Beat Alley

Palpable and vibrating energy floated, swelling to the throb of the beats. An electronic pulse, contagious and intoxicating, spread from human to human. This vibe emanated from everyone involuntarily, an exhalation drawn painless and automatic from each body, a magnetic compulsion. The stimulus was electro-pop band Breathe Carolina and the response was massive.

This band is far more than a couple of singers and a supporting cast of musicians; it symbiotically swallows everyone within audible range and within feeling of the pulsating drum and bass combination to become an enormous amalgamation of beings with arms raised and feet bouncing, a dancing beast with an insatiable appetite for song upon song. This crowd does not merely enjoy this band, they adore them.

The Summit Music Hall in downtown Denver on August 26th was the final stop of the Scream It Like You Mean It tour for this duo and their supporting musicians; they traveled North America this summer and released their latest album Hell Is What You Make It on July 12th. Kyle Even and David Schmitt form the core that creatively and energetically nurture the existing force that is Breathe Carolina’s live presence.

Directly in front of the stage, behind the photographer’s aisle, there was a turbulent ocean of heads and hands entirely filling the main floor. Stairways flank this area and rise in toward the middle of the room reaching a square landing then turn as they ascend to the balcony. These stairs, the adjoining landings, and the entire balcony railing were lined with eager onlookers, jittering with anticipation. The artificial smoke machines belched bluish clouds and bubbles bobbed lazily over the throng that didn’t even budge when the last opening band finished. The lights extinguished in a blink and a thunderous din rattled the walls of the music hall.

From the opening beats the crowd surged and reacted to Breathe Carolina’s presence and vigor. A banner sporting the open eyeball design from the new album cover stared into the crowd with a green laser beam that skewered the smoke, both real and manufactured. A guitar player, DJ, and drummer blasted the celebrating crowd with electronic party rock beats forged with distorted and computerized sounds that lifted people from the floor in a bouncing and ceaseless dance. David, affectionately called D by Kyle, brought a guitar on stage and played it for the first few songs while utilizing his lilting voice that comfortably thrives in the stratosphere. Kyle graced the crowd with harmony and backup vocals in certain places, but his major contribution and appeal exists in the hardcore styled screams that he adds as emphasizing phrases, lines, and occasionally, entire verses. Serenading and screaming paired with an intense, churning guitar style and the relentless bass and drumming construct a sound that is simultaneously unique and enjoyable.

The guitar ditched to a stage hand, David bounced on his toes to the cadence of the songs while Kyle stood above the smoke on a monitor, chopping his free hand in and out in rhythmic kung fu to his growled lyrics. David wore an American flag tank top that brandished his tattoo sleeved arms, while Kyle sported a large grey tee shirt with only a letter C drawn to resemble a branch. Different styles of clothing and vocals, but together on the same musical path. They devoured one another’s liveliness, slingshot elasticity from one line to the next, first song to the last.

A weightless freefall, the musical intensity built and hair stood on end, adrenaline surged as the gut exploding beat dropped into the building, a meteor shattering the serenity of still water. The music tugged and released the spectators, a puppeteer in the rafters guiding them into a pounding frenzy then deliberately heaving them into a flowing groove. D shouted over echoes and noise building layer upon exciting layer, “On three, onetwothree!” He rushed the count as the crowd erupted into movement, not needing to be told when to go off like an explosion.

They ended the standard set with the new single Blackout, and the crowd shouted every word. The energy level that was already extreme elevated to a level that was previously untouched as the bouncing and jumping turned into bounding and leaping. It is a fun song that encourages the listener to surge with the beat and enjoy the catharsis that revelry and carousing allows. Instantly, a chant of “one more song” was raised when the final beat faded away. The band hadn’t even left the stage and the friends and family that had joined them during Blackout took up the mantra.

“I say fuck that, we’re playing two more songs!” A massive, clamoring yell filled the room as the band’s very first single Diamonds was launched with an emotion laden announcement. They were extremely grateful to the fans and it was portrayed in their performance, they didn’t simply pour themselves into these last few songs, they dumped every ounce and scrap of themselves into that encore. It was clear that this was a special show for them.

