Circles - P.O.D. Mascot Records Produced by The Heavy Released 16th November 2018
Tracklist A1 Rockin' With The Best 2:38 A2 Always Southern California 3:09 A3 Circles 3:26 A4 Panic Attack 3:01 A5 On The Radio 3:09 A6 Fly Away 3:09 B1 Listening For The Silence 3:48 B2 Dreaming 3:02 B3 Domino 3:28 B4 Soundboy Killa 4:05 B5 Home 4:01
Sonny Sandoval Interview San Diego Union-Tribune (15th November 2018)
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If there are some who are unaware of the history ofP.O.D. here's a brief summary. Includedare links for albums and singles etc that you should check out. Then that should set the stage for the new album 'Circles'. ******************
It's been 26 years since P.O.D. (Payable on Death) first formed in San Diego and during that time they have only ever had three line up changes. The first was when original Bassist Gabe Portillo left the band in 1993 with current Bassist Traa Daniels replacing him; the second was in 2003 when Guitarist Marcos Curial departed to be replaced by Jason Truby (formerly of Living Sacrifice); and then thirdly, when Marcos asked to rejoin the band three years later on the same day that Jason Truby handed in his request to leave for pastures new. The line up has pretty much remained solid since.
(P.O.D. left to right: Wuv, Marcos, Traa and Sonny)
Sonny Sandoval - Lead Vocals
Traa Daniels - Bass, Backing Vocals
Marcos Curiel - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Wuv Bernando Jr. - Drums, Backing Vocals
They have come a long way since their 1993 Demo that was issued on Cassette on Rescue Records (a label set up by Wuv's Father, who was also their manager for the first few years). On Rescue Records they released three albums: 'Snuff The Punk' (January 1994), 'Brown' (October 1996), and 'Payable on Death Live' (1997).
In 1998 the band came to the attention of Atlantic Records and after seeing them live at The Roxy in Los Angeles they were signed to the label. They released 'The Warriors' EP on Tooth & Nail Records as a transitional release in May 1998 (limited to 30,000 copies) prior to the August 1999 release of their major label debut 'The Fundamental Elements of Southtown'. Southtown peaked on the Billboard Chart at #51 and two tracks were released as singles and although neither charted they gained a lot of airplay on MTV ('Southtown' and 'Rock the Party'). A third track, not on the album also had a video, 'School of Hard Knocks', and was included as part of the Soundtrack for the film Little Nicky in 2000. July 2001 the band released 'Alive' as the forerunner to the highly anticipated new album 'Satellite'. 'Alive' rocketed up the UK Charts to #19 whilst reaching only #41 in the USA. It would become one of the most aired videos of the year on MTV/MTV2.
The album 'Satelitte', arrived on a day that would have life altering tragedy for many, 11th September 2001. It would go on to sell 7 million copies worldwide peaking at #6 in the States and #16 in the UK. A further three singles were released from the album: 'Youth of the Nation' (which charted on both sides of the Atlantic), 'Boom' (that featured Blindside in the video playing table tennis against P.O.D.) and title track 'Satellite'. Q magazine here in the UK said, "...heavy, angry, and very, very loud....many songs have messages of peace and spirituality....their Gen-X angst sounds genuine...", whilst giving it 3/5 stars.
'Sleeping Awake' was part of the Soundtrack for The Matrix Reloaded in May 2003 followed by 'Will You' in September 2003. The album 'Payable on Death' followed in November 2003 and whilst it reached #9 in the States its sales came nowhere close to what 'Satelitte' had sold.
A new album was due for release in December in 2005 but was pushed back. The band took the opportunity to release 'The Warriors Volume 2' EP. The seven track EP contained demos from the sessions for the forthcoming album as well as two live tracks and was released a week after the first single that would feature on their sixth album, 'Goodbye for Now'. That single and the video would feature a young lady on backing vocals who would go on to have a huge career herself, Katy Perry!
'Testify' would be their final album for Atlantic Records. Released in January 2006. In November the same year Rhino Records would release 'Greatest Hits: The Atlantic Years' that included 17 tracks covering singles and album tracks and two previously unreleased songs: 'Here We Go' and the single 'Going In Blind'. It would also reach #9 on the US chart.
Two years later there was yet another new label (INO Records in the USA and their own P.O.D. Records and Cooking Vinyl Records for Europe) and a brand new album, 'When Angels & Serpents Dance', released April 2008. It included the singles 'Addicted' and 'Shine With Me'. The album was the third one in a row to peak at #9 on the Billboard Chart.
