Dad's Car Radio

Before Gaga, before Ke$ha, before Miley, before Demi and before Jojo, there was Britney. I'm currently sitting on the floor of the Portland, ME airport, anxiously awaiting my plane to attach to the gate because I'm more than eager to go home. This morning though, as I was trying to think of what music I'd put onto my iPod, I was suddenly given the idea to put on a bunch of old Britney Spears music and take a stroll down memory lane. I also added one Hey Monday and one Backstreet Boys song, but that's beside the point. When listening to her music even now as I sit here, I'm filled with happiness and the sudden urge to dance while singing at the top of my lungs. Thankfully my common sense isn't letting me do so, but I'm realizing this is the effect Britney has on almost everyone, and that's why she's been around so long. Sure, she beat a car with an umbrella, but I bet you don't know the date that happened, and instead remember all the lyrics to Oops! I did it again. A big part of the music industry is gossip and scandal, but Britney is a perfect example of showing the world that sometimes the music that's more memorable. Now my plane has entered the gate and I need to pack up my things to board, but I highly suggest you revisit Britney, or, leave Britney alone and revisit another one of your favorite childhood artists, you may be surprised how much you remember.

Hey Monday on the Vans Warped Tour on July 20th in Columbia, MD.

www.myspace.com/heymonday

All tour dates were officially posted today on the Never Shout Never website. We're very lucky to have our date be on a Friday, we may even drive up to Philly for the Saturday show as well. Enjoy planning your concert experience, this tour is bound to be a great one.

10/19 Seattle, WA The Showbox @ The Market
10/20 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
10/22 San Francisco, CA The Grand Ballroom @ The Regency
10/23 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
10/24 San Diego, CA House of Blues
10/26 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
10/28 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
10/30 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa
10/31 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
11/02 Houston, TX House of Blues
11/03 Dallas, TX House of Blues
11/05 Orlando, FL House of Blues Orlando
11/06 Tampa, FL The Ritz
11/07 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution
11/09 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
11/10 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
11/11 Richmond, VA The National
11/12 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
11/13 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
11/14 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
11/16 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre
11/17 Boston, MA House of Blues
11/18 New York, NY Nokia Theatre Times Square
11/19 Asbury Park, NJ Paramount Theatre
11/20 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock Café
11/21 Pittsburgh, PA Club Zoo
11/23 Cleveland, OH House of Blues Cleveland
11/24 Pontiac, MI Clutch Cargo’s
11/26 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
11/27 Chicago, IL House of Blues

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