Album Reviews :: Wolves At Bay, Memphis May Fire, Big Awesome, The American Scene, Danny Stoddard, and The Groundbreaking Ceremony

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

 Wolves At Bay :: Only A Mirror out on Animal Style records

I adore this record. Released last November, I cannot believe that it took me so long to hear these guys, but thankfully I have and I am passing them along to you. Wolves At Bay creates melodic hardcore as it should be, robust music, screaming vocals, and moments of beautiful melody. The music not only psyches you up and can get any pit going, but it is also full of substance lyrically as well as musically. And it wouldn’t be a melodic hardcore record if it didn’t have killer sing along sections that will have the pit screaming along and flailing their hands in the air

All in all, this album is fucking awesome. Enjoy.

Memphis May Fire :: Challenger out on Rise Records

I was taken by Memphis May Fire, while not really my typical style I was super intrigued an invested though the whole album. The opening to the album is a gripping yet haunting chanting that leads into a hardcore record that has some pop punk sections that are downright pretty.

The contrast between the two styles is surprising at first, but by the middle of the album, the listener is invested in this sound and sucked in. The closing track, Vessels is an instrumental number that has a great big production number sound quality to it.

Big Awesome :: Bird Feeder is self-released and out now.

I have never been in to emo, but Big Awesome’s four track EP Bird Feeder offers a solid argument for me to give the genre another shot. It might be a bit of pigeonholing for me to call The Big Awesome emo, their sound more accurately lies somewhere in-between emo and indie, with a dash of the nasally vocals that A New Found Glory made so popular and just the right amount of distortion.

Each track is raw is the best sense of the word, the listener feels like the band is letting them in on a personal level and therefore is album to connect with the emotional content of each track. There are moments of inescapable melody that will catch in your head but, the strongest element of this EP is the gritty guitar parts, I cannot get enough.

The American Scene ::  Safe For Now out on Pure Noise Records

I had been hearing about the American Scene for a while before I got to listen to Safe For Now. These guys play emo as it should be, full of passion and lack of whining. This record is strong start to finish; beautifully executed with raw moments of insight that bring the listener closer to the band. This album is a must for fans of Jimmy Eat World.

Danny Stoddard :: Melinda Rose EP is out now.

Danny Stoddard is an artist who found me through CC2K and sent me over a link to his soundcloud to hear some of his tracks, and man, did he blow me away. Danny is 17 years old and Melinda Rose is his first EP. He wrote, sings, and plays all the instruments (vocals, drums, bass, guitars, and synths for those of you who are keeping track) for all the tracks (with small collaboration by his mentor/producer). The EP is very diverse – from hardcore, to screamo, to soft rock, to metal, to emo, Danny is not only influenced by, but he has found a way to incorporate typically clashing styles into a song that sounds awesome.

Track one, A Single Promise is super catchy while the second track, My Escape is in your face screamo hardcore, and Brand New is a Foo Fighters influenced track. Oh, and don’t be fooled by the “soft rock” tag I threw in here, there isn’t any straight forward ballads, even his melodies have a hint of menace.

The Groundbreaking Ceremony :: Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t DoDon’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do out through itunes

The Groundbreaking Ceremony newst EP, Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do is straightforward pop punk in the same vein as later A New Found Glory. Tons of catchy hooks and heartbreak this is a solid album for fans of this genre and a few tracks such as The Burden of Goodbye, a super upbeat track and Sometimes It’s Not Enough and acoustic ballad that will appeal across music cliques.