When the final song was finished and the house lights burned, the crowd buzzed as they crammed to the back of the floor toward the exit. The relatively cool air of the downtown streets was a relief to the sweat soaked, stuffy smell, the result of an active concert audience, and the echoes of the event thrived in their minds. Ears ringing, people singing, a shared experience already a memory.

MikeyKorpse – September, 2011

What do you get if you cross the Ramones with Blink-182? I am aware that this crosses generations, and, for the punk rock purists, it is borderline heresy, but this is what I think of while listening to the New Rochelles. Their pop punk bounce is driven by a classic punk grind and persuasion that makes their sound almost tolerable. The album goes by so quickly that you almost have to hear it again to make sure nothing was missed.

An upbeat record, the three man band put forth It’s New! in early August, 2011. The entire album is under twenty minutes long with only one song out of the twelve that is longer than 1:30. It is one Ramones influenced riff after another and the singer sings at the top of his range much the same as Mark Hoppus of Blink-182. To further the Ramones homage, all three members of the band have the last name Rochelle and even go as far as quipping, “Second verse, same as the first!” during the song Static Shock.

When it has been heard and digested, some of the funny lyrics hover in your mind, but the feel is corrupted by an almost bluntly stolen style, and there really isn’t anything remarkable or exciting. It is a quirky record, but it has been done before, and done better.

Five Finger Death Punch has a new single, Under and Over It.

We have heard this before, and it doesn’t sound new at all. There isn’t much variation from past singles in the bounding, drive of their head banging thunder, and there isn’t much to their lyrics…they certainly won’t be memorialized in the annals of rock history for their songwriting. Spinning positively, they have a consistent sound that will appeal to the unthinking metal head masses in the vein of Disturbed or Godsmack.

"You can be me and I can be you / you can live just like a star / I'll take my sanity you take the fame / I'm under and over it all." Well, if you are over it all, please, save us the headache of hearing yet another song that sounds like the last one and just go away…I am generally a fan of metal, but when it comes to 5FDP, I’m over it.

Punk rock has had an undeniable influence on the genre that spawned it. I believe its influence infiltrates most of popular rock today; from the radio friendly bubble–gum pop to the more underground independent alternative, the steady and solid backbeat still holds true and the angst driven lyrical protest is ever present. To play an authentic, spiked-collar-dyed-pink-mohawk punk rock song, you need a few chords, a fast drummer, a singer that doesn’t necessarily need to know how to sing, a creative bass player that can keep time with the drums, about two minutes, and enough attitude to make milk spoil. It is this core that is a catalyst to an eventual transformation that becomes the interwoven intricate influence that has permeated pop culture over the past few decades.

There is a common fiber running through the above described style and the folk rock of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s Both have frequently been utilized as a platform for social and political protest. On a much simpler level, they serve as catchy tunes that ignite a listener’s passion and provoke an emotional response. Additionally, both were generated by social outcasts living in the streets with nothing more than the company of friends and the prospect of some beers or some change from a passerby. It is this poignant genesis that holds a deep significance for many people.

Many bands, or the individuals involved, have morphed into something more than a punk rock band or a folk singer. Some may see this as selling out; I see it as maturing or moving forward. I love the gritty griminess of a raunchy, puke crusted punk catharsis, I also love the dirty, tangle haired hippie telling everybody to stop (Hey! What’s that sound?) and urging everybody to look at what’s going down. This being said, I equally love to hear a musician evolve from grime to genius. In many cases, a band will stick to their origins, but the individuals mature and incorporate learned influences in their tangent projects and imminent growth is reflected.

Chris Barker and Chris Head from Anti-Flag have teamed up with Roger Harvey from Dandelion Snow and Tyler Kweder from American Armada to form White Wives, a form of alt-punk folk rock fusion, exemplifying the afore described similarities. Their debut album Happeners was released June 28th.

