For all Blink-182 fans looking forward to a possible follow-up to the band’s 2012 EP Dogs Eating Dogs, it seems as though this dreams may not come true as soon as once thought. According to past interviews and information from the band’s members, Blink-182 should have begun to record their next album already, but it has become evident that guitarist Tom Delonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Travis Barker have failed to meet up in the studio yet.

In a recent interview with Noisey, Barker expressed that meeting and attempting to record new music with Hoppus and Delonge has been a “challenge,” but regardless, he can’t wait set a time to hit the studio that works for all of them. Barker hopes that the band can still meet up to record before playing the Reading and Leeds music festivals this summer. Despite his confidence in that there will be a follow-up record in the near future, Barker didn’t necessarily show full confidence as to if Blink would be able to release new music as soon as late spring/ early summer like originally planned. Check out part of the interview below:

Are there any ideas of where you’re going musically with the Blink stuff, I know you are doing Reading and Leeds so originally there was talk of that deadline?
I definitely wanted new stuff, it’s just not everything worked out to where in the band could be available to record new stuff, so it’s been kind of a challenge.

How much does it keep music fresh for you then, to be able to do all these different projects?
When I was home, I played on a Rusko song, I played on something for Datsik, I played on a bunch of albums all week long because the end of the day, man, Blink, you gotta have three people that are all willing to record and write music at the same time. If it can’t happen, that can’t be the end of the world for me. I gotta have other stuff to do or I would fucking claw my eyes out. So being with the Transplants, working on my solo album, until the stars align for Blink to be in the studio I gotta just stay busy. We’re supposed to go in before Reading or Leeds sometime so hopefully it happens.

Check out the full interview here:

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/travis-barker-just-keeps-going

After a three year gap since last releasing new music in 2011, Worcester, Dan O’Connor from MA-based rock band Four Year Strong recently announced in an interview with AbsolutePunk that the band plans to release a new album this summer, which as of now is untitled. O’Connor was also excited to announce that it seems as though they will be releasing this new music in a more DIY (do-it-yourself) fashion. At the moment, Four Year Strong are writing the new record and planning to record and release it without the help of a major label after having dropped from their previous label Universal Motown/Universal Republic in 2012. Check out the full interview over at AbsolutePunk here: 

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=3694021

This morning at 12:30 am, March 13, 2014, two people were killed and 23 others were injured after a serious incident at the South By Southwest Festival involving a drunk driver. Austin, TX police later confirmed that a lone male driver heavily under the influence of alcohol drove his Toyota Civic through a temporary barricade and into the middle of a busy street filled with other cars and people there for the nearby SXSW events.  The Austin police have taken the suspect into custody, and he will be charged with two accounts of capital murder along with 23 counts of aggravated assault.  Rolling Stone has a full account of this tragedy. Read the full article by clicking on the link below:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/2-dead-21-injured-in-sxsw-hit-and-run-20140313

If you don’t already know, South By Southwest, more commonly abbreviated as SXSW, is a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that takes place every year in early March in Austin, Texas. As of March 6, 2014, this year’s festival is in full swing, and off to a great start. Thus far, this immense occurrence has had an impressive amount of stars and guest speakers, such as fugitive National Security Agency leaker, Edward Snowden, and, specifically within the music scene, the festival is flaunting a lineup of some 2,000 bands and artists this year. What does this mean for music fans not within the Austin, TX area? Well luckily, thanks to the company running the festival, SXSW Inc., we have the opportunity to experience some of the activities going on at SXSW via live streaming of interviews, music, and conferences with artists including Neil Young, Lil Wayne, and Alex Ebert. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface. The website covering the events planned for SXSW has all of the information about performing artists, guests, and more to come in the following days. Check it out, Devils!

