Portugal. The Man - Waiter: "You Vultures!" [2006]

I will hopefully be going to see Portugal. The Man, my favorite Alaskan quartet, tomorrow, so I decided to put up my favorite release from the band for ya'll to enjoy. This album is definitely one of my favorite albums ever created; there is just so much to love about it.

From the first opening notes of How The Leopard Got Its Spots until the final mechanical dissonance of Guns. Guns... Guns, and throughout all the songs in between, there is such a cool feeling projected by the music. It is laid back, yet so complex and technical sounding. You can hear so many layers to this music, from the guitar hooks, to the melodic keyboards, to the electronic backbeat, to the perfectly fitting vocals, and it all comes together beautifully.

Not only is the music amazing, the lyrics are just as profound and talented. Lines like "If I were a god I'd be the greatest of all, With a speech so soft that loud it would kill you, Standing up tall from the top of that hill, I'd shout out commands to down below," and "We'll take steps to make sure our failures are hidden" show that talent. Other lyrics on the album are not nearly as serious, but more trippy and humerous, like "Shout at pavement that's sprouting up turnips, Who are shouting right back, "We don't need your lectures!" Also, the album art is one of my favorite covers, and the image matches the music exactly.

This album is without a doubt a solid listen; if you haven't heard it yet definitely check it out. It is classy, soulful, and unique and would be at home playing in the background at a coffee shop, in the car with the windows rolled down on a hot summer day, or on your record player in your house. Its mellow goodness is like soul food.

Genre: Indie, Experimental, Progressive

For Fans Of: Minus The Bear, Circa Survive, The Dear Hunter

Contact: Website
Tracklisting:

1. How the Leopard Got Its Spots
2. Gold Fronts
3. Stables & Chairs
4. AKA M80 The Wolf
5. Marching With 6
6. Elephants
7. Waiter
8. Chicago
9. Bad, Bad Levi Brown

10. Kill Me. The King
11. Tommy

12. Horse Warming Party

13. Guns.Guns...Guns

-T

Best Concert Ever!

As I expected, the Coheed & Cambria and Circa Survive concert was incredible! To start the night off, me and my friends attended an acoustic performance and signing by Coheed at Graywhale music store. After quite a wait in line, we finally made it into the store and crowded around the stage. Coheed played a three song set, Here We Are Juggernaut, which sounded really cool acoustic, Pearl Of The Stars, and closed with Welcome Home. They sounded great acoustic, and this got me really pumped for the actual concert, which we headed over to after getting some stuff signed.

We got there just before Circa Survive started playing, and pushed up to the front. The band came onto the stage amidst a roar of applause and Anthony announced "We're Circa Survive and this song is called Get Out!" and then started jamming. It was a great opener to their set, which included some songs off their new album like Glass Arrows, Strange Terrain, Through The Desert Alone, and Imaginary Enemy, and some off their older albums like The Glorious Nosebleed, In Fear And Faith, The Great Golden Baby, Stop The Car, Living Together, and In The Morning And Amazing. They have so much energy in their onstage presence, which makes watching them really fun, plus they sound just as boss as they do on their albums, if not better. Anthony Green is a perfect entertainer, with his top notch singing, dancing across the stage, and talking to the crowd, and the entire band really showed off how truly talented they are. I would have enjoyed listening to them for at least twice as long as they played, but unfortunately their set had to end.

Then it was Coheed's turn to rock my face off, and they did just that, starting with One and The Broken. Then they proceded to play many of my favorite songs of theirs, some old some new. Off of Second Stage they played Time Consumer and Everything Evil, off of In Keeping Secrets they played the title track, Three Evils, Al The Killer, A Favor House Atlantic, and 2113, off Good Apollo they played Welcome Home, and off No World For Tomorrow they played the title track, and off Year of the Black Rainbow, they played Here We Are Juggernaut, Pearl of the Stars, Made Out Of Nothing, World of Lines, Guns of Summer, and a beautiful acoustic version of Far. Claudio and his hair did great on the vocals, with backup vocals from the crowd on every song, and all of the band put on a great performance full of mind blowing solos, a great encore, and sounded just as epic, if not more, than they do on their albums. I loved every minute of this concert and eagerly await the return of both bands. If you want to hear the best music you'll ever hear, get their albums and go see them when they come to your area! If not, why are you reading this?



-T

The Fall of Troy - In The Unlikely Event [2009] and The End of The Fall of Troy

The incredible band The Fall of Troy has announced that they will be breaking up after their spring U.S. tour. This came way too soon after the Scary Kids breakup and they will definitely be missed. You can read their official announcement on their website. So make sure you go out to their final tour dates and see their epic live performance one last time!

To help deal with depression regarding their breakup I suggest listening to their new record "In The Unlikely Event." It is, in my opinion their best album. It is so experimental and crazy! You'll hear instrumentals and vocals unlike any others out there. For me, this unique sound was one of the best things about The Fall of Troy's music: you never know what you're going to hear next, it's completely unpredictible and unexpected! This album has great, easy to relate to, and sometimes even humerous lyrics on every song, some great head banging metal parts, some of the best guitar work of all time (especially the intro on Dirty Pillow Talk) and even an acoustic masterpiece (Webs). So check it out.

Genre: Mathcore, Technical Progressive Rock, Experimental Hardcore
For Fans Of: Protest the Hero, Tera Melos, The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Contact: Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Panic Attack!
2. Straight-Jacket Keelhauled
3. Battleship Graveyard
4. A Classic Case of Transference
5. Single
6. Empty the Clip, the King Has Been Slain, Long Live the Queen
7. People and Their Lives
8. Dirty Pillow Talk
9. Nobody's Perfect
10. Webs
11. Walk of Fame
12. Nature Vs. Nurture

PS. The album art is one of my favorites!

-T