Archive for the ‘A Cursive Memory’ Category
Van’s Warped Tour 08 Recap
So the day I’ve longed for this past summer has gone and past. Off the bat the verdict is good, and I want to give a special thanks to the guys at Warped for supplying me with tickets and photo passes. Now due to certain circumstances I arrived about an hour and a half late, and as such, missed three of the bands I was looking forward to seeing; including Automatic Loveletter, that was a disappointment. But I still caught a lot of great performances and will recap my experience with you all.
After arriving, I was pretty confused as to the schedule and locations of the stages. After about twenty minutes of wandering and what not, I found the schedule and planned the day accordingly. Seeing as how I had already missed The Academy Is…, We The Kings, and Automatic Loveletter, I headed towards the Myspace tent to watch a special acoustic set by Forever The Sickest Kids. The tent was packed, but there probably weren’t more than fifty people, and the performance was amazing. The vocals were spot on to the recordings, and the acoustic instrumentals were warm and mellow. While their personalities really shined, I expected that their performance on stage would be ten times more energetic with room to rock out. So after that acoustic set, I was bent on seeing them later that afternoon.
After the acoustic set by FTSK, I caught the last three songs by A Cursive Memory. One of the songs they played was a cover of Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles, which was actually really good. They also played their infamous single, Everything, and if you haven’t seen the music video for that song, do it now. I was shocked to see a very small crowd formed in front of the stage, with not more than forty people. Nonetheless the performance was still amazing, and everything from the vocals to the drums stood out. I was pleased to see that the two vocalists had really talented voices, and they complement each other very well. While I only caught three songs, I had to head over to their merch table and get some stuff.
At this point I had a bit of a break to check out all the merch tables and different shops setup. The venue was located at the parking lot in front of Arrow Hall, so it was quite a big venue, although Downsview Park would have been much nicer. At the ACM table all the cds were sold out, so I left empty handed but my friend scored a free EP. I did get a chance to pick up some EPs that would otherwise be hard to find in Canada, such as Automatic Loveletter’s. Being my first time at a music festival I enjoyed the whole walking, and choosing what I wanted to see and how my day would go, though I didn’t quite agree with the schedules, since they had bands in similar genres on different stages. It was quite a hassle to walk from one end of the venue to the other to see bands that should be grouped together, but not exactly a big deal.
A Cursive Memory – Changes
A Los Angeles-based pop punk band, A Cursive Memory released Changes in February of this year. Starting out as a cover band under a different persona, they have quickly come into their own, and their debut effort is worth checking out. Changes often switches from aggressive grungy guitars and loud drums to really mellow pianos and downbeat drums. However, the vocals remain consistent throughout, adding to the mellow vibe by the use of soft subtle singing. With the added addition of well-timed synths, the album is solid from start to finish.
South the first track off Changes, incorporates the classic punk sound consisting of palm muted overdriven guitars and a drum backbone. The track further adds flare with the use of a piano, but finally the entire mood of the song is set by the vocals. The vocals are a combination of both Colin Baylen and Shaun Profeta, and are key to A Cursive Memory’s success. The vocals are slightly high-pitched, very soft, but most importantly outrageously mellow. Without the vocals, I might have thought the instrumentals for South were for a more upbeat song, but the singing definitely sets the direction, and this is noticed throughout the entire album.
The second track, Everything, follows in similar fashion. A more aggressive melody combined with the perfect voice, leaves little left to say. However, this track has easily become my favourite, and for one main reason. Although the sound is quite similar to other tracks, it’s the catchy lyrics that win me over this time around. The vocal tune of Everything, is just incredibly addictive and makes for a very fun, entertaining listen. The guitars follow in suit, and play an extremely catchy riff. The drums and synths add the finishing touches, to what has become my favourite song off of Changes. Remaining quite mellow, it still has very catchy aspects which is the selling point for me.
Skipping to The Piano Song, this is obviously one of the songs that uses softer sounding instruments. With the piano as the feature instrument, it is backed by what sounds like an acoustic guitar (or clean electric) and delicate drums. The vocals add to the emotions of this song, creating a very sad and powerful listen. Everything works very well together to give listeners just an incredible surge of passion and sentiment. The raw emotions can be heard from the piano, guitar, vocals or drums alone, but combined create an electrifying atmosphere of beautiful sounds.
Changes is a really great debut, it consists of an overall mellow theme, but uses a variety of background melodies. Being able to create so many different sounds yet remain consistent is what A Cursive Memory has done, however ironic that sounds. It’s truly hard for me to describe A Cursive Memory, because I feel they are a different breed of pop-punk, but still fit quite well within the genre. The best thing to do is to check them out for yourself, because Changes is an album that’s both entertaining and inspiring.
Check out their Myspace for official tour dates and album info.