Moving forward four years and P.O.D. had signed with Razor & Tie and released 'Murdered Love' with Howard Benson back on producing duty. Three singles were released from the album: 'Lost in Forever (Scream)', 'Higher' and 'Beautiful' and each had a promo video which you can see by clicking the link. There was also a video for the title track 'Murdered Love'.
The SoCal Sessions album was next up and was released on T-Boy Records November 2014. This one was a little different in that it was an Acoustic album and spotlighted a number of songs drawn from previous albums.
August 2015 saw the release of their second album for T-Boy Records, a Concept album entitled 'The Awakening'. Whilst it drew some favourable press coverage it's probably the least played album by P.O.D. that I own. I think it has more to do with me not looking so favourably upon Concept albums rather than the quality of the music.
Then finally we come to November 2018 and the release of 'Circles'. They were saying that they had been co-writing with some folk for this album, something which they had not really ever done before and there was the possibility that it might offer up a rather different view of P.O.D. than expected. But the good news is that they have managed to maintain that typical P.O.D. sound and throughout the album it makes you think back to other points in their back catalogue. I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing, especially when you have fond memories of those earlier records.
My favourites so far from the album are Rockin' With The Best, On The Radio and Listening For The Silence.
2018 seems like a busy year for the U.K. Subs as not only are they out on the road and releasing two 15CD Box Sets containing the full set of their albums in Alphabetical Order (Volume 1 is A-M and Volume 2 is N-Z), a brand new studio album plus a new EP coming in November but Charlie Harper (vocalist) released (in April) his second solo album, 'Little Black Crow' (Road Dog Records - his Debut Solo was called 'Stolen Property', it was an album of covers and released in 1982!), he also received the 'King Rocker/Icon' award at the Vive Le Rock! Awards in March and has also had an exhibition of his art alongside Gaye Black down in Sussex. Alvin Gibbs (bassist) is due to release his Debut Album in December under the banner of 'Alvin Gibbs and The Disobedient Servants'. Jamie Oliver (drummer) also has a side project called You and they released their Debut Single (in April) entitled 'Selfish'.
U.K. Subs are no strangers to Cover Versions as over the period of 40 plus years they have played a fair few and even recorded and released some - 'She's Not There' (lead track on the 1979 EP), 'I'm Waiting For The Man' (B-Side of 'Warhead') - and there have been a fair few released on various albums as well but a whole album's worth is something they have not done before (at least as far as I can remember!).
Of all the tracks on Subversions I have to confess to not actually knowing two of them (the Queens Of The Stone Age track 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' and Canadian band The Diodes' 'Tired Of Waking Up Tired'). As for the other ten they are pretty magnificent. The U.K. Subs are not over fancy and what you get is 12 tracks of raw power from beginning to end. The choices are interesting as there's a couple that would no doubt have been played by the teenage David Charles Perez ('Train Kept a Rollin' and 'I Don't Need No Doctor') and would be quite obscure to the rest of the band possibly and the rest, there's a number of Classic Rock tracks spanning the early 70s, a few Punk/New Wave Classics, a wee tribute to the genius of Lemmy's MotΓΆrhead, and the "newest" track is the Queen of the Stone Age song (and that's 18 years old!).
At 74 years old it's great seeing and hearing Charlie still doing what he loves and the current line up of the band is pretty tight and tidy as well. How much longer it goes on who knows but while they are still up and at 'em I'm going to enjoy listening and watching as I have done so for as long as the band have been around!
Let's Ride - MxPx From the fortchcoming album MxPx due out July 2018
New Album Tracklist: 01. Rolling Strong 02. All Of It 03. Friday Tonight 04. Let’s Ride (RADIO SINGLE) 05. Uptown Streets 06. 20 / 20 Hindsight 07. The Way We Do 08. Life Goals 09. Pipe Dreams 10. Disaster 11. Moments Like This
Haters Gonna Hate!
MxPx Respond to "Fan" Comments
MxPx, now in their 26th year of life, are getting ready to unleash their crowd-funded Self-Titled new record, their tenth studio album by the way if you were counting.
They released a brand new video for a song from the new self-produced work entitled Let's Ride. The album was recorded in their hometown of Bremerton, Washington. It will be available as a Download and I think the CD is only available to those who ordered it on the Kickstarter site for the album. Not totally sure about the Vinyl and what kind of quantities it will exist in.
