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Since breaking onto the scene in 2000, The Starting Line has relentlessly touted and toured their infectious brand of pop punk around North America, until the announcement of their hiatus, slash, break-up, slash, need to spend some time apart, in 2008. As either a going away present to a very loyal fan base, or a hint that this is one of those, not permanent type break ups, TSL has offered up Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us, a live concert CD/DVD recorded at their very “last” show at the 2008 Bamboozle Fest.

Live albums can be hit or miss. If the crowd lacks any interest, or the band’s having an off night, or if the bands live show just doesn’t translate well to home listening. In the case of Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us, TSL has orchestrated a hit. The hometown crowd, who had backed the band for almost a decade, was into every song, and they were almost treated to every song in TSL’s catalog, even reaching back to 2001’s With Hopes Of Starting Over EP, for fan favorite Greg’s Last Day, and playing the always awesome Best Of Me and The Ride.

Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us lays out the road map of TSL’s career from their early days to the later, more experimental songs from the bands last proper studio release, 2007’s Direction. Throughout the set the reasons why the band chose to take a hiatus become as clear as the reasons the band are likely to be back together and go about doing what they do so well. Older songs, while still packing the emotional punch they always did, when sung by a younger Kenny Vasoli, who was only 16 years old when the band got started, take on a different sound on Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us when sung by a Vasoli who is eight years older and wiser. As the set delves into songs like Bedroom Talk from 2005’s Based On A True Story, as well as Direction and Something Left To Give from Direction, Vasoli’s voice finds the pitch that those songs were meant for, and it is easy to see why he felt the need to make a different brand of music with his new project Person L

As much as you can see the reasons for the hiatus, you can also see why it’s likely that The Starting Line are not done making music together. The songs are tight and sound incredible live, and the crowd is, as they are at many a TSL show, into it, singing every word. Vasoli hints at the likely rekindlement on the disc making mention of the fans only having to wait till 2011. It’s not the only mention of The Starting Line possibly reuniting as Vasoli joked when playing an acoustic set at the release party for Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us, saying, “If you are really good this year then Santa is going to bring you something.”

Here’s hoping that the future does hold some new music from one of the last decades best pop punk bands, but in the meantime, Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us, holds up as a great live album and a way to fill the void while the band figure out what the next step is and when they’re gonna take it.

The Starting Line – Gregs Last Day
The Starting Line – Best Of Me
The Starting Line – This Ride

Lights up and six men dressed like Don Draper on a casual Sunday afternoon, minus the kick ass cardigan, launch into a frenzied set packed with energy, fury and rocking out with ones cock out. Central to this band of crazed young rockers is one Max Bemis, rock star, triple threat, recovering addict and brand new poster boy for living with bi-polar.

As the set grows and swells, Bemis, lead singer of Say Anything, becomes more disheveled, looking less like Don Draper with each passing moment of frenzied musical bliss, until he stands, catching his breathe, sweat dripping from his wife beater in front of a crowd of worshipers. Classic cuts like, Alive With The Glory of Love, Wow, I can get Sexual Too, Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat, Woo and Baby Girl I’m A Blur, which is an apt description of Say Anything live, have whipped the crowd into a frenzy that would put most riots to shame.

The first encore finds master Bemis, alone on stage, guitar slung around his neck for the first time of the night. The crowd convinces him to play A Walk Through Hell, and a tender moment as Max and the crowd perform an inspirational duet, singing every lyric together follows.

After the dust of the first encore settles, the band rejoins Max on stage and launch into Crushed, Spores and the incredibly scathing and genius of Admit It. With the encore done, so clearly is Bemis, and when he exits the stage, he is gone, done with this show that he just poured everything into.

There live show is not the only time that Bemis bares his soul and puts it out there for the whole world to judge. He does it every night on stage, and has once again pressed it into a disc for mass consumption.

While 2004’s Say Anything……Is A Real Boy first offered a glimpse into the psyche of the talented and troubled lead singer, and 2007’s varied double offering, Say Anything……In Defense Of The Genre, delved deeper into the darkest parts of Bemis’s mind and the most troubling times in his life, the just released Say Anything turns much of the focus outward onto the rest of the world. The subjects touched on Say Anything attack a world filled with power hungry, irresponsible people and painful love triangles while also taking on the subject of the demise of one of Bemis’s own relationships that dotted Defense and his new Marriage to Sherri Dupree of Eisley.

