7 incredible tracks you need in your life – November 2016

All of my regular readers will know the drill by now: here’s my round-up of the best tracks released over the past month.  I’ve covered a number of different genres, and tracks from both popular and more unknown bands, so hopefully you’ll discover something new and exciting in this round-up.

You Me At Six – Swear

I heard the first play of this track on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show, and I had to stop what I was doing and listen.  The bassline of this song reminds me a little of Loverboy, but vocalist Josh’s voice and the rest of the band’s playing has definitely evolved since Sinners Never Sleep.  I’m very excited to hear the rest of their next record, due to be released next January.

Bullet For My Valentine – Don’t Need You

Those of you who’ve been following my blog for a long time may remember the scathing and extremely negative review I gave to Bullet For My Valentine’s last album, Venom.  Even though I disliked their last record, I thought it would be unfair if I didn’t give their latest single at least one listen, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  Lyrically the track is less whiny and full of cliches than their previous record, and I thought the slow-burning introduction was excellent.  Let’s hope their next releases carry on in the same vein!

Chapel – Caught Up

I’ve always been a fan of tracks with both rock and electronic influences, so this latest track by Chapel is a great one to listen to when I feel like listening to that sort of track.  Plus, the music video for this song has a fab party vibe, and makes me wish I was back at university, going to house parties every weekend.

Taking Back Sunday – I Felt It Too

If you want a chilled out, more acoustic track with a slow-building crescendo and extremely emo lyrics, this is the song for you.

Light Up The Sky – Stop Me

Light Up The Sky are one of the more recent additions to Rise Records’ roster, and I think if they keep producing tracks along the lines of Stop Me, this band could be onto a winner.

Gone Is Gone – Gift

If you want to check out more music with a grungy, low-fi vibe, Gone Is Gone could be the band for you.  I really enjoyed this track, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from this band.

Dryjacket – Two Toasters

I really like the upbeat, indie vibe to this track.  Plus, I’m a big fan of brass being featured in guitar-led tracks, so the rogue trumpet solos adds a nice touch to the song and make it a little more unpredictable.

What did you think of these tracks? Let me know your thoughts on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

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Review: Venom (Deluxe)

Last week, Welsh rockers Bullet For My Valentine returned to the scene with their latest album, Venom.  A lot of fans were disappointed with their 2013 record, Temper Temper, so I was interested to see whether the band have redeemed themselves.

Lead single No Way Out was typical BFMV for me – lyrically the track bored me, as it was pretty boring, unimaginative and predictable.  Matt Tuck’s lyrics have always been on the boring side, and haven’t really evolved since their debut LP The Poison.  If you want to listen to tracks with moody lyrics that hark back to heavy rock of the early noughties, then BFMV are probably the band for you.

Leading up to the release of Venom, the band said in an interview with Kerrang! that the record would be their heaviest yet.  Whilst I agree with that, I would argue that heavier doesn’t always necessarily mean better.

Now, I thought there were a few redeeming tracks on BFMV’s previous album that made it worth purchasing for me, but overall I’d argue that the band have been on a downward curve following their brilliant first three albums.  There are a few redeeming tracks on Venom too – take a look at my highlights list at the end of this post – but I think I may have outgrown the kind of music that they create.  Some of the tracks on Venom sound like they belonged on Temper Temper, which is never a good thing.

If you enjoyed Temper Temper then I’m certain you’ll enjoy Venom, but if you were less than impressed, like me, then I wouldn’t bother picking it up.  With the deluxe version of the record being 15 tracks long, I honestly struggled to find the motivation to listen to the entire thing, but I managed it so that you, my lovely altrocklife readers, wouldn’t have to suffer the same fate.

What’s your verdict on Venom? Let me know on Facebook or Twitter.

Highlights: Worthless, Venom, Skin, In Loving Memory (Demo)

So far in 2015: the year of band break-ups

If you’ve been keeping up with alternative music news, you’ll know that so far, 2015 has been full of band members leaving or getting kicked out.

The controversy all started on January 22.  Asking Alexandria frontman Danny Worsnop quit the band to focus on his new project, We Are Harlot.

This break-up seemed pretty amicable, with little mud being slung.  A new vocalist has replaced Danny, but their identity will remain secret for now.  In future Asking Alexandria have plans to tour extensively across North America and the European festival circuit.

Following that, on January 26, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker announced Tom Delonge had left blink-182.  His aim may be to pursue solo music projects, including his band Angels And Airwaves.

This led to a bit of confusion, with Delonge writing on Instagram that he hadn’t left the band.

This was swiftly followed by another interview with Hoppus and Barker/  They slammed Delonge’s attitude and dished some serious dirt about their 2004 hiatus.  Talk about messy.

The band had originally planned to enter the studio on January 5 to start working on their next album.  However, this date has been and gone, so the prospect of new music from blink-182 does not seem likely at the moment.  Loyal fans will be keeping their fingers crossed, though!

Then, on February 9, Bullet For My Valentine bassist Jay James announced his exit from the band, which he has been a member of since 2003.  This split appears amicable, but with rumours of disagreements about what direction their fifth album should take, it’s possible that this fuelled his departure.

2015 hasn’t been a promising start for alternative music fans, has it?  Maybe it’s because of the lingering “new year, new me” sentiments left over from New Year’s Day.  Let’s hope that these departures lead to bigger and better things for everyone involved.

That’s all for today, and just so you all know, I won’t be posting my usual update on Monday as I’ll be at an Enter Shikari gig!  I’ll be posting my gig review on Tuesday instead – see you then!

Currently listening to: Holy – PVRIS