Check out showcasing artists:

http://schedule.sxsw.com/?conference=music&lsort=name&day=ALL&event_type=showcase

Check out the website as a whole:

http://sxsw.com/

For fans of: Of Mice and Men, Bring Me the Horizon, Woe, is Me

All different styles of music have been connected to critical stereotypes, and no genre is more plagued by cliches than metalcore. Cast off by many as a childish attempt to release some sort of ridiculous pre-teen angst characterized by dark clothing and ripped skinny jeans, in recent years the genre has been generalized as a stagnant pool of songs with generic metal riffs, whiny clean vocals, and unnecessarily explicit lyrics. Yet in every music scene that has ever faced a similar issue, there is always a group that tries to play the hero, to bring something new to the table, something fresh. In the metalcore scene, California/Georgia-based band Issues is looking to do just that by combining their super-produced metalcore background with three seemingly unlikely influences, R&B, nu-metal, and EDM.

In their follow-up to their 2012 EP Black Diamonds, Issues return with their daringly self-titled record that showcases twelve tracks on which the band overtly flaunts all of their diverse influences. With clean vocalist Tyler Carter’s unique, R&B-esque vocal melodies, Ty Acord’s impressive nu-metal-esque synth/ turntable-playing capabilities, as well as a vast background of experience from the other members of the band, Issues is successfully able to create a record that is not only unlike any other band on their label (Rise Records), but unlike any band in the metalcore genre as a whole.

Throughout all twelve of the songs, the band adequately appropriates and incorporates all of these seemingly uncombinable musical influences in a manner that allows for all members of the band to shine in their capabilities at several different moments. Despite all of the members showing off their different abilities, the grooves on the album are still very well composed, allowing for a record that is as melodically complex as it is relatively homogenous. The first single from the album “Stingray Affliction” boasts this strong cohesive ability as well as some of the best instrumentation and vocals on the record with Carter being able to go full-fledged with his R&B melodies during the bridge that feel boy-band-like, but in the best way possible.

While much of the album is very high-energy, it also contains more sentimental and emotional tracks, such as “Tears On The Runway (Pt. 2)” and “Disappear,” on which Carter appropriately demonstrates his notable vocal control. Carter also pushes his vocal capabilities in some songs, having parts where he uses more grit and force as to show how he can stray from his signature R&B tendencies. In addition to Carter’s clean vocals, screamer Michael Bohn expresses just how he has improved in his clear screaming pronunciation. In terms of instrumentation, guitarist AJ Rebollo is able to compose riffs that are unforgettably metalcore in nature but aptly fit the rhythms of the song to create some tracks that have excellent flow from section to section and guitar riff to guitar riff, such as on songs like “Life Of A Nine.” Working directly with the rhythms provided by Rebollo’s guitar riffs, drummer Josh Manuel, longtime YouTube drummer turned Issues member, spices up nearly all of the tracks as well with his extensive drumming capabilities. With a feel for grooves that suits the nature of the songs’ excellently, he forms the basis of a rhythm section that complements Issues wonderfully with Manuel being able to show off his abilities on tracks such as “The Langdon House.”

Structurally, the album is diverse as well. Some tracks have immediately catchy choruses and straightforward verse-chorus-verse structure such as on tracks like “Never Lose Your Flames,” which arguably has the catchiest chorus on the record, whereas other tracks have more complex orderings with divergent yet cohesive tangent sections. Many of these structural complexities come straight from the compositional and structuring talents of bass player Skyler Acord.

In terms of areas that could have improved, Bohn’s vocals, while having improved in their pronunciation, remains often times flat and monotone. Bohn does attempt to push his intense vocal grit to have some sort of melodic sense to it such as on the nu-metal-esque verses of “The Langdon House.” Unfortunately, this only leaves a desire for more as a well as creates a feeling of frustration where the listener may feel as though some songs have sections where Bohn is screaming for the sake of screaming such as on “The Settlement,” arguably the album’s weakest track. Additionally, while this is a metalcore band and heavy, open-note chugging has always been a definitive characteristic of the genre, these chugging metalcore tropes sometimes only serve to drag down certain parts of the album such as on “Never Lose Your Flames” with the breakdown at the end of the chorus and bridge breakdown ruining the otherwise pleasing fluidity of the track. Issues has the capacity for fluidity and cohesiveness as shown through many parts of the album, but the band must continue to even more acutely refine their appropriation and flow of heavy sections into more poppy sections and vice versa. But perhaps the band’s largest issue (pun-intended) lies within their initial goal: to create a record that combines multiple seemingly opposite genres. “Late,” while a catchy tune, showcases the forefront for this problem expressing just how difficult it is for the band to change from radio-ready pop to brutal metalcore without listeners sometimes questioning the transitions. In addition, the record constantly rushes from tracks that are more lyrically aggressive to tracks that are more emotional, creating a consistent conflict that makes the album seem as though it struggles with some form of musical multiple personality disorder.