Nothing compares to hearing a song live for the first time. As Bemis spit the lyrics to Hate Everyone to a crowd filled with many who hadn’t heard the track yet, the venom and clarity with which Bemis alternated between the delicate hate of the verses and the bouncy chorus where over and over again, Bemis informs us, “I hate Everyone”, awakened the crowd to one of the Say Anything’s best new tracks.

Bemis taps into this anger again later on, on the track Young, Dumb and Stung, but points that anger in a more positive direction, aiming it at the people throughout your life who try and tear you down and make you doubt who you are. The lyrics “Don’t care what you think, you think I care.” Define a song where he rails against a childhood friend that turned his back on him and everyone else who would doubt who he is.

The circus feel to the opening of Mara and Me is classic Say Anything, and the song itself lives up to this feeling through the first few moments as Bemis talks about babies with guns and the Kings of Leon, before the music stops and he plainly speaks the words “Wait a second- I can’t write the same damn song over and over again.” From there the song goes schizophrenic with Jeff and Jake Turner helping out with vocals, and creating one of the stand out tracks on Say Anything.

Say Anything was said to be self titled to represent a starting over point for the band or a re-definition of who and where they are now, and the album manages to come through on this promise, as it introduces a band that is more confident in who they are and what they’re doing. The songs show Bemis’s ability to look outside of himself and still write awesome songs that walk the blurred lines between classic rock, pop punk and post everything. This Say Anything album is a walk through Bemis’s re-built life the way that …..In Defense Of The Genre was a walk through the ruins of his previous one.

Say Anything – Hate Everyone
Say Anything – Mara And Me
Say Anything – Young Dumb And Stung

There is a sickening trend in the Canadian music industry, where a band who’s sound is played out, and growing tiresome, use their success to go out, start a label and sign equally untalented sound-a-likes and shove them down the thoughts of those who for one reason or another still rely on the radio for music. Example: Nickleback discovers Theory of A Dead Man, and together they wreak havoc on innocent ear drums.

I’ll be blatantly honest, when I say that it was in this vein that I wrote of Burlington Ontario’s own, Silverstien discovered, Dead and Divine. In my own defense, their debut full length, 2008’s The Fanciful did manage to miss the mark by a few feet, but they came roaring back a year latter and redeemed themselves with the release of The Machines We Are.

Machines finds a young band, who with the help of veteran producer Garth Richardson (Rise Against – Siren Songs of the Counter Culture, Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against The Machine) and Eric Ratz, have managed to hone their sound, and craft an incredible album that is leaps and bounds above their previous work.

Vocalist Matt Tobin, finds his voice on this album, perfect the balance between the growl and the singing, while the rest of the band, guitarists Chris LeMasters and Sebastian Leuth, bassist Kellan Lindsay and drummer Kyle Anderson, have all followed suit and put together a tight and dirty (two words you rarely see together) collection of songs.
Creature sways back and force between the power of the howl and the soaring vocals, crafting a song that is at once powerful and passionate, and has some using the frightening word “grammy” in reference to it.

Tracks like Lovely Bones, Teeth and Neon Jesus, show what an incredible band Dead and Divine have become, and what an incredible album The Machines We Are is. I could gush more, but I won’t do it the justice that listening to this album will, so go find it, listen to it, and enjoy this post-hardcore opus of awesomeness.

Dead and Divine – Creature
Dead and Divine – Lovely Bones
Dead and Divine – Neon Jesus

HORSE the Band garnered attention and a fan base through their unique sound which fused 18-bit Nintendo influences with post hardcore to create what the band named at the time, “Nintendo-core”. The band have done what they can to get away from that style and that label before they become a one-trick pony.

So where did they go to get away from themselves? Not far enough. On Desperate Living, their shiny new album, HTB have simply replaced the Nintendo samples and influences with random bits of electronic noise that teeters between obnoxious and down right nauseating. Serving to do nothing more than crowd what could be solid post-hardcore.

In the current musical landscape where every other band is a cookie cutter of someone more popular, I do admire a band who try and do something different to make themselves stand out. When that differentiation is a good one, it can lead to some incredible music.