There's loads of links below for every track on the new album as well as for playlists of some older albums and also for more information regarding tour dates etc. Enjoy.
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Equals - The Alarm The Twenty First Century Recording Company Produced by George Williams Released 29th June 2018
Equals Promo
One little gripe I have is that if the band are wanting maximum exposure for the album then the little promo above should actually be made public rather than unlisted as folks wouldn't be able to find it.
Click on the links above to listen to all the songs on the album.
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No one has done more to keep the name and spirit of his band alive and kicking than Mike Peters.
Equals is the first worldwide released album from the band for a good few years (Direct Action in 2010 I think was the last one) and there’s a lot of excitement once again about seeing the music of The Alarm on the shelves in Record Stores across the globe.
Earlier this year there had been a little taster with the Where The Two Rivers Cross EP that was released on Record Store Day and was subject to a Transatlantic Promotional Challenge with Mike Peters performing in the UK (Wales and London) and the USA (New York City and Los Angeles) within the space of 24 hours.
2018 has been a busy year for The Alarm as prior to these releases there had been the reissues of Eponymous and Declaration on Vinyl and CD that stem of course from the early days of the band when they had got signed by I.R.S. and also a Digital only release of 21 (Redux). The 21 (Redux) album featured new mixes and remastered songs from In The Poppy Fields (2004), Under Attack (2006), Guerilla Tactics(2008), Direct Action (2010) and the Vinyl Soundtrack (2013) and was a glimpse into the life and music of the band since Mike Peters resurrected the name of The Alarm with a brand new backing band that has featured James Stevenson on Guitar (Chelsea, Gene Loves Jezebel, Generation X, Kim Wilde and stacks more), Craig Adams on Bass (Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and Spear of Destiny), Steve Grantly on Drums (Eighth Wonder and Stiff Little Fingers), Steve “Smiley” Barnard on Drums (Robbie Williams and Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros), Mark Taylor on Keyboards (Belinda Carlisle, Elton John and Simple Minds) and Jules Jones Peters on Keyboards and Backing Vocals (Mike Peters and The Poets of Justice).
The current line up of the band is:
Mike Peters Vocals and Guitar
James Stevenson Bass, Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jules Jones Peters Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Steve “Smiley” Barnard Drums.
On top of the releases there has been a Tour (both UK and Europe), the annual event The Gathering in Wales and also for the first time The Gathering also took place in New York and Los Angeles.
Promotion for the new album will consist of a number of Record Store appearances with Mike performing, signing and I think also a few Q&A’s. There will also be a tour in the USA as well (see The Alarm website for dates). By no means are they sitting on their laurels but are out to unleash “fresh music” upon the masses!
Now, you will note about that I put “fresh music” in quotation marks and I did so for a reason because whilst many of the songs will be new to the unsuspecting public at large they are actually well known to those within the ranks of The Alarm fan base. Last year Mike Peters issued two albums under the banner of The Alarm (Blood Red and Viral Black) that were only available from The Alarm website. What they have decided to do is draw from those two albums what they think are the best songs and release them as a stand alone album. The big question of course is how do they stand up and what sounds can we expect?
There's a new podcast available where Mike speaks about the new album and the songs that are a part of it. Click here to have a listen.
Have a listen and see what you think. My own personal view on it is that I am pretty pleased with the choices they made for the album and whilst I still don't get Thirteen Dead Reindeer the rest of the album sounds pretty good to my old ears.
The standout tracks for me are Two Rivers, Coming Backwards, Peace Now, Cenotaph and Tomorrow.
Taken from the album 'six of one & half a dozen of the other' by Henry Priestman& Les Glover. The video was actually unleashed on the 22nd June 2018.
There's also a few links below where you can check out other music from Henry & Les.
A Place They Called "Forgotten Town" Henry Priestman and Les Glover
(Les Glover & Henry Priestman)
The song is a reworking of the debut single by The Christians (1987, it reached #22 in the UK Charts) and was written by Henry Priestman, who was also a member of the band. The track was also featured on their self-titled Debut album that reached #2 on the UK Album Charts and spawned four other charting singles with Ideal World reaching the highest placing of #14.
Just in time for the start of their Australian Tour on the 14th May, Hardcore Canadian Punks Comeback Kid have released a cover version of the classic Midnight Oil song Beds Are Burning.
