popwreckoning

Awesome New Republic, a band from Miami consisting of Michael John Hancock and Brian Robertson, will be releasing their second album this October 27. The title of their sophomore album is Hearts. Hearts is an eleven track record filled with electronic-disco-indie music.

On Awesome New Republic’s MySpace, you can hear four of the tracks (“Birthday,” “Alleycat,” “Digital World,” “Dark Water”) that will be coming out on their album this month. If I had to compare them to any band out there, I would have to say they sound like Under The Influence Of Giants (UTFOG), so if you’re a UTFOG fan you’re going to love Awesome New Republic.

The album title track “Hearts” sticks out not only because it’s the name of the album, but because it’s a retro sounding dance love song. On the entire album, you can find other tracks that have that same retro sound to them. Most of the vocals have that high pitch that the BeeGees made popular through Disco, mashed together with modern day electronic music.

Tracklisting:
01. Whatever
02. Dances When
03. Alleycat
04. Birthday
05. Digital World
06. Footstomping Decay
07. Dark Water
08. Deep Love
09. Last Drop
10. Wheels, No Engines
11. Hearts

Awesome New Republic: website | myspace

The former singer/guitarist for Taking Back Sunday, John Nolan, left the band with Taking Back Sunday’s bassist Shaun Cooper to start a new band called Straylight Run. John Nolan then went on to start a solo project and will be releasing his fist solo album on October 27, 2009. After just looking at the cover of the album, the album caught my attention. The album cover artwork is of a paint-picture of someone jumping up in the air, barefoot, and in a calm grass clearing.

Once I found out that John Nolan was formally a part of the band Taking Back Sunday, I had a biased opinion towards him (I strongly dislike Taking Back Sunday). However, once I listened to the album all the way through, my bad thought about him vanished… for the most part. The first three tracks on the album start off nicely. But the two tracks after are not a good follow up.

The first track “The End of The Beginning” is about a one-minute long intro musical piece that sets up for the song “Til its Done To Death,” which is by far my favorite song on the album. It is a mellow song that has a catchy beat and choirs that leaves you singing along to the music.

The last few tracts are definitely worth going out and listening to. There were only two bad apples in my opinion on the album. “Here I Am” is one of the latter tracks that resembles that of the music Pink Floyd used to create.

So get to it and have your self a gander. Height is available Oct. 27.

Tracklisting:
01. Till It s Done To Death
02. I Don t Believe You
03. Screaming Into The Wind
04. It Takes A Long Time
05. Here I Am
06. Not To Let Go
07. Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In Hand
08. I Won’t Ever Be There
09. Keep Calm And Carry On

John Nolan: myspace

Since Ludo took a break, Tim Ferrell, Tim Convy and Matt Palermo got together to start another band and are calling themselves New Heathers.

Their name comes from the Jack Kerouac book called “The Dharma Bums.” The New Heathers released a six track EP titled The Fuel, The Fire, The Spark in September and can now be purchased on iTunes.

Coming from the modern rock band Ludo, New Heathers have a more different sound to their music. Compared to Ludo’s darker sound, the New Heathers have a much happier and poppy sound to their music.

After listening to the EP, I was not to thrilled by it. The vocals have too much of a Broadway musical feel to it. I do not recommend it if you do not like musicals.

Tracklisting:
01. Agatha
02. Mr. Green Blades
03. The Fuel, The Fire, The Spark
04. Start
05. Hammer & Chisel
06. Santa Rosa

The New Heathers: website | myspace

Matisyahu has released his newest album Light already this year and it is just as good, if not better than his first album that came out in 2006. It is evident in Matisyahu’s first few tracks on his new album Light, that his craft, and style of music has evolved. All music changes from album to album, and after listening to both of his, there is a profound difference in his sound. However, even though his music has changed (not too dramatically by the way), his message remains constant. I have noticed that Matisyahu is very inspired by overcoming obstacles and self-empowerment. These ideas are very much embedded in his music.

The first track of the album titled “Smash Lies,” is proof of his meaningful messages. The main line in the song that is repeated is “Dream away!” It speaks of dreaming big and not letting the little things (smashing lies) hold you back.

The song “One Day,” Matisyahu’s newest single, is a song about how that one day the world will be without war, starvation, and other viruses such as these, that have infected out world. After listing to this Reggae ballad, I have found that he has added a splash of the essence that you can find in all of Bob Marley‘s music. These must have been a key factor in determining that this song would be the single.

A good part of the album Light is made up of R&B-Reggae as apposed to Matisyahu’s last album that was primarily Rap-Reggae, and I like it. He did still manage to keep his rap in his record, but the fact that he ventured out into R&B for this album is impressive. Especially because he did a hell of a job. My personal favorite song on the album is “On Nature.” It is oh so very good. I will leave it up to you to check the song out!

Tracklisting:
01. Smash Lies
02. We Will Walk
03. One Day (New Album Version)
04. Escape
05. So Hi So Lo
06. I Will Be Light
07. For You
08. On Nature
09. Motivate
10. Struggla
11. Darkness Into Light
12. Thunder
13. Silence

Tour dates:
Oct. 17 – Flames Central / Calgary, CAN
Oct. 18 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver, CAN
Oct. 19 – McDonald Theatre / Eugene, OR
Oct. 20 – The Catalyst / Santa Cruz, CA
Oct. 21 – House of Blues / Anaheim, CA
Oct. 22 – The Fillmore / San Francisco, CA
Oct. 24 – Kick Gas Festival / San Diego, CA
Oct. 25 – Marquee Theatre / Tempe, AZ
Oct. 27 – The Fillmore / Denver, CO
Oct. 29 – Peoples / Des Moines, IA
Oct. 31 – Pabst Theater / Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 2 – The Pageant / St. Louis, MO
Nov. 3 – House of Blues / Chicago, IL
Nov. 4 – Foellinger Auditorium (University of Illinois) / Champaign, IL
Nov. 5 – Slowdown / Omaha, NE
Nov. 8 – House of Blues / New Orleans, LA
Nov. 10 – The Lincoln Theatre / Raleigh, NC
Nov. 11 – Fillmore / Charlotte, NC
Nov. 12 – The Handlebar / Greenville, SC
Nov. 14 – Music Farm / Charleston, SC
Nov. 15 – The Orange Peel / Asheville, NC
Nov. 16 – Buster’s / Lexington, KY
Nov. 17 – The Norva / Norfolk, VA
Nov. 18 – The National / Richmond, VA
Nov. 19 – House of Blues / Myrtle Beach, SC
Nov. 21 – Sonar / Baltimore, MD
Nov. 22 – The Palladium / Worcester, MA
Nov. 23 – Higher Ground / Burlington, VT
Nov. 24 – Northern Lights / Albany, NY
Nov. 25 – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue / Washington, DC
Nov. 28 – The Borgata / Atlantic City, NJ
Nov. 29 – Le Medley / Montreal, CAN
Nov. 30 – The Phoenix / Toronto, CAN 
Dec. 1 – Webster Theatre / Hartford, CT
Dec. 2 – House of Blues / Cleveland, OH
Dec. 3 – Bogart’s / Cincinnati, OH
Dec. 7 – St. Andrews / Detroit, MI
Dec. 8 – The Armory / Rochester, NY

Matisyahu: website | myspace | interview | @ crossroads