The coy and authentic declarations instantly disarm the listener, and produce intriguing notions: "I found my true love in the sky above back roads / and we will follow her down in my head, the unknown / the music comes into our mind and helps up grow / the things we substitute to let our sorrow go / I'll always listen to the ones I love the most / our wires crossed, their absolutes turn into smoke." (Let It Go). These lyrical sensibilities drag nostalgic memories forth that might not even be your own. You are left feeling a pit-of-the-belly warmth that is only present when you recall a particular pleasant reminiscence. "I wanna sing for you / the way you sang to me / on milk crates in our garage / when I was only fifteen...it meant everything." (Hallelujah, I'm Mourning).

They create a full sound that leaves no corner of the musical spectrum obscured. Starting with a skeleton of punching percussion and drifting string picking, momentum builds and the bass driven musculature is held taught with the consistent drums and persistent guitar, finally the thoughtful lyric and stylish jam is added to flesh out the bit to form a living, corporeal arrangement. By the time they reach second verses, these songs are fully developed and active, yet there is still a surprise bridge segment that delivers you to another plane. The songs are immaculate and well thought out, from the catchy and fantastic bass flip dripping into the chorus of Hungry Ghosts to the guitar distortion on Let It Go that sounds as if the instrument is being played underwater.

I think the overall message of this album is that times are forbidding, but we have our lives and our good times to persevere. It is a snapshot of what it is like to be alive in this era. This is a fantastic album, for those who enjoy a little aggressive scratching dissonance and those that like a floating acoustic groove, this is a mixture of all of that and more. It is a stunning concoction that will remain with the listener after the final feedback squeal has faded at the end.

Nowadays, when the word ‘metal’ is used to describe a genre of music, the first thing that usually comes to mind is snarly, incoherent singing and loud, slamming drums accompanied by a fast distorted guitar. If you are a fan, this might seem like face melting bliss, but let’s face it, this does not appeal to everyone; in fact, I would venture to say that it doesn’t appeal to more people than it does. Anymore, you can’t even say that you like plain old metal because it has so many subcategories that the long-hair that lives in the basement will ask you to elaborate with something like Black Metal, or Hardcore, or, heaven forbid, Pop-Metal (oxymoronic or just moronic? You be the judge…;).

Me, I am a fan of what I like to call Pure Metal, I know this sounds like a compilation album of hair band power ballads that you purchase off of late night infomercials, but hear me out. This is not a recognized distinction of the genre, and it encompasses more than one of the subgroups. I consider it to be a more classic form of metal than that which is popular at this moment. I tend to enjoy being able to understand almost all of the lyrics and if you have a talented singer that is able to lilt as well as scream, the emotion is taken to another level. I also think that there is nothing sexier than a shredding guitar solo amid crunching riffs and tumbling drum fills.

I think that I have created a perfect niche that fits the style of Crown the Lost entirely. They have elements of 80’s thrash speed and transitions, harmonic vocals and guitar styling not uncommon on a Priest or Maiden album, and the earsplitting scream that symbolizes the modern evolution of the genre. They accelerate with a battering riff that crashes into a flow of melodious guitars, and then they are able to combine the two sounds to create an aggressive tune that evolves the song.

Slated for release on July 19, 2011, Crown the Lost has put forth the album Cold Pestilent Hope through Gas Can Music. It is a loud and crunching album complete with evil and dark lyrics. The song of focus, Separate Blood from Waste, is no exception. The beginning scratching rip of the guitar riff immediately seizes the listener who is subsequently drawn further into the abattoir when the second guitar comes in with a spiraling solo that culminates in a wailing vocal. This vocal is the main thread of the entire album; it is supported by a sort of gang vocal that appears as a snarl along with a throaty roar that emphasizes the malevolent nature of the songs.

