AWAKE WHILE YOU'RE ASLEEP: Reviews, Radio, Podcasts, Oh Yeah!

If You Don't Have It Yet

It's pretty rare these days that you find an album worth actually paying for, let alone three in the same month.
Check these out, they're worth scrounging up some change from the in seams of your couch or under your car seat..

TheHELL’s new EP Sauvé Les Requins was released quietly this past Tuesday (1/10), and it’s already underrated since I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard of it. I’ll clue you in; theHell is Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, and Atom Willard of Angels and Airwaves. What they dropped is so punk rock it’s should have only been released on cassette and vinyl, not iTunes. Four tracks of up-tempo but not speed demon skate punk, with mostly hints of old school Green Day and Alkaline Trio. Simple hooks like “R.R.R.’s” repetition of “Regret, Repent, Repeat, and Burn,” really sell it for me. And Even though you can clearly hear the opening similarities on “Gasoline” to a certain Alkaline Trio song with parallel lines of “I’ve got a pack of matches, I’ve got a can of kerosene...” It doesn’t dismiss the fact that that rocks. I actually hope they keep their releases small. This is the kind of band that might lose its charm with a full length.

Key Tracks: "Gasoline"

Audio Karate has matured. They go by Indian School now, and well the story goes, after Art Barrios the lead singer, found himself recovering from two major car accidents he began writing again and decided to resurrect his long defunct band Audio Karate. The group grabbed a few new members, including a keyboardist and new guitarist. What they’ve released is nothing short of amazing. Every hit of every song on their new EP, The Cruelest Kind, appears to have been carefully constructed, and is flawlessly delivered. Although, most of tracks don’t revisit great moments like getting to scream “Maria” at the top of your lungs (with no real idea why), there’s new moments and new hooks to take their place, and they fill the void just fine. “Rob Your House” is really the only song reminiscent of the past incarnation of the group, with the buildup going into the last chorus, seeming to scream “yeah, we still got it.” And they do.

Key Tracks: "High Low", "Rob Your House"

When the opening cymbals crash on "Clear Eye Clouded Mind" I’m instantly taken back to being sixteen, listening to "Icebox", and "Hollywood" off of Nada Surf’s debut album High/Low in my floor to ceiling, postered room. That was thirteen years ago, and the band now has 6 records under their belt. Coming back this month with The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, the Matthew Caws and co revisit their roots but with a refined approach. The album is composed of ten strong tracks, including the promotional single “When I Was Young”, which truly encompass the bands career without the darkness of previous offerings like Let Go’s “Killian’s Red” or The Proximity Effect’s “Robot”. The album settles into a fairly comfortable mid-tempo, upbeat, melodic medium for the remainder of the record. While they’re not offering anything entirely new, Nada Surf’s sound is polished, well defined, and well executed. Overall The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy is fine addition to their extensive catalog, and worth picking up.

Key Tracks: "Clear Eye Clouded Mind", "When I Was Young", "The Moon Is Calling"

New Love and Zombies – “No Way Out” – Available January 24^th, 2012

Hello world. I’m writing this to let all of you know about the new Love and Zombies Single No Way Out. Have you noticed the banner? How about the Trailer? Yeah, it’s coming like a thunder storm, and the word is getting out there. The UK based blog The Music Mag made No Way Out their Featured Song, and says the it's “Fast, Punchy and Non-Pretentious”. The popular music review blog Hear, Hear! calls Love and Zombies an “artist to watch” saying No Way Out is “sarcastic, honest and twisted as all hell”.

To keep the promotional wheels turning, No Way Out will be played on the UK based Song Writers Radio’s New Additions Show Sunday, January 15^th at 10am-12pm PST. If that’s too early for you, No Way Out will also be featured on the Punk Rock Demonstration Podcast, which airs Monday, January 16^th, at 7pm-9pm PST. So check those out, and if you like the song or just want to support me in my solo musical endeavors, be sure to get your own copy of No Way Out on January 24^th at your favorite digital retailer.

If You Don't Have It Yet

NEW SINGLE TRAILER: LOVE AND ZOMBIES - "NO WAY OUT" (2012)

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