Versus You – Moving On


It’s been almost five years, but the arguably most well-known punk band, Versus You, from our small country is back with a new record called Moving On! The title fits exactly, since they have definitely evolved in this past half-decade: while they were always on the pop-punk side of the spectrum, this has become even clearer this time around…and I, for one, absolutely dig it! But let’s get down to business.

While the opener starts off with the almost overdone canon in D major, the rest of the song is a nice example of fast-paced good mood inducing pop punk, at least on the instrumental side. The rest of the twelve songs follows a similar pattern of up-beat and danceable power chords and straight-forward drumming with a multitude of fills. The occasional solo is also thrown in to break things up when necessary, while still keeping the song together…which is always welcome in my book.

Even though the main part of the thirty-one minutes seems to be cast from the same mold, there are two songs that separate themselves from the rest: the closing ballad You Are My Friend and the, simply brilliant, Be Better Than Me which features an acoustic lead melody and the perfectly-fitting female backing vocals by Hannah Smallbone. The thing that strikes me about them is that they provide such a beautiful contrast to the main vocals that makes this piece so catchy.

Earlier I mentioned that the instrumental side is on the happy side of life, but the lyrics in some parts touch on very serious matters, albeit sometimes in a tongue-in-cheek humorous way. A good example of that is the song 30 Pills which tells the story of an HIV-infected guy who has been rejected by society: even though the message itself is quite social-critical, especially the chorus has a ring to it that makes me smile every time I hear it…but then again, I tend to have a twisted sense of humor.

As a closing statement, I’ll stay that I much preferred Moving On to its predecessor since it’s just more in my ballpark of the punk genre. The clean and yet authentic sounding production, I have to say, played a big part in that as much as the generally catchy nature of the tracks. If you want to find out for yourself whether you like it or not and want to spend an enjoyable night, head on over to den Atelier in Luxembourg this Saturday, February 15th, since that’s where the band will have their release show! You can get a first taste below and more information on Facebook!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMWfCVCOKkQ]

Sublind – Thrashing Delirium


Thrash is dead. Now, I know that’s a dangerous statement, so don’t get me wrong: thrash metal is anything but dead, but even the classic bands have adapted the modern sound that is so commonplace these days…and I guess that’s what happens at some point in the career of most bands. However, there are a fair share of new bands emerging that swim against the current and stick to the old school thrash that so many people love. I’m proud to say that one of these is resident in our little country and goes by the name of Sublind. To make things better, I’m happy to say that the five guys are releasing their debut album Thrashing Delirium this month…so let’s take a look at it, shall we?

The moment you start the forty-three minute musical journey, you are bombarded with pure metal and everything you, as a fan of the genre or as a newcomer, could hope for is condensed on this record: fast-paced riffs that convey aggressiveness through their simple but shit-stirring nature, relentless drumming that will make the headbanging set in even earlier than healthy and last but not least raw and powerful vocals.

It’s interesting to note that the quintet did not have the intention of having a perfect sounding album when they started recording these ten songs, which is why it’s not over-produced in any way whatsoever. The drums are not triggered, the string instruments aren’t quantized and, if you hadn’t guessed it, there is no auto-tune or other correction on the vocals. While some people might argue that’s a cheap excuse for a bad sound…I share the strong opinion that it conveys just what this music should be all about: attitude! And besides…the final product sounds pretty damn good, but be your own judge of that.

The lyrics are mostly of a slightly cliché nature, with such topics as drinking, war and having sex with dead people…what? While Shakespeare might twist in his grave at some of the lines, I, for one, love this approach…since it makes for great sing-alongs at gigs! The vocals are mostly screamed, with a few excursions into high-pitched screams, and are generally well performed but they are also the only thing where I could imagine a small improvement through a bit more variation.

To round things off, there is probably one of the best drinking anthems on here…in the form of the Luxembourgish song Humpeknupper! More information can be found on the band’s Facebook page and you can get an impression by checking out the song below. Last but not least, if you have no plans this Saturday, February 15th, be sure to head to the Café Remelenger Stuff in Rumelange, since that’s where the release party will be held! UH!

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/123177612″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
~Yannick~

2AM: The Smiling Man

As a frequenter of a subreddit called NoSleep, I was delighted to find that one of the most memorable creepypastas I’ve stumbled across was interpreted in film format last year. 2AM, directed and edited by Michael Evans of Go For Broke Pictures and starring Sean Simon and Paul Foltz, is based on a supposedly true account by user tidal_wave of what happened during one of her sleepless nights out and about in a big American city.

Tidal_wave, a self-described night owl, had made a habit of strolling through the streets late at night while her (she doesn’t explicitly state her gender in the story, but as she pointed out in the wake of the release of 2AM, she dropped some pretty obvious clues) non-nocturnal roommate was asleep. This went well for four years until she encountered the now-notorious Smiling Man and resolved never to walk out at night again.

The major creep factor here is that the story is realistic. Insane people exist, drugged out people exist, and people who just enjoy messing with strangers in the middle of the night exist. Whether or not creepy supernatural beings from hell exist is debatable, but a story like The Smiling Man sure makes some of the more terrified minds wander.

The most glaring inaccuracy in 2AM is the protagonist, who is most likely female in the original. But seeing as that’s not exactly a crucial element in the story, I think it’s fair to say that the film team did The Smiling Man justice — though the visual portrayal of the smiling man might actually be a tad more hilarious than horrifying while the written description is 100% spine-tingling, but that’s just my opinion. Here’s what tidal_wave has to say about the adaptation of her story: “This is pretty cool. It’s really well shot, and the actors did a great job. It’s not particularly accurate in terms of how it actually went down, but a few things were very close.”