It's backed with Little Soldier which was left off of their sixth album, Outsider, that was released in 2017.
The band will be playing in the UK at the end of May as part of the Slam Dunk Festival: Leeds (North 26th May), Hatfield (South 27th May) and Birmingham (Midlands 28th May). For more Tour dates check out the list here.
Produced by Blessthefall, Tyler Smyth, Matt Good, Howard Benson Released 23rd March 2018
US Chart #54
Hard Feelings is the sixth studio album from Arizona Metalcore rockers Blessthefall and is their first for Rise Records.
I've been sitting on this one since it came out and finally got around to giving it a spin and man I'm impressed. There's a nice delicate balance of singing and that typical Metalcore Scream which actually makes the album a really listenable experience.
Produced by Austin Jenkins, Joshua Block and Charlie Hugall
Released 4th May 2018
Listen Here To Tracks from
Be More Kind
Songs on the Playlist above include:
Don't Worry (Live at SXSW 2018)
1933 (Album Version)
Little Changes (Promo Video)
Be More Kind (Album Version)
Make America Great Again (Promo Version)
There She Is (Live Acoustic Version)
Blackout (Promo Video)
Get It Right (Live Version with the bonus of Get Better from Swindon show in January 2018)
Personnel Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls
Frank Turner – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar Ben Lloyd – electric guitar, backing vocals Tarrant Anderson – bass guitar, backing vocals Matt Nasir – piano, organ, synthesizer, backing vocals Nigel Powell – drums and percussion, backing vocals
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Be More Kind is the seventh Studio Album from Frank Turner and once again he's backed by his impressive band The Sleeping Souls.
SΓͺan Reid of Already Heard awarded the album 2/5 stars, referring to the album's varied sonic palette as "uneasy and somewhat inconsistent" and stating that "Be More Kind is a record that requires patience, yet the musical substance that supports his empathetic lyrics makes for a difficult listen." I don't want to seem picky with a music critic but sometimes they just have to get their head out of their rear ends and just enjoy music for what it is, music, rather than trying to treat it as if it is some kind of world changing ideology to be pulled apart piece by piece at the Debate Society to make sure it fits with their own perspective on life!
I've listened to the album three times today and I really don't see how Frank's lyrics make this a "difficult listen", infact, I think this is some of the best Songwriting that Mr Turner has put out and there's an immediate connection for those who are maybe going through tough days and also a lovely sense of humanity, especially with the title track:
"In a world that has decided That it's going to lose its mind Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind"
There's nothing too "difficult" with that is there?
Frank is also one known to speak his mind a little and in Make America Great Again he sets it out clearly:
"Let's make America great again By making racists ashamed again Let's make compassion in fashion again Let's make America great again"
He won't be getting much love from the Republicans and the Alt-Right crowd for singing stuff like:
"Let's be a friend to our oldest friends And call them out when they're faltering"
The decision though, as to whether this is a good album or not, ultimately comes down to you and not the critic in his office tyring to make a buck for a living. For me, I think it's fabulous. It's a nice mix of sounds as well from the loud to the quiet and actually I sometimes prefer Frank Turner when he gets a bit quieter as the sheer quality of his lyrics shine through much better.
Never Gonna Die - Pennywise Epitaph Produced By Cameron Webb Released 20th April 2018
Formats include CD, Download, Blue Vinyl (USA) and Clear Vinyl (Europe)
Listen to Never Gonna Die Here:
Tracklist
A1 Never Gonna Die A2 American Lies A3 Keep Moving On A4 Live While You Can A5 We Set Fire A6 She Said A7 Can't Be Ignored B1 Goodbye Bad Times B2 A Little Hope B3 Won't Give Up The Fight B4 Can't Save You Now B5 All The Ways U Can Die B6 Listen B7 Something New
(All Songs and Music written by Pennywise)
Pennywise are:
Jim Lindberg – lead vocals Fletcher Dragge – guitar, backing vocals Randy Bradbury – bass, backing vocals Byron McMackin – drums, backing vocals
The album has taken awhile to record but was completed in 2017 and was announced for release back in March. It was released yesterday on Epitaph.
Some fascinating songs on the album show that they have clearly been keeping an eye on the current political climate in their homeland with songs like American Lies:
The political scene coming apart at the seams Its the end of the American Dream The temperature is ready to burst The future is not what it seems for the American Dream Time has come you know we can't stop it You know that the end is drawing near Knocked down the sound of it collapsing So loud no one can hear Mindless old tyrants do you hear the sirens song that will herald your demise excessive sessions on your transgressions we're all left sifting through the lies
and in particular A Little Hope and so clearly Can't Save You Now that seems like an outright attack upon the dishonesty of Trump: "All Your Lies Can't Save You Now!"
