We recorded the album over a 3 week period in May in Steubenville, Ohio. We had 2 rooms going at once, so we would be able to do things like record back up vocals upstairs while Cory recorded drums downstairs.

What comes first, music or lyrics?

For us, its usually the music. We are always writing lyrics, but we're pretty much in consensus as a band that we can really pick out when bands write lyrics first, and its not good. Bands that do that end up having awkward sounding lyrics because they're trying to fit words in and not paying as much attention to the melody.

Favorite song on the album

My personal favorite is "21 Forever". I think its the best Punchline song ever.

Favorite song to perform?

"The Reinventor" off of Delightfully Pleased has been my favorite to play lately. It has a fun bassline and a really great feel to it.

If you could create a super tour with you and three other bands who would it be? The bands can be broken up.

I'd like to tour with Ween, They Might Be Giants, and The Flaming Lips. I think that would be a tour where we'd learn how to put on the greatest show ever, and also how to be a successful band for a long time.

Any plans to tour in the fall to support the album? If so, can you give away any info on where you'll go?

We will be doing a lot of shows throughout the Northeast and Midwest throughout the fall, as well as a Japanese tour in November with Rufio. We are excited to get out there with a new album!

Thanks a lot for interviewing me 🙂

Originally scheduled into a 10 song full length album Hey Monday is preparing to release their now EP Beneath It All this coming Tuesday. We caught up with Jersey from Hey Monday on the Vans Warped Tour for an interview, which we will post in the very near future, but while you wait for that we figured it would be a good idea to do a full review of the new EP. You can listen too because the whole thing is now streaming on their myspace and you can get it for yourself on August 17th.

www.myspace.com/heymonday

1. Wish You Were Here-Something that is a bummer about this being an EP is the fact that there are four songs which were originally listed that we as of now won't be able to listen to. The up side of this though is that the songs that DID make it onto the EP are ones that the band spent extra time on making sure they were worth having their fans listening to, and this is what you get with the opening track. It's catchy for sure and sings about something that so many people go through every day when they're missing someone.

2. Wondergirl-Starting off with an acoustic guitar this song turns into something that's very powerful, not only in the music but in the meaning. It really has a kick and it's that kind of song you can listen to on full blast in your room when you're just trying to chill out.

3. I Don't Wanna Dance-IDWD is the single off of this EP that climbed the alternative charts and got some serious support from other bands via Twitter. They weren't promoting something that didn't deliver though. I'll admit to listening to this song on repeat and if you recall I also posted the music video for this track, commenting then on how much I loved it. The irony of this track is that it's fun beat and high energy feel makes you WANT to dance, while the band plays about how much they don't want to.

4. Hangover-You can closely relate this song to Ke$ha's track "Hungover" on her album because it virtually is the same song, having a love hangover…well, maybe Ke$ha has a real one as well. Out of the two tracks this one still keeps the punk pop feel to it that Ke$ha doesn't have. This track would probably go in the same playlist as Wondergirl.

5. Mr. Pushover-Out of all the songs on the EP this track is the most basic, but in a good way. It has a slower pace when compared to the rest of the EP and makes me thing that it's vibe isn't as current, like it's taking it back a few years. If you map out this whole EP as one giant song, Mr. Pushover is the bridge.

6. Where Is My Head-The final song is faster than Mr. Pushover, but doesn't have the full energy that Wish You Were Here and I Don't Wanna Dance have. It's a good closer for the album but when comparing to the other songs it's not my favorite.

Beneath It All releases August 17th and by my standards it's a really solid EP.

As if my prayers have been answered to see The Maine on tour this fall it has been announced that they, along with Carter Hulsey, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business, and the always entertaining Christofer Drew will be heading on tour this October/November. One venue states that tickets will be going on sale next Saturday so that means the full line-up will be announced within the next few days. So keep on the lookout because we will be here posting the full tour date list the second it's posted.

www.myspace.com/nevershoutnever

www.myspace.com/themaine

www.myspace.com/icanmakeamesslikenobodysbusiness

www.myspace.com/carterhulsey

Hayden Kaiser on the Vans Warped Tour on July 20th in Columbia, MD.

www.myspace.com/nevershoutnever

As the release of The Pretty Reckless' album approaches leaks are becoming more likely and easier to find. Now the 30 second previews have been released and from what we hear the album seems really solid. She's the girl we hate to love and after listening to these clips, I know the mash-up is going to be stuck in my head until I can hear the whole album.

Source: http://fyprettyreckless.tumblr.com/

 

 

As if their name wasn't extremely fun to say, the band Iwrestledabearonce also is made up of some of the nicest people around. During Warped Tour I was finally able to sit down for a moment with two members of the band and chat about their rerelease of their hit album and some of the speical things that come with it. I caught a small bit of their set as well on the tour and they had so much energy it pumped me up to get me through the rest of the day.

www.myspace.com/iwrestledabearonce

Breathe Electric on the Vans Warped Tour on July 20th in Columbia, MD.

www.myspace.com/breatheelectric

www.myspace.com/flatfoot56

Flatfoot 56 is a band 10 years in the making who have taken that time to master their Celtic punk/folk sound. I was able to catch up with them on Warped Tour and ask them a few questions.

The Denison on the Vans Warped Tour on July 20th in Columbia, MD.

www.myspace.com/nevershoutnever

http://www.myspace.com/punchline

Releasing today is the alternative pop punk band Punchline's latest and greatest album. The only flaw I can see in this album is that they didn't release it earlier, it's the perfect summer album and I wish I had more time to listen to it with the top down and the wind blowing through my hair. An interview with the band soon but until then here is the breakdown of their new album Delightfully Pleased.

Here are just a few of my favorites on the album, which you can get everywhere

1. Seventy-The starting track wastes no time with the high energy and catchy lyrics. The vocals on this track, and the album in general are almost addicting. I really just can't get enough while listening. I'm currently in a quiet Starbucks listening and I'm pretty sure everyone else can hear right now because of how loud I'm playing it.

3. 21 Forever-I expect this song to get more attention and radio play than the other songs on the album just because the concept is so relatable. It's hard relizing you can't be 21 Forever but if listening to this song is the way I have to find that out, then maybe it's not so bad.

4. Greatest. Party. Ever.-In order to have the greatest party ever you gotta have energy and Punchline definitely brings it to this track. The execution is also well done with this song in it's placement in the album. Being put in towards the middle picks up the energy that may be lagging a little if the album is being heard beginning to end.

5. Roller Coaster Smoke-I wanted to take this track to really compliment the guitar and bass and how well they really mix together. With an almost retro vibe with the guitar riffs this song really takes it back a bit, in a good way.

6. Into the Mouth-One thing that is great about this album is how they are really able to mix it up with their sounds, but stay cohesive at the same time. If this doesn't make sense to you, listen to this song and you'll be able to understand.

9. No Significant Other-"I look at you and see the life I wanna live" a phrase everyone probably can relate to, especially with the blowup of pop culture in the past ten years. This song holds some wise advice and offers it in a really well produced song.

11. A Universal Theme-From the opening notes you can tell this is the last song on the album. It holds the key to wrapping up a great album, like almost putting a bow around it and offering it to you like a present. I have had an extremely popular reaction to this album and hope everyone who gives it a listen likes it just as much as I do.