Read the story, which was originally posted to r/letsnotmeet and later re-posted to r/nosleep, here (listening to “Surfin’ Dead” by The Cramps while reading helps if you scare easily) and watch the short film below. I recommend proceeding in that order.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u6Tt3PqIfQ]

Childish Gambino – Because The Internet


Today I’m going to write about a genre that I don’t listen to very often, and my last real experiences with it were about twelve years ago with The Marshall Mathers LP. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m talking about hip hop…more specifically the second album, Because The Internet, by the American rapper Childish Gambino.

There might have been some decent records in the past decade, but none of them really appealed to me since, from what I’ve gathered from listening to the radio or seeing random songs posted on the internet, it was mainly that “gangster shit”…which I simply can’t stand. While there are some “bad boy” moments among the nineteen songs on BTI, it’s a very diverse package altogether and the seriously clever lyrics make me forget my aforementioned aversion.

Musically, it’s a brilliant mix between instruments and synthesizers with mostly easily-recognizable beats and melodies. One should also mention that this is a concept album of the special kind, but more about that in the next paragraph, which is also clearly noticeable in the mood of the different songs and even in the various parts of individual songs…one prime example for that is Shadows, which ranks among my favorites among these fifty-eight minutes.

The main attraction, as is generally the case in hip hop, are definitely the lyrics though, which tell the story of “The Boy”, who is a pretty rich guy but who has a very peculiar attitude and behavior. However, Gambino didn’t stop there…he also wrote a script to go along with the music, which can be listened to for free on the site, and actually filmed a short film. I can only recommend giving both a try if you liked anything about the album, since it makes the whole experience a tremendous blast. As gripping as the story is, there is also the fact that the references he makes are in quite a few instances extremely funny and well thought-through…they certainly made me smile more than just once.

As a closing statement, I can wholeheartedly tell everyone I know who actually pays attention while listening to music, to give Because The Internet a chance; even if they aren’t necessarily into the genre. While it has not caused me to re-discover my love for hip hop…it did make a big fan of Childish Gambino. More information can be found on Facebook and the first single can be found down below…but I recommend giving the whole thing a chance.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG35R8F2j8k]

Malevolence – Reign Of Suffering


The following review will be quite concise on purpose, since the sound of Malevolence is hard to describe and best enjoyed by simply listening to it. Nevertheless I will try to whet your appetite a bit for their debut album Reign Of Suffering!

The sound of the five blokes from Sheffield can best be described as a bastard child of groove metal, beatdown hardcore and stoner rock with tiny traces of metalcore. It sounds super weird when written out, but when played it just sounds so organic, almost like these genres were always meant to be blended into a tasty mix of musical goodness.

During the thirty-six minute playtime, the vocal effort of the singer is very diverse and adapts to the various influences perfectly; which gives the whole thing a truly authentic feeling. Along with some quite memorable, and easy to sing along to, choruses, the package is nicely rounded off.

I won’t bother talking more than that about the eight tracks, since you just have to give it a go yourself…so what are you waiting for? Click below to listen to Serpents Chokehold and visit the band’s Facebook page for more information! Stay heavy, stay sexy and until next time!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOjuw_VBhTA]

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

It’s safe to say that the Paranormal Activity franchise went radically downhill after the first film. Given the mediocrity of the second and third instalments I didn’t even bother with the following release, which, according to reviews, turned out to be a wise move. But here they are, still milkin’ it Saw-style, and on a rainy Saturday with nothing to do except lounge around I decided to pass the time with some mindless entertainment and deemed the newly released Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones by Christopher Landon perfect for the afternoon.

The Marked Ones isn’t technically a sequel (the fifth part of the series is coming out in October), it’s more like a spin-off. It is supposed to solve some of the mysteries surrounding the paranormal forces at work and touches on aspects of the previous PA films, all the while telling a new story.

I expected it to be stale as a corpse, but it is actually much more entertaining than every post-PA1 flick I’ve seen. The storyline centers around two best friends, Jesse and Hector, who are just living for the day and horsing around like teenagers do until Jesse’s weird neighbour dies and spooky occurrences start piling up. The first half of the picture is uncharacteristically humorous. The main characters are likeable goofballs and there are some genuinely funny scenes (minuscule spoiler ahead: the entire audience chuckled when Hector slid down the stairs in a laundry basket with a GoPro attached), which is a change I embrace. The movie feels relatively authentic and not like a big budget Hollywood production in general, and it doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously.

The jump scares are fun and actually made me jump. Admittedly, that’s not exactly a shining accomplishment because I am a huge scaredy cat, but judging from my fellow cinemagoers’ reactions, they do work. Even so, I didn’t find the film all that scary in terms of suspense, but that didn’t strike me as a problem.

My major criticism is that for every question answered, The Marked Ones raises another, presumably to make sure that the machine can continue milking the franchise for every last penny until the end of all existence. Cliffhangers are annoying when the intention of the makers so obviously isn’t to let people reflect on the story on their own, but to make more money off sequels.

Other than that, The Marked Ones is a solid popcorn flick. For me, its strong points are the protagonists and the humour. You don’t necessarily have to have seen PA2, PA3 and PA4 in order to understand and enjoy this one, but I recommend watching PA1 so you’re not missing the key links (and besides, it’s inarguably the best of the bunch and you should totally check it out if you were hiding under a rock and somehow missed it in 2007.)