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
Merrick’s Tusk “Between The Earth And The Trees” Merrick’s Tusk have released their debut album, titled “Between The Earth And The Trees.” A lot of this album (especially a few tracks in particular) shows the band’s more aggressive side. Opener “Reform” shows that clearly with harder instrumentals and shouted vocals, “Hold The Waves” brings some great dynamics in both departments, and “At Your Best” makes a very powerful closer. In contrast, the band have a lot of melodic elements in their sound too, shown in the ambient and captivating interludes “The Earth” and ‘The Trees,” emotional single “Blueprint,” passionate and energetic “Never Enough” and “Untethered,” and the five minute ballad “Persist,” a track that really stands out from the rest of the record. “Turn Out The Lights” allows the drums and bass to really show off and provides a great balance of sung and shouted vocals, and while “The Ache” is much more melodic in regards to the vocals, there is still some aggression shown through the breakdown later on, and both tracks do a great job of combining everything this album has to offer. On “Between The Earth And The Trees,” Merrick’s Tusk show how unique their sound is through many creative and interesting songs. Stickup Kid “Soul Drive” Stickup Kid have released their first record in six years, titled “Soul Drive.” The album has plenty of energetic tracks that are reminiscent of their previous material, from the passionate title track “Soul Drive,” memorable “The Acrobat” and “Real Time” to the vocally impressive “Draining” and “You Were All Mine” and two tracks that show off their various influences - “House’s Head, Wilson’s Heart” leaning towards the pop punk side and “Alone In Japan” incorporating some emo and post-hardcore elements.The other three tracks on the record slow things down a little bit, but still stand out just as much. “Moonlight” really allows the vocals to shine during its huge chorus, while the vocal performance in “Heaven” is full of soul and emotion, and the acoustically driven ballad “The Waiting Room” allows the instrumentals to shine just as much as the vocals. Stickup Kid have made a great comeback with “Soul Drive,” filled with memorable moments from start to finish. Weatherstate “Born A Cynic” Weatherstate have released their debut LP, “Born A Cynic.” The band definitely incorporates a lot of punk elements in their music, from the energetic opener ghost, darker “Brain Dead” to the short but sweet lead single “Rotten Lungs” and slightly slower “Arteries.” Out of all the tracks on this album, however, “Rented Space” seems to show these influences the most through the furious instrumentals and raw vocals that really take the spotlight. There are also some slight pop punk influences found throughout the record, such as the catchy closer “Cynic,” instrumentally strong “Medicate,” harder hitting single “Barely Human” and captivating “Sympathy.” The remaining two tracks on the album slow things down a bit, but still contain the elements found throughout the album, with the memorable pre-chorus and chorus in “Emma Lynn” and the extremely catchy melodies found in “Nothing Matters If You Try.” Weatherstate put the “punk” back in pop punk, and put a unique twist on the genre that really makes their debut album stand out. EPs Cosmic Ninja “Cosmic Ninja” Around halfway through the month, Cosmic Ninja released their self-titled debut EP. The band combines various elements of pop and rock, and I think each track on here shows off what makes up their sound. Opener “Yeah Right” begins with soft, echoing vocals and synths to lead the intro before the harder instrumentals kick in to bring more energy to the track, while the vocals deliver a captivating performance. The song does a good job of mixing the pop and rock influences, especially when they all blend together in the chorus. “We Got Up” leans a lot more towards the pop side and really lets those influences shine; at least instrumentally as a lot of synths and electronics drive the song along with the drums. Lead single “Sympathy” closes out this EP and incorporates everything the last two tracks had to offer. The synths and drums drive the energy yet again, the vocals deliver great melodies and harmonies, and the extremely catchy chorus is similar to that on the opening track, perfectly mixing all the influences in the band’s sound. With their self-titled EP, Cosmic Ninja perfectly balance pieces of pop and rock and have created a pretty unique release with it. Like Satellites “Nothing Left To Say” Just a week after the previously discussed EP was released, Like Satellites also released their debut EP, titled “Nothing Left To Say.” It begins with the very strong opener “Catch My Breath,” which is extremely catchy all throughout, followed by “Renegade,” which starts out on the softer side with some cleaner guitars before the harder instrumentals kick in to prepare for a huge chorus with a fantastic vocal performance. “Take This” is quite similar to the opener, also being very catchy from start to finish, but also shows off the pop punk influences and delivers some unique melodies that make it one of my personal favorites on here, and closing track “CA” includes one of the strongest vocal performances on the release. The band also slows things down a bit with a couple of ballads. The cleaner guitars in “Anchor” allow the drums, bass and vocals to show off a bit more, and the powerful chorus really adds to the track, while “Homesick” is the same, starting out with similar instrumentals and gradually building up to be a more upbeat and hard hitting pop punk ballad, and the chorus found on this track is one of the most memorable on the whole EP. With ”Nothing Left To Say,” Like Satellites combine various influences of pop punk and pop rock to create a truly memorable debut. Noise Brigade “Find What You Love And Let It Consume You” Noise Brigade have released their latest EP, “Find What You Love And Let It Consume You.” Powerful opener “Kokiri” kicks things off strong with its infectious energy and catchy instrumentals and melodies, while the following track “Splitting Poles” goes down a similar route, delivering such a memorable chorus, as well as slightly darker instrumentation to make it stand out. The midpoint track “Color In” is one of my personal favorites on the EP, showing more pop punk influences, as well as allowing both vocalists to show off their different vocal styles as the song leads up to the chorus, which is as catchy on those on the previous tracks. Second to last is another standout, “Cognizant,” a track where the vocal performance really stands out, and where the instrumentals show some great dynamics, knowing when to come in for a harder hitting section and when to take a step back., and the closing track “Sure Thing” allows the bass and cleaner guitars to shine a bit as the song leads up to its huge chorus, and the track overall is a pretty good way to close out the EP. Saver “The Last Step In Leaving” Saver have released their latest EP, “The Last Step In Leaving.” Opener “Parades” is a lot more laid back and gives off a more chill and ambient vibe, beginning with some acoustic guitar before softer vocals deliver memorable melodies and harmonies. Three tracks later on are a bit similar in that aspect, with “Would’ve Killed You” being acoustically driven as well before harder instrumentals come in and bring more emphasis to the track, “Clarity” adding in some piano parts, and “Toronto” really allowing the instrumentals to shine. While these songs show off one side of Saver’s sound, the other half of this release contrasts quite a bit from these tracks. “Dreams > Wanting” hits hard right from the get go, bringing some darker composition and a huge chorus with a vocal performance that really stands out, “Dead By 25” brings so much energy (especially through the drumming) and emotion, and closing track “Wishing Well” shows some of the emo and alternative rock influences in Saver’s music (and also makes a good closer). Saver has created some very interesting tracks and as a whole, “The First Step In Leaving” is a very captivating release.
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