I'm really impressed with it and actually blasted through it a couple of times last night. Along with Anti-Flag's American Fall, Never Gonna Die is an excellent spotlight on the reaction of musicians to the desperate days they are living in under the reign of Trump!
First post after a wee break over the past couple of months. This has been mainly down to dealing with my epilepsy issues and a few of the side effects that come from the drugs I have to take that cause issues like lack of focus etc. I'm not making any great promises that I'm going to post everyday because sometimes that's not going to be possible. The other thing is I am probably not going to be doing big and indepth pieces as I just don't seem to have the capcity to concentrate for huge periods of time and so spending three hours researching and writing is going to be a thing of the past for the moment. Apologies to those who maybe come here looking for that!
Anyway, I thought I'd kick off the return to posting with The Damned's first studio album in a decade! Was pleased to hear that the album made #5 on the UK Album Chart on release.
Released as CD, Download, 2LP (45RPM), and in the USA 2LP (Deluxe Edition on Translucent Red Vinyl with 12 Art Prints)
Listen To Sleepwalkers Here:
Tracklist
A1 If Your Prayers Don't Get To Heaven 4:11 A2 Forget Me Not 3:49 A3 Come Wander With Me 3:58 B1 Etta James 4:50 B2 Her Majesty's Service 4:21 B3 Proof Of Life 3:48 C1 Little Nightmares 4:34 C2 Sleepwalkers 3:47 C3 My Name Is The Night (Color Me Black) 3:49 D1 Neptune 5:21 D2 Watson 4:21 D3 See You On The Other Side 4:05
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The second Solo Album from Brian Fallon I think is actually better than the first (Painkillers - 2015) and actually reminds me of the band he fronted (before going solo), The Gaslight Anthem (who have been on hiatus since 2015 but have been reactivated for some up and coming shows, see more below).
I won't say anything more about the album except that I really do like it a lot and I prefer to let the music speak for itself, so go on and have a listen (and if you want reviews there are some links down below). I highly recommend the album, and the fact that it's on my blog is clear enough that it must be good!
Brian Fallon Talks About New Music and The Gaslight Anthem Reunion with New Jersey 101.5
After a three year hiatus following the release and tour for their last album Get Hurt in 2015, The Gaslight Anthem are returning to play some shows to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the release of their most successful (saleswise) album The '59 Sound. Dates for the Tour you can find by CLICKING HERE.
ππππ Elektra Produced by Dave Cobb Released 12th January 2018
The Playlist doesn't contain the whole album but selected songs performed live* or are a Promo Video**.
On the Playlist is:
King For A Day*
This Too Shall Last*
House Is A Building*
Sorry You're Sick*
Girlfriend**
All On My Mind**
Side 1
Sorry You're Sick is a Cover Version of a Ted Hawkins song from the 1982 album Watch Your Step.
Side 2
Somebody Pick Up My Pieces is a Cover Version of a Willie Nelson song that he performed with Emmylou Harris.
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So, the first album of 2018 that I'm giving some props to comes from Anderson East. I was aware of him a little as he co-wrote a couple of songs and sang on Miranda Lambert's latest album (The Weight of These Wings) and also has connections with Chris Stapleton and Holly Williams.
His own music I have to confess I am quite unaware of before this latest album (he has two self-released albums and his major label Debut Delilah from 2015).
What drew me to him at first was I had heard a cover of Sorry You're Sick, which is an old Ted Hawkins song (and I love the music of Ted Hawkins) and was struck by how soulful it was and how it sounded almost borderline like "Wicked" Wilson Pickett! For a guy who is connected to the world of Country Music to sound that good meant I should further investigate.
Hopefully from the short Playlist above you'll get a bit of a feel for how good this album is. It's a real combination of sounds ranging from Southern Soul, R&B, Country, blues and folk roots rock. It's fascinating stuff and I think even from the first month of the year that this is going to be an album that is going to get a lot of play in our house.
Great songwriting and musicianship and another feather in the cap for producer Dave Cobb, who has produced Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Zac Brown Band and Amanda Shires (to name but a few) and also he produced the excellent Southern Family album that was released in 2016.