A good metal song, and entire album for that matter, reminds me of a factory full of machinery churning at full capacity. Mechanical parts grinding and slamming in a driving rhythm that is absolute and unstoppable, it is loud and dirty with choking smoke, flying sparks, oozing grease, and dancing flames. There is a symphonic flow to the way the parts work together, it is beautiful chaos with the parts working together to create a melody from the pandemonium, a crimson rose growing in ashes. The instrumental Solitude and Failure could be this place.

For the most part, Crown the Lost has crafted a fine album. They have a haunting sound with their harmonized lyrics and guitars, shredding solos and a throbbing, continuous backbeat, although the transitions can be bit awkward at times. In a genre where incoherent screaming has become the norm, it is refreshing to hear someone actually making an effort to sing and by doing so, pay homage to the legends that created today's heavy metal sound. It sounds like a pleasant blast from the 80's metal past...the good aspects, not the indulgent, self glorifying, cross dressing, hair stuff.

New Jersey based band, Set It Free, will released their self titled debut EP on July 5th, 2011 through Gas Can Music. The five songs top out just shy of seventeen minutes, with Forget the Past as the song of focus for the release.

Home Alive

Brilliant Sound

Forget the Past

Everything in Motion

What Is This Love

From the opening guitar slide and riff, you might think that a new thrash rock band is percolating and about to explode, but the vocals soften the sound, instantly classifying them as a pop rock, alternative group.

There is something to be said about the melodies that will get you to bob your head or tap a foot, and the guitar pounds out a hard rock influenced groove that is complimented nicely by cascading drum fills and solid backbeat. The songs are well put together and the music is catchy, although the singing sounds strained in places.

Brilliant sound? Almost. They still have some work to do. Like the commercial sound that is so prevalent on the conglomerate radio stations, they might find a home on the top forty charts. Participating in a formula that seems like it has been beaten to death, Set It Free will need to build on their sound if they want to distinguish themselves from the cookie cutter masses that flood the airwaves of modern rock and roll.

I was a witness to a punk rock possession. Denver band BOLDTYPE played the Marquis Theater for the release of their new record Uneasy Days on Friday, April 8th. It was a loud and rambunctious show for the ages…literally, the song 3 Cheers was dedicated to a little two or three year old girl with pigtails and horn-rimmed glasses.

The energy level was consistent with the music for the entire show: high and fast, a contagion that infected everyone. There was a fight, with the bouncer doing more damage than the brawlers; there was beer, lots and lots of beer, more worn than drunk it seemed; there was vomit (what good punk show doesn’t have puke?); there was even a guy in a straw hat and flip flops, stomping around with the rest of them.

BOLDTYPE’s energy is incredible, each member plays off of the other and it comes through in their sound. Manny, the drummer, never slowed from the first bass drum kick to the last symbol crash. Both Jeff and Chris played their guitars with furious precision and Drew managed his bass with finesse and aplomb…ah, who am I kidding? These guys are a polished punk powerhouse, and they simply fucking rock!

I mentioned possession above, and that is exactly how Mike sang their songs. Shaking his head back and forth, bearing clenched teeth and belting out the lyrics to the crowds delight, the music taking him over and manifesting itself in his wild eyes.

BOLDTYPE kicked the show off with three tunes from the new album, Raise the Dead, Make Our Graves and Moving On, all three songs immediately inciting a sing along from the fans in front of the stage.

Dave, the guitarist from Guttermouth, arrived on the stage with an armload of tallboys that he distributed or poured on the guys as they played Distraction, appropriate, no? As the beer and hilarity flowed, former members of BOLDTYPE took the stage and their former positions to play some of the band’s older songs, with the current members taking up microphones to assist with the vocals.

After the new and old members embraced, and a fresh onslaught of jams was launched, the band took a moment to pay tribute to their friend Ben Davis and sing happy birthday to him with the crowd. His birthday, along with the record release, was the driving force for this show.

