Page 40 - Black Velvet Magazine Issue 98

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YYYYY Excellent YYYY Very Good YYY Good
YY Listenable, Just Y Poor

land’, this is an album that and vocal cannon. Finish- the band to play ‘Christmas mind is sometimes in con-
will dazzle and thrill with ing with ‘Break’, a calm Time (Don’t Let The Bells flict with itself, and so this is
the Mayday Parade sound start is built upon, climax- End)’, while the set and a feeling many listeners will
that fans have grown to ing with a full band intro- album ends with the classic be able to understand and
know and love. duction. In this track, there party anthem ‘I Believe In A relate to. ‘Hit The Ground’
YYYY is also a nice contrast be- Thing Called Love’. Listen- follows, with a similar en-
Athena Kam tween smooth vocals and ing to this live album is a bit ergy throbbing underneath.
aggressive shouts, ending like getting a long forgotten A whirlwind of crashing
CENTURY THIRTEEN the album on a high. ‘Cen- Christmas present in mid- cymbals, frantic riffs and
CENTURY THIRTEEN tury Thirteen’ is an out- summer. The only thing hooking bass lines, you’ll
(CENTURY THIRTEEN) standing effort from the better would be a DVD so find yourself bopping your
MAYDAY PARADE Glaswegian punk rock- punk rockers, and it sees we could actually watch it head along in no time. The
SUNNYLAND ers Century Thirteen make the band building and rather than just listen to it – vocal harmonies adds an
(RISE) their mark with their self-ti- evolving their own sound. but for those times when extra punch to the track,
Floridian quintet May- tled album, which sees the YYY you want an audio party and the interplay between
day Parade address band crafting a pop-punk Athena Kam and a live concert at home, the varying layers of vocals
themes of heartbreak and driven sound of alternative in your car or while out for is particularly effective in
growing up on their sixth rock. Citing influences from a jog, this is the album to driving home the message
studio album. With capti- Blink-182, New Found get. of the track. A more gentle
vating guitar lines and Glory and Green Day, the YYYYY opening begins ‘Standing
vocal flourishes, ‘Sunny- band has produced 13 SBV (On My Own Two Feet)’, as
land’ will take you to sum- high-energy tracks, brim- you’re greeted with a nos-
mer nights as the dusk ming with guitar riffs and in- talgic guitar line and vulner-
glow settles around you. tense drumming. The able vocals, allowing the
Opening with ‘Never Sure’, opening ‘Intro’ coaxes lis- emotion to really seep
we immediately leap into a teners to the album with a through and wash over
rousing guitar melody, and mix of electronics and gui- you. The light guitar touch
the uplifting feeling created tars, and it slowly grows in juxtaposes the heavy feel-
is sure to set you in a good volume and texture, THE DARKNESS ings lying behind the lyrics
mood for the rest of the smoothly transitioning into LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH of the track. Brief screams
album. Next up is ‘It’s Hard the first real track, ‘Get Off’. (COOKING VINYL) are the only musical hint
To Be Religious When Cer- It is a strong number, ‘The Darkness – Live given to the serious nature
tain People Are Never In- packed with catchy riffs At Hammersmith’ is The of the lyrics. ‘Another Mon-
cinerated By Bolts Of and gripping guitar har- Darkness’s first live album PVMNTS day’ is a pop-punk banger
Lightning’, and if the song monies. This upbeat feel is released on all audio for- BETTER DAYS that you won’t be able to
title doesn’t catch your at- similarly reflected in tracks mats – CD, vinyl, cassette, (PVMNTS) resist. This song sounds
tention, then the song cer- such as ‘Is It Just Me’ and download and online The debut EP from like the revival of the mid-
tainly will. There’s an ‘A Million Times’, which re- stream. Recorded on the PVMNTS has been a long 2000s, with its classic-
undertone of anger, con- ally helps with familiarising band’s 2017 ‘Tour De time in the making. Made sounding melodies and
veyed through the impas- the listener with the Cen- Prance’ in London, the up of former bandmates anthemic chorus. The intro-
sioned lyricism and tury Thirteen sound. ‘Blow album sees the band in all Freddy Ramirez and Tyler duction of the acoustic gui-
hard-hitting instrumentals. Up The Open World’ starts their glory, sounding on top Posey, the addition of tar towards the end of the
An anthemic chorus will get with a groovy, syncopated form and superbly dynamic drummer Nick Guzman track mirrors what is being
you banging your head instrumental introduction; from start to finish. Justin completes the line-up of sung about slowing down,
along to it, and the vocal the guitar leaps between and Dan Hawkins, Frankie this pop-punk trio. The and as the pace picks back
harmonies really add an low and high chords, be- Poullain and Rufus Tiger longstanding work which up for a highly-charged
extra dimension to the fore a firm rhythm is estab- Taylor know how to put on they have put towards this ending, the flame of this
track. Slowing down the lished in the verses, guided one of the best shows EP has presented itself in track doesn’t burn out until
pace a bit, ‘Piece Of Your by the drive of the drums. around, and this recording the form of anthemic tracks the very last second.
