REVIEWS
There’s plenty of music released every single month, and with each Monthly Music Roundup article, we share some quick reviews of several releases from throughout the month that we personally enjoyed and want to cover. ALBUMS
As December Falls “As December Falls” As December Falls have released their long-awaited debut full-length, and the main thing I can say about it right off the bat is it absolutely blew me away. The album is filled with plenty of upbeat tracks, such as the opener “On The Edge,” the guitar driven “Don’t Say A Word,” and the anthemic “Ride,” one of my personal favorites on the entire record. A few of the others on here are a bit slower but still bring quite a bit of energy, from the captivating “I Don’t Mind” and instrumentally impressive “Bad For You” and “Do You Remember” to the incredible closer “From The Start.” While a large amount of the songs are similar to each other in regards to the overall sound and style, there are still quite a few standouts as far as that goes: darker tracks like “Break Your Heart” and “Tired” and more pop punk influenced numbers like “More To You,” “Zombie,” and “No Money.” Not only does each and every song show the band’s large amount of talent, but each and every song stuck out individually for one reason or another, making As December Falls’ self-titled debut a fantastic and very impressive release. Milencolin “SOS” Milencolin released their latest record, “SOS,” around halfway through the month. After being pleasantly surprised by the singles, I checked the full album out, and was pretty impressed with what I heard. “Nothing,” “Yanny & Laurel,” and the title track really show the band’s punk leaning influences, and also incorporate some memorable melodies and choruses into the darker composition. Quite a few others on here (with some examples being “Let It Be,” “Dramatic Planet,” “Caveman’s Land,” “Carry On,” “Sour Days,” and “For Yesterday”) all have similar aspects, while also bringing energetic and overall impressive instrumentals, especially the guitars and drums. As far as the musicality of the release goes, there were a few moments that stood out to me from the rest, from the harsher vocals in “Do You Want War” to the dark and captivating performances in “Trumpets & Poutine” and the more pop punk leaning and really nostalgic elements in “Reach You.” “SOS” as a whole is full of so much energy and passion, all of which make it a great release for Milencolin. MILKK “Headrush” MILKK are a band that’s gained a lot of popularity since releasing a string of EPs in 2018, with their debut album “Headrush” receiving a lot of hype and anticipation that I will confidently say it definitely deserves. Opener “90’s Baby” shows the band tell a bit of a story through the lyrical content, followed by the catchy and memorable “Unsaid” and “Here In My Head” and the fairly upbeat single “Thinkin About U,” with piano, synths and drums primarily leading that rhythm rather than guitars. The band slow things down a little bit for a few tracks, from “Honest” and ballad “Stupid” to the acoustically driven “I Thought I Lost You” and the entrancing six-minute long closer “Annalise.” Though the band solidifies their sound on this record, they also experiment a bit with some other styles and influences, from the more pop leaning “The Garden (I’ll Be Alright)” and “HEADRUSH” to the more rock leaning “Mean To You” and “Up On Us.” These songs are not only memorable and enjoyable, but they also show what MILKK is capable of, making “HEADRUSH” a great debut full-length for them. Outline In Color “Outline In Color” After a few years away, Outline In Color are back with their latest release, their self-titled LP. While this record has many moments of experimentation across all of its tracks, there are quite a few moments that are reminiscent of the band’s earlier material, and more specifically, the heavier elements from those songs. “Killing Season,” brings aggression right off the bat through impressive guitars and drums, and “Smother Me” provides some of the heaviest vocals and instrumentals the album has to offer. A lot of the remainder of this album mixes that aggression with some of the more melodic elements the band are experimenting with, like the opener “Not Enough,” the energetic “Spark,” “Dust,” and “A Living Nightmare,” and memorable “Vulture” and “Broken Record.” There are a few others that differ from the rest in terms of sound and structure. “Absence Of Control” is a piano led interlude, with the emotional vocals perfectly matching those dark piano parts and the extra instrumentals added in bringing more drama and emphasis as the track continues, making it a very captivating listen, and the vocals in “Dissolve” show similar amounts of emotion and passion. “Barely Hunan” mixes various subgenres of metalcore and hardcore in the vocal style and performance, and speaking of mixing genres, rapper Kyle Lucas does a feature that fits perfectly on the aggressive “The Stakes.” “Outline In Color” was worth the three year wait and as a whole, it’s another solid release in the band’s discography. Small Talks “A Conversation Between Us” At the beginning of the month, Small Talks released their debut full-length, “A Conversation Between Us.” This is a band I’d heard so much about, especially in the past several months, and I found their debut to be impressive and interesting. What I love about this record is how it combines multiple different styles and influences. From traces of indie and alternative (Anybody, Teeth, Quiet Sounds, Better For It) to hard hitting pop rock (the guitar driven Oceans and well-written single Nicotine & Tangerines), to softer moments (such as the ambient and atmospheric Bed and piano led ballad Never Made It) and other tracks that tie it all together, like the upbeat fan favorite Honeydew and Thinking Of The Sun, which mixes softer and harder instrumentals. Small Talks dare to be different, and it shows clearly on their well-crafted debut. EPs FELICITY “Old Habits” FELICITY are another band I’ve seen a lot of hype for in recent months, and the songs on this EP just prove why it’s getting as much buzz as it is. Songs like the catchy closer “Weekend Worrier,” single “The City Beautiful” and opener “Trigger Happy” show the band return to their pop punk roots while also throwing some easycore influences into the mix. Some of the standout moments for me on this EP come from the remaining tracks, from the dark composition and aggression found in “Circles” to the infectious energy and chorus of “Tough Luck” and impressive vocals on “Call Sign.” “Old Habits” is an EP that mixes elements of the band’s older material with other influences and styles under the pop punk and alternative umbrellas, and is one of FELICITY’s best releases to date. SAWCE “Bedtime Stories” Towards the end of the month, SAWCE released their latest EP, “Bedtime Stories.” While this type of music isn’t something I typically listen to, I still found this EP to be a pretty enjoyable release. There are a couple of upbeat tracks on here, such as the second to last track “Good Set,” with some incredible guitar and bass riffs, and the very catchy “Good Morning,” which has great dynamics and a perfect mix of louder and softer sections. The middle track on this EP, “Mouth Noises,” is pretty energetic as well, and is probably one of the biggest standouts on the whole thing. The song adds in some vocalist from guest Tom Etts, and the performance fits perfectly on the track. In contrast, the remaining tracks are a lot more ambient - closer “Sleep Tight” and opener “Sweet Dreams,” bringing impressive instrumentals. Both of these songs have more of a chill and laid-back vibe compared to some of the rest of this EP, providing a bit of balance and variation for the release. The impressive instrumentals and overall experimentation found throughout these five tracks make “Bedtime Stories” a pretty good release for SAWCE.
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