Issues’ self-titled record is a massive improvement from their debut EP, an improvement made clear from the first listen. While the album struggles with a consolidation of interests and a focus on just exactly they want to accomplish in several instances, it is still an impressive effort. And Issues have undoubtedly accomplished at least one of their initial goals: they have created a record unlike any other in the metalcore scene. If Issues can continue to refine and consolidate their musical aspirations, the band will grow into prominence to become one of metalcore’s most unique and innovative acts.

Overall rating: 3/5

Last year, Nirvana’s last full length album In Utero turned twenty years old. In the spirit of the anniversary, a widely expanded 20th anniversary re-issue of the album was released that included unreleased demos, the original rough mixes of the record, and live recordings of Nirvana’s 1993 ‘Live and Loud’ performance. This re-issue sparked Toronto-based DIY label ‘Hand Drawn Dracula’ to release Milkin’ It, a tribute to the renowned album, featuring covers by some of the city’s best indie acts. Inspired by the idea to create a similar tribute album, Richmond, VA-based label ‘Robotic Empire’ has recently announced the release date of In Utero, In Tribute, In Entirety, another In Utero tribute record on which each track will be covered by a different artist. The artists on the tribute include acts such as Circa Survive, Thursday, Whirr, and many more. The album will be released on April 15th along with an exclusive vinyl/ physical copy version being released on April 19th, in conjunction with Record Store Day. Check out the full track listing of the tribute below:

1. Pygmy Lush – “Serve the Servants”
2. Circa Survive – “Scentless Apprentice”
3. These Arms Are Snakes – “Heart-Shaped Box” (last song released)
4. Thursday – “Rape Me” (last song released)
5. Jay Reatard – “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” (one of last songs before passing)
6. Young Widows – “Dumb”
7. Mean Jeans – “Very Ape”
8. Thou – “Milk It”
9. Whirr – “Pennyroyal Tea”
10. Daughters – “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter”
11. Ceremony – “Tourette’s”
12. Black Math Horseman – “All Apologies” (last song released)

Pandora, Spotify, and iTunes Radio face another formidable opponent in the subscription music service scene, Beats Music, which was made available in the US today – January 21st. Under the management of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine – record producer and music executive extraordinaire – the service is looking to expand the duo’s hugely successful ‘Beats by Dr. Dre’ headphones into a larger brand. The company hopes to capitalize on that success in exposing their service to the public, while simultaneously working to revolutionize the music streaming industry by being able to answer the question, “Which song should come next?”

Without knowing more about it, Beats Music might seem strikingly similar to other music subscription services like Spotify, offering the ability to stream and listen to as much music as anyone could want for the flat price of $10 a month. But where Beats Music diverges is in its ability to create a product that is impressively sleek, easy-to-use, and enticing, much like the unprecedentedly popular Beats headphones. Iovine, Dre, and “Chief Creative Officer” Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) are hoping the unique app experience will lure users into trying the service, which boasts a relatively original feature; where other, bland, heavily algorithm-based music subscription services fail to create a continuous playlist with any sense of cohesiveness or soul, Beats Music is looking to dominate with its ability to create a perfect personal playlist, curated by music experts, for everyone. As additional incentive, Beats Music offers a family account, up to five accounts, for $15, something currently not offered by any of its competitors.

What do you think, Devils? Are you open to change? Or will you stay loyal to Spotify or Pandora?