Heart’ will capture a piece ‘From This Hell’ starts off is a carbon copy of that. that have a ring of the mid- Poignant lyricism domi-
of your heart with its with a drum only introduc- Kicking off with ‘Open Fire’, 2000s, pulling you back to nates ‘White Walls’, which
poignant lyrics and stirring tion. The remaining instru- the audience is definitely your teenage years whilst will potentially be the most
guitars. Listening to the ments join in one at a time, hit by the band’s sharp maintaining a fresh sound. upbeat and happy-sound-
track, you can almost visu- beginning with a funky stage presence and en- Opening with ‘Chemical ing cry for help you will
alize a whole stadium full of bass line, harmonised by ergy. If you want to see a Trails’, distant guitars start ever hear. Final track
people waving their lighters the guitars as they join the band that is entertaining as the album with a throwback ‘Heavy Moon’ is similar in
along to it. However, we texture to create a shatter- well as qualified musicians, feel, before the bass kicks its confessional lyrics, and
don’t rest for long, as ‘Is ing sound. With cheeky then a Darkness show is in and brings all of the in- the high energy that char-
Nowhere’ amps up the en- guitar licks and looping where you need to go. Both strumentals to the fore- acterises this EP is given
ergy again, with frenetic backing vocals, it’s a punk new and old material go front. Upbeat with a its final display in the driv-
drumming and stirring gui- melody sure to be stuck in down a storm. New track pummelling drum beat, ing rhythms, harsh vocals,
tar hooks that are sure to your head. The band ex- ‘Solid Gold’ is the tongue- you’ll feel all of the blood and dynamic guitar and
get your heart pumping plores a different sound in in-cheek Darkness that you coursing through your bass work of this track. The
with adrenaline. There are ‘Ours’, where the distorted know and love, while right veins as the guitars furi- EP manages to capture the
no shortages of melan- guitar tones contrast after that they play three ously riff away under pas- heaviness of life within a
cholic moments on the hugely with the clean guitar songs from the first album sionate vocals. As two mere six tracks, whilst
album either; the acoustic tones that we’ve heard in quick succession – vocal parts layer and run making it sound bright and
‘Take My Breath Away’ will elsewhere on the album. It ‘Stuck In A Rut’ (with vocal over into each other to- fun. It’s fair to say that ‘Bet-
send chills up your spine creates a gritty, grungy notes so high it’ll scare the wards the end, it’s a great ter Days’ marks PVMNTS
with its gorgeous and am- feel, and this adds to the city’s rats away), the high representation of the feel- as one of the torchbearers
bient soundscape, whilst aggressive character of the octane ‘Get Your Hands Off ing of turmoil. This feeling of pop-punk, lighting the
‘Stay The Same’ and track. ‘The Last’ is another My Woman’ and the an- is created through the con- way forward for others in
‘Where You Are’ stun with dynamic track, with elec- themic ‘Growing On Me’. flicting narratives given by the genre.
evocative guitars. Finishing tricity coursing through the As the tour was just before the different vocal parts, YYYYY
with titular track ‘Sunny- anthemic vocal harmonies Christmas, it’s very apt for corresponding to how our Athena Kam
ALBUMS