In the case of Desperate Living, the differentiation leaves the album crowded and loaded to the tits with sounds that don’t need to be there. The actual talent is there buried underneath looped bloops and beeps, that often leave you begging to hear the real song and not the over produced nonsense that made it’s way onto the final mix of Desperate Living.

Opening track Cloudwalker sets the stage for the cornucopia of useless noises which include what sounds like a beat driven 80’s dial tone and some monotonous drone of a voice that speaks both over the music and in the background at times. It’s a shame, cause it takes away from the decent time changes, chant along that actually works and front man Nathan Winneke’s throat shredding howls.

Lead single Shapeshift starts out teasing you like a drunk Catholic virgin on spring break, comeing in hard and fast without hinting at the same junk that’s been cluttering the album up until that point. Unfortunately the same way all that catholic girl is going to offer you is her asshole, the song quickly shifts into a mindless collection of shitty samples and electroically distoted drumbeats, ruining what could have been an awesome track had the guitar been left to it’s own devices, instead of burried in a sea of inane noise.

Tracks like Golden Mummy Golden Bird let you know what you’re in for right away with it’s cheesey mid 80’s eight year old with a Casio keyboard opening, while the unfortunately titled Rape Escape (hey that rhymes, cool) opens with the pre-programed Casio sample located two buttons over.

The Failure of All Things, is just far too easy to make fun of. I could easily point out that this song and the album it’s found on is actually the failure of all good music, or the failure of invention, so instead of being that predictable, lets move on.

By the time final track Arrive rolls around, there is nothing left in HTB’s bag of tricks to surprise you and it’s just more of the same, only this time they set the Casio to “organ” before hitting the sample key. We get it guys, your kitchy, and perhaps if I wore ironic t-shirts with obscure Mario Bros. bad guys, jeans that taper right down till they hug my ankels right above my purple old school LA gear style shoes and a bandana folded so that it lets just enough of my greasy hair hang out I might be jumping up and down in a mosh pit in front of your stage, screaming, “play the one about Mega Man.” Unfortunately though, I’m just a guy who likes it when his music sounds like it was mixed and produced by a proffessional who wouldn’t choose to blurry the actual musical talents of the members of HORSE The Band under a landside of annoying shit.

Although HTB are honorable in their attempt to create an album that would stand out like vibrant colour in a musical world composed of shades of grey, the colour they ended up producing with Desperate Living is one that misses the mark by leaps and bounds and leaves you longing for the comfort that can be found in grey. It may be mundane and normal, but at least it doesn’t make you want to dig your eardrums out with a rusty Philips head screw driver.

Horse The Band – Cloudwalker
Horse The Band – Shapeshift
Horse The Band – Rape Escape

Brand New are in a position that many bands would both dread and be envious of.

Since the release of 2001’s Your Favorite Weapon Brand New has achieved cult status, and attained a rabid fan base that only grew with the release of 2003’s incredible, genre defining Deja Entendu.

The band took there time crafting one of the best albums ever when they recorded 2006’s The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, an album that was at once powerful, graceful and poetic, while pushing their sound to the limit, both technically and emotionally, with tracks like Millstone, Jesus and Degausser.

Daisy finds Brand New straying from their previous clean, well produced style for a dirtier in your face vibe. The change in vibe is not surprising once you learn that guitarist Vincent Accardi took over primary song writing duties from front man Jesse Lacey for this album. The resulting sound is more akin to 90’s grunge than to anything you would have anticipated on the follow up to The Devil and God.

The album starts out with a lilting choral hymn before breaking into Vices, a track that has to be considered the hardest song in Brand New’s catalog. Lacey displays a whole different side to his voice, as he shreds his vocals, while the backing vocals recall a time when Scott Weiland had found the right dose of heroine and condescension and the Stone Temple Pilots still mattered.

The lead single, At The Bottom does a great job of walking the line between the new sound found on Daisy and the direction that they were heading on Devil and God. The dark, pondering lyrics run the theme of death, and burrying a loved one in a way that is distinctly Brand New.

The slow and melodic You Stole is a definite stand out, and is the most reminiscent of Deja Entendu era Brand New, as the song crawls along, with distortion weaving it’s way through the background, creating an oddly simple complexity over which Lacey’s voice can find a place to call home, the way it did on older songs, like Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis. Lyrics like: So if I’m a liar and you’re a thief/At least we both know where the other one sleeps/So let’s end this tonight , wouldn’t work coming from anyone but Lacey.

