popwreckoning

Gearing up for a summer tour in support of their new album Hell Is What You Make It on July 12, Breathe Carolina is ready to showcase some fun dance-floor anthems.

The Rockstar Presents The Scream It Like You Mean It Tour will kick off on July 15 in Seattle, WA at El Corazon, heading across North America and finishing with a homecoming show for the band in Denver, CO. Direct support comes from Chiodos, as well as I See Stars, The Color Morale, Tek-One, and The Air I Breathe.

The band’s new album was recorded with producers Ian Kirkpatrick (Plain White T’s, Neon Trees) and Matt Squire (Panic At The Disco, 3OH!3, All Time Low) and is featured as one of Alternative Press’ 100 Most Anticipated Albums of 2011.

Visit their site here to listen to a clip of “Wooly” from the new album.

And check out their official website www.HellIsWhatYouMakeIt.com for a complete list of tour dates that trek all across the U.S.

While listening to Miniature Tigers‘ Tell It To the Volcano, the two adjectives that seemed to stand out the most in my observations were awkward and endearing. Ironically, the latter adjective was used to describe their debut EPs, Black and White Magic by music magazine Death +Taxes. I wish not to sound repetitive, but I don’t honestly think there is a better way to illustrate this band verbally.

They’re cute, quirky, and comical (musically, that is…I’ve never met them personally to be capable of assuming so), and all of the typical adjectives associated with their roots. Two years prior to the release of their aforementioned dual disc EP, Rolling Stone gave them a nod on their list of the “25 Hottest Bands On MySpace.” Not to classify them as a “MySpace band” or anything to that extreme, but let’s be straight; MySpace has helped a lot of bands make it big and many of them sound stylistically similar to Miniature Tigers. Examples include Hellogoodbye, Say Anything, and Plain White Ts….you get the picture. It’s not that they are essentially the same, they just noticeably came from a similar mold. It’s not just the catchy indie-pop tunes, it’s the “awkwardly endearing” quality.

Their lyrics are heavily sardonic (similar to the aforementioned Say Anything), laden with extraneous metaphors, and over dramatized exaggerations. Their instrumentation, however was very difficult to throw myself into. Maybe it’s their somewhat mellow nature; whimsical and slightly redundant, punctuated by often strange noises (very Hellogoodbye-esque, except Hellogoodbye is a bit more up tempo and diverse), but they just didn’t personally get me going. If you happen to dig the typical “MySpace indie” sound, then I would definitely recommend this album to you. The band has been recognized by various publications, including SPIN magazine’s “9 Hottest New Bands Playing CMJ 2008″ and has toured with the likes of Ben Folds and Popwreckoning favorite Kevin Devine, as well as substituting their own lead guitarist with Phantom Planet’s Darren Robinson in the earlier part of this year.

The band is currently touring to promote the album.

Track listing:
01. Cannibal Queen
02. Like Or Like Like
03. Dino Damage
04. Tell It To The Volcano
05. Hot Venom
06. Tchaikovsky & Solitude
07. The Wolf
08. Giraffe
09. Annie Oakley
10. Haunted Pyramid
11. Last Night’s Fake Blood

Miniature Tigers: website | myspace | @ electric factory | @ jackpot