The song War Brain was followed by two more songs off of Uneasy Days, 3 Cheers and Deep End. The performance of 3 Cheers inspired the crowd to celebrate and get hammered, and not only did they oblige, but the band did as well. At this point the crowd and the band had literally gone off the deep end and a flimsy plastic sled/boogie board appeared for surfing the crowd, but this first attempt was only mounted for a few seconds by an eager fan.

As beer dripped from the stage lighting during Lights Out, the crowd did anything but wind down as the show did. The band left the stage followed by the chant of ‘one more song.’ They returned to their places with Mike’s proclamation “I just puked!”

Bandito was the finale with Mike looking a little worse for wear and continuing to vomit on the stage, even spitting a mouthful away from the crowd between phrases; all the while sounding just as fresh as he did at the start of the show. When the puking was through, the boogie board reappeared, held aloft by the people in front and Mike precariously stood up on it to finish the song.

It was an intimate and classic thrash party. Not only was BOLDTYPE crazed, but the crowd also became possessed by the music, and that is exactly what all in attendance expected. While the band was playing everyone could be part of the mad mayhem and no one left the vomit scented theater unsatisfied.

3/29/11 – Pre-Show review of BOLDTYPE, and interview….

Hey all you crazy music lovers out there!!

As Beat Alley is having technical issues posting an interview we did on Tuesday night, I wanted to give you the insight as to what we are up to. I know a lot of you are going to be checking out QOTSA on Friday night, there are also a lot of you that missed out on tickets. For those people, oh boy, do I have something for you to check out.

BOLDTYPE is playing at the Marquis Theatre. What's that you say, you aren't quite sure who BOLDTYPE is? Well, sit back and let me tell you about them. BOLDTYPE consists of Mike on lead vocals, Jeff on guitar and vocals, Drew on bass and vocals, Chris on guitar and vocals, and Manny on Drums and vocals and his P90X. BOLDTYPE has been around since 2002, they have had some player changes throughout the past few years, but if you haven't heard or seen them, NOW is your chance.

I spent a few hours interviewing them, drinking with them, and laughing so hard I thought I was going to wet myself many times. What an amazing group of guys. I attached the interview, but since we were sitting on the patio of the Walnut Room, the background noise was too much on the recording. So, I owe them another interview in a QUIET setting. Sorry guys!

I did get an early copy of their upcoming CD. Their CD release party is FRIDAY, APRIL 8 at the Marquis Theatre. I just fell in love with this CD. It has that early Bad Religion sound among other bold influences. I am so hooked on Raise the Dead, what a great tune. Amazing guitar, superb lyrics, and Manny is no slack on the drums; I guess that P90X actually works. 3 Cheers has me wanting a beer no matter what time of day I listen to this song. The vocals just resonate through you.

So get your slackin' asses to this show on Friday April 8. They are dropping this CD; oh did I mention this already? You won't be disappointed. I wasn't. I plan on making it to as many of their shows as I can. I am including a review from Josh P. Jones, as it says so much about this band. Hope to see ya'll out there.

It requires a bold type of person with initiative to take control of one's own life. That's exactly what this five-member punk band from Denver, CO has done. I was blown away when I heard them play live at the Bluebird. It was amazing how talented and polished each of the guys come across. You can tell they're really dedicated to their craft. A band full of good guys who work normal jobs, love the music they play, and fucking rock on stage. It's hard to believe there are any bands out there who work harder than Boldtype, that's why we're happy to work with them to achieve future success.   --Josh P Jones, www.PrivilegeFilms.com

Oh and if you forget to turn the music off after 3 Cheers, at about the 6 1/2 minute mark you get to hear something that sounds like a cross between a motor engine and Mr. Ed. It scared the shit out of me the first time I heard it. It was quite for a few minutes, and then you get that noise. I am assuming it was Mike, but it almost sounded like Jeff. Hmmmmm, someone needs to tell me who it was. I thought I would be nice and tell you its coming.

So attached is the interview, again horrible sound, I will get with these guys and do another interview soon, so you can experience what I did last Tuesday. And a special thanks to BOLDTYPE for making my night, what fun, let's do it again SOON!!