Sink is another track where Lacey stretches his vocals in a different direction, alternating between a solid scream and sweet croon, all wrapped up in a utterly frenetic package that delves deep into the darkest places in the soul of Brand New, which is some scary deep darkness.

Both fans and detractors are likely to find issue with different points on Daisy. I did, the first time through, believing that i wasn’t even listening to Brand New. But just as both The Devil and God are Raging Inside me and Deja Entendu are instantly amazing, but require more listening to truly comprehend their depth, Daisy will leave you feeling odd the first time through, but a deeper listen will no doubt lead you to the real Brand New dwelling there within the grungey feedback, and loud choruses. Like a homeless man with a heart of gold. At first you want to avoid him, and not give up your change, but if you stop to talk to him you’ll realize how much depth he truly possess.

Brand New wrote the book on pushing their music in different directions, and although Daisy isn’t the best chapter in the book, it’s still definitely worth reading.

Brand New – Vices
Brand New – At the Bottom
Brand New – You Stole

In 2006 Brampton’s Moneen took a huge step forward with the release of The Red Tree. The album found the band finally cashing in on all the potential critics and fans had been boasting and trumpeting for years. The songs were rich and deep, and knew when to rock and when slow it down. With the possibility of their potential having finally been reached, Moneen took their time, three years of their time crafting their Follow up to The Red Tree.

Now, with the release of The World I Want To Leave Behind, they have taken two giant steps backwards, leaving their naysayer to gain pull out the “pretentious” card that had dogged them through their earlier releases The Theory of Harmonic Value and Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now.

The introesque title track that proceeds the debut single, Hold That Sound, sets the disappointingly slow and subdued tone for the whole album. Musicians with as much talent as Moneen and the back catalogue to back it up, need to embrace their energy, and from beginning to end, The World I Want To Leave Behind feels like an exercise in suppressing that energy and power.

Hold That Sound itself sways back and forth from awesome to missing the mark like a fat kid on a teeter totter, pushed forward by the guitars and reverb and then the next moment held back by the lacking of the lyrics.

At every turn, Moneen tease that they are going to give’er tits and rock hard, but they continuously pull back right at the moment that they should be taking it up another notch.

The track Believe feels like lead singer Kenny bridges found an unreleased Our Lady Peace song and Moneenified it as the lyrics come across as mixture of a way too touchy little league coach’s softly whispered advice, and a run of the mill middle school graduation valedictory address.

The Long Count comes in with a strong riff, and pounding drums, the whole thing riddled with feedback, in a good way. In a great way really. When Bridges comes in, you want him to blow the doors off, but he remains subdued, and the lyrics feel ethereal and far away, until finally he lets loose, making the Long Count the album’s stand out track, and leaves you wondering how it took till track 7 to actually sound like a punk/hardcore/post hardcore band.

By closing track The Glasshouse, Moneen have lulled you almost to sleep, so thank God it starts with some of the screaming that the rest of the record could have benefited greatly from, and it finally feels like you’re listening to the band that crafted The Red Tree, unfortunately it’s the last track, and sometimes, no matter how good desert is you can’t get the taste of a poorly seasoned pork roast and dry potato’s out of your mouth.

I don’t want this review to seem like I’m picking Moneen apart, as The World I Want To Leave Behind has it’s moments, and their musicianship shines through, but for me this album completely missed the mark and missed what could have been a great opportunity for the band to cement their place within a scene that needs the right kind of innovations to keep it going strong.

For me the World I Want To Leave Behind left me wanting the band that made The Red Tree, and created the song Don’t Ever Tell Locke What He Can’t Do, which is unfair, but nonetheless, it is what is. Either way, give The World I Want To Leave Behind a spin or two, and see for yourself. Music is a personal choice, and I am but one man with one opinion. An opinion that, in this particular instance thought that Moneen would have been better off not releasing this album, I know I would have been better off if they hadn’t.

Moneen – Hold That Sound
Moneen – The Glasshouse
Moneen – The Long Count

Hiatus is defined as an interruption in the intensity or amount of something, a missing piece, as a gap in a manuscript or a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure.

Musically, it is the term that has been used a lot recently by bands as opposed to the term break –up. Notably Blink 182 reminded everyone that they were never broken up, they were just on hiatus, until a plane crashed, some people died, Barker got burnt and they realized how much fun/how much money playing together again would mean.

For a much smaller number of devoted fans than felt the pain of the Blink hiatus, The 23rd day of August, in the year of our Lord 2009, the Matches played their final show before embarking on a hiatus of their own.

While the news did sadden many, it came with one bonus. The band chose to digitally release an album composed of some unreleased demos, most of which were to compose their new album and a few acoustics.

To start with, this is an album that the band claims to have put out for the fans who were unhappy with the bands decision to walk away, and that really is who this album is aimed at. Let’s face it though as far as the Matches are concerned you’ve either loved them or hated them, and I don’t think they’ve ever topped anyone’s list of highly accessible artists.

The Matches have always had a bouncy, unique sound that managed to be different than the majority of pop-punk? bands out there, while still sticking very close to their East Bay sound. Their first proper release, 2033’s E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals, was at once frenetic and vocally caustic managing to mix a harsh tone with poetic lyrics, and songs like The Restless, Chain Me Free and Eryn Smith caught on with fans while the track Sick Little Suicide pointed at the incredible potential the band of odd looking, odd play, odd sounding Oaklanites actually possessed.

The band followed up Von Dahl with 2006’s all over the map style wise release Decomposer. The band recorded with nine different producers including the likes of Rancid and the Transplants Tim Armstrong, Nick Hexum from 311, and yes amber is the colour of his energy, woah-oo, and Blink and Plus 44(as if they actually matter anymore) frontman Mark Hoppus. The songs ranged from opening track Salty Eyes, a sad and lilting waltz, to the faster paced power-punk of Clumsy Heart and the just plain awesome Sunburn Vs. The Rhinovirus. All the songs were tied together through the bands unique style and lead singer Shawn Harris’s uncanny ability to make the deeper than their genre lyrics dance like puppets on coke.

In 2008 they put out what would be their last proper release, baring a cessation to their hiatus, A Band In Hope. Once again, they worked with a number of producers in order to put out a cacophony of tracks that range from the deep, Build A Mountain, to the beautiful, Clouds Crash, to the moving, We Are One, to the catchy as all hell, Yankee In A Chip Shot, to the just plain odd Between Halloween’s. Hope was a definite success for the band artistically, as it showcased all of their talents and managed to tie it into a much more cohesive package than either of their first two albums could boast.

Now, as fans lament the hiatus they have The Matches album 4, unreleased; graphics? title? or not needed? Obviously, as it essentially an unfinished album, it remains under produced, and therefore it is hard to hold it up the bands previous outings. However tracks like Like Yesterday and Wicked Walk showcase the bands style and Harris’s lyrical wit, while My Doe 1 adds a nice acoustic cap to the festivities that more than make up for the albums low point 50 Altered states.

If you’re a fan check it out, and if you’re not, well you can still check it out, but you may want to give A Band In Hope or Decomposer a spin first.

Fear not though, for in the music industry the word Hiatus has another meaning; new project. Shawn Harris has teamed with Jake Grigg to create Maniac and Jon Devoto has formed Bird by Bird, and logic says that both new bands have got to be better than Angels and Airwaves.

The Matches – Like Yesterday
The Matches – My Doe, Part 1 (acoustic)

Post hardcore pioneers Thrice are back with their first LP since 2005’s Vheissu, a disc that bent and warped the sound that had catapulted them to the top of their genre with discs like 2002’s The Illusion of Safety and 2003’s Artist In The Ambulance.

While Vheissu still contained the hardcore elements that Thrice was known for, it also hinted at a band looked to break away from their earlier style and embrace new sounds and a new artistic direction.

That direction led to 2007 and 2008’sThe Alchemy Index, a four EP collection that found the band dabbling in many different styles each representing one of the four elements.

Now returning a year later with their first full length in four year Thrice have crafted an album that feels as much like a jumping off point as it does a stand alone. Settling into a sound that mixes some of the more experimental elements from Vheissu with the sounds found on Alchemy’s Air and Water Discs, Thrice have put together a collection of songs that are both familiar and edgy, experimental and comfortable.

The disc opens with All The World Is Mad, and it’s chugging bass line welcomes you to an altered sound that builds on itself until it emerges as one hell of a rock song. Vocalist Dustin Kensrue’s rasp is as solid as ever and helps to set the mood for both the song and the disc as he sings:

“Something’s Gone Terribly wrong, with everyone/All the world is mad/Darkness brings terrible things; the sun is gone/What vanity! our sad, wretched fires.”

In the background guitarist Teppei Teranishi, provides the intricate base for what Thrice has always been, with technical and complex riffs that help to drive the song along and continue the mood that Kensrue already created.

Circles expands on the promises Thrice made with songs like Digital Sea from Water and from Air. At once deep and haunting, Drummer Riley Breckenridge finds a groove, and drives the song forward naturally, and Teppei’s guitar solo in the middle is classic Thrice, without the speed that Thrice had once been known for.

In Exile is the essence of the groove that Thrice promised to find on this album as it starts out simply with a slow beat and is organically joined by guitars as it builds itself. By the time Kensrue croons, “I am in exile, a sojourner/A citizen of some other place.” You already have a sense for what the song is.

By the time the chorus rolls around, you know that In Exile is something special, and Kensrue backs it up with the line, My heart is filled with songs of forever/The city that endures when all is made new/I know I don’t belong here, I’ll never/Call this place my home, I’m just passing through.”

As Exile works it’s way to the end, classic Thrice makes an appearance in atmospheric form as the tempo picks up and Teppei lets loose.

Thrice has found ways throughout their career to harken back to their own work and offer newer perspectives on similar themes. They turned one of Artists best most energetic songs, The Melting Point Of Wax, on it’s head with Air’s Daedalus. Both songs tell the story of Icarus, with melting point being from the youthful view of Icarus himself, while Daedalus is a more haunting version of the story told from the point of view of Icarus’s father who has to watch as his plan to give his son freedom leads to his downfall.

On Beggars Thrice take another look at themes of imprisonment on Wood & Wire, a topic touch on in Vheissu’s The Earth Will Shake, while The Great Exchange delves again into what could possibly be Thrice’s favorite topic, life at sea, which has been touched on, not just with the Water disc, The Whaler but also on Fire, Burn The Fleet, and Vheissu’s incredible Red Sky.

The album closes out with the title track, Beggars. A slow, atmospheric song that features a heart beat base drum, and an introspective Kensrue singing softly. The complex simplicity of the song feels like jazz without really sounding like it. The indictment of the supposed superiority of the rich, the smart and the powerful moves slowly until the breakdown that closes the album with whaling guitars, and the powerful sound that made Thrice God’s among post-hardcore men.

With Beggars it is obvious why Thrice have achieved the level they have with in the scene, the genre and the industry. Unlike so many bands, Thrice yearns for change and growth instead of fearing it. You can tell that if they had tried to create the Illusion of Safety over and over again, they would have failed and broken up years ago. Instead they continuously teeter out onto limb after limb, following their art instead of trying to pad their wallets. Beggars is another step in Thrice’s evolution and ascension, and as with all Thrice albums it not only gives you something amazing to grab hold of and absorb, but it also gives you something to look forward to.

With every Thrice album, you realize that music is not static, it is not stagnant. It is always, changing, growing and building itself into something else, something better. Amen.

Thrice – All The World Is Mad
Thrice – Circles
Thrice – In Exile

But, alas that is still two weeks away so, instead of a review, I’m going to let you know about a couple of bands that have been in heavy rotation on my ipod for the better part of this summer.

Warning: I’ve been on a mellow, Indie kick, so there’s no screaming below.

Mansions

Mansions is one of the bands, that managed to take that solemn, guitar driven singer, songwriter genre and actually do it in a way that is both original and really good.

Songs like Por Favor is Spanish take a story telling approach, and manages to be comedic, well worded as it tells the story of a a friend who cheated on her boyfriend while he (mansions) was out at a bar with her, and somehow he is getting in trouble for letting it happen, as the refrain is “…why am I responsible?”

The Worst Part starts out with the line, “fuck you and your god damned scene.” And the song goes on to rip apart self involved musicians who don’t realize that every scene comes to an end, and a new flavor of the week will always emerge.

Mansions is infectious and easy to listen to, and carries a depth that might surprise some. It can be hard to find but well worth the effort.

Good Old War

Formed out of the ashes of Days Away, Good Old War have an old school vibe, that mixes modern alt-country with a bit of 60’s pop. Think Dustin Kensrue meets the Hollies. As someone who loves Kensrue’s music and grew up on a steady dose of oldies, this was right up my alley.

Their songs are melodic, and not overdone. They performed as Anthony Green’s band on his solo album Avalon, and then backed him up live while pulling double duty as an opening act.

Cony Island gives you a real sense of being at the fair on a summers day, both the good and the bad. “I’m going back to the city I love, because it’s already taken everything”.

Weak Man is melodic and charming, and really pushes the afore mentioned old school vibe. Featuring Anthony Green with some guest vocals that fit perfectly into the song instead of overshadowing what GOW are trying to accomplish.

Good Old War have a lot of buzz right now with many in the industry trumpeting them as one of the best bands out there right now, and rumor has it Tom Delonge of Blink 182 will tell anyone who’ll listen about Good Old War.

So be slightly ahead of the curve and give Good Old War a listen.

Good Old War – Coney Island
Good Old War – Weak Man

In the vast bleakness that is a Canadian winter, any reminder of summer is a welcome distraction from the blowing snow and brown slush. So every year when the first bands start to sign up for Kevin Lymans annual cross country summer camp known as The Vans Warped Tour, the reminders of bright summer days, and cramming twelve hours of music into one day are enough to sprout wood.

This year was no different. The original list of bands was a veritable who’s who of my ipod’s top played list. So needless to say as I scrolled through the list the wood in my pants quickly turned to a wet spot. Too gross?

Thrice, Underoath, The Ataris, Chiodos, Senses Fail and P.O.S., were just a few of the bands I was totally stoked about seeing. The issue became, that, as usual, the Toronto line-up ends up looking nothing like the list of bands announced, as no Ataris and no Thrice made it north of the border.

Add to that the fact that the glory days of Warped Tour in Toronto ended the day that Molson Park was sold for condo land and the tour stop became a parking lot out by the airport. Gone was the ability to relax in the grass under a tree when you had a few minutes with no bands playing. Gone were the dirt warriors. The often shirtless pit monkeys, their faces wrapped in bandana’s and caked in the dirt that made up the ground that became the pit in front of each of the six stages.

I guess I’m saying that charm of warped tour has faded, and been replaced by a gaggle of neon clad suburban crunk bands, sing-rapping over shitty electro beats and the occasional riff.

I’ll admit right out, that due to work, I didn’t make it this year, and to tell you the truth I wasn’t that sad about it. It didn’t make me look bad fondly on a few things like the ghost of Warped Tour past.

The real benefit of Warped Tour is finding new music. It’s true that most years you could fill your days with established bands, but venturing outside of that could throw open the doors on a band you otherwise would never have known you loved. For me the best example of that is The Matches. With time to kill between Protest the Hero and Thrice, I wondered over to the Hurley stage and saw a young band, the lead singer’s hair going in all different directs, in a pair of short pants, and angle wings, stomping around the stage in giant boots. Two songs in and I’ve been a fan ever since.

There was the year that, Ill Scarlet pulled their infamous stunt and played the line up outside of the venue, until Kevin Lyman eventually let them inside.

There were innumerable sets by Funeral For A Friend, Thrice, Killswitch Engage, Protest the Hero, Atreyu and others that were heard but not seen due to the giant cloud of dirt blocking the stage, as the pit went off.

There were the giant circle pits, and patriotic moments where Billy Talent seemingly out drew every other band on the tour, despite the fact they suck.

Looking back now, it’s hard to tell whether it’s because I’ve changed or because Warped Tour changed, but it’s obvious that we’ve grown apart, and we will never have what we once did. I guess I should just give it up, admit that I’m old and shell out a couple hundred bucks the next time Coldplay runs through town………fuck that. I’ll never be old enough to like the whiney, British, piano driven sap that Chris Martin and his butt buddies churn out. But all the same, I’ve outgrown Warped Tour, and it’s a sad, sad thing to realize.

The Matches – Papercut Skin
Protest The Hero – Turn Soonest To The Sea
Thrice – Deadbolt