WASU Top Ten & Adds: 11/10/09

WASU Top 10

1. Frank Turner- "Live Fast, Die Old"
2. The Dodos- "Fables"
3. Two Hours Traffic- "Territory"
4. No Age- "You're A Target"
5. Thrice- "All the World Is Mad"
6. Brand New- "At the Bottom
7. Built to Spill- "Aisle 13"
8. State Radio- "Knights of Bostonia"
9. Electric Tickle Machine- "Part of Me"
10. Jamie T- "Hocus Pocus"


WASU Recent Adds

Delta Saints- "Train Song"
Robert Francis- "Keep on Running"
Systems Officer- "East"
We All Have Hooks For Hands- "Howling and Bellowing"
Weezer- "The Girl Got Hot"
Art Decade- "Royalty"
Imagine Dragons- "I Need A Minute"
Say Anything- "Do Better"
Tegan And Sara- "Hell"
Wolfmother- "White Feathers"

Concert Review: Brand New/Thrice/Crime in Stereo : Nov 9, 2009

Venue: The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC

by: Alex Mayfield

The crowd rolled into the newly erected Fillmore in Charlotte on Monday night. As people waited the stage was already set for what was hopefully going to be an amazing show. As 7 pm rolled around, the lights dimmed and Long Island’s Crime in Stereo took the stage. Musically the band was alright, with heavy riffs and your average drum beats. The vocalist, Kristian Hallbert, brought high energy but overall the band lacked something brilliant, they were missing a crowd that was into their show. Without the crowd feeding off the band, the band could not feed off the crowd, and Crime In Stereo was slowly forgotten as they left the stage.

As the crowd waited, the lights drop down once again and the crowd rushes forward as Thrice enters. Though playing Beggars, one of the most excellent albums of the year, the biggest hit for Thrice seemed to be their creative take on The Beatle’s "Helter Skelter." Though clearly not the first time covered, it had to be one of the most blood pulsing, crowd thriving songs of the night. Though the rest of the set list was filled with "The Weight" and "All the World is Mad" (both songs were incredible), they ended the set with "Beggars." This is where Thrice truly showed how much passion was put into the music they were making. With such a great set, it was a shame that they had to be followed by Brand New, which made me almost forgot they had played.

Brand New opened the set with "Welcome to Bangkok" off of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me and to my surprise a wonderful guest appeared on stage with Brand New. The wonderful and very enthusiastic, Kevin Devine decided to grace us with his presence, which was even a surprise to Jesse Lacey, front man of Brand New. After, they continued playing "Sink," "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows," "Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades," and several others that made the crowd scream their hearts out. Jesse Lacey slowed it down for a moment as he played one of the band’s most powerful songs (and one of the most powerful of the set) by himself. ("Limousine MS Rebridge") As the band joined him again they continue playing most of Devil and God… and their new album, Daisy. Then, Lacey walks off stage for about 15 seconds, he walks back out and says “Pretend, if you will, that we just left and you chanted for us for hours and hours.” They immediately jump into "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" and end the show on the very high energy "Shower Scene." In the end if you ask me was a 4 hour round trip on a Monday night worth seeing these guys plays live, my answer would clearly be, “Without a doubt!” Thrice and Brand New came together to create an amazing experience and one of my favorite shows of all time.

Album Review- The Almost "Monster Monster"

by: Alex Mayfield

The Almost are back with their sophomore album, Monster Monster. It is no surprise that UnderOath drummer/singer and Almost front man, Aaron Gillespie, produces an album with heavy, intricate percussion and a just as heavy religious influence. For those who have never heard The Almost, do not expect the heaviness of UnderOath but do expect some great music. The album thrives on some very high energy tracks ("Monster Monster," "Get Through") and the occasional calm down ("Hand Grenade"). There is a bit more of a southern feel on several tracks, where a noticeable blues/country sway exists. The Almost created a good album this time around, but I do not feel that it holds up to their first record, Southern Weather. Musically, the sound and style is almost identical over the two records. Not a great deal of diversity over the album, but the tracks all differ slightly. It is a good album; I just feel like the band re-released Southern Weather and gave it a new cover. 7.5 out of 10

Download: “Monster,” “Books & Books,” “Monster Monster”

Album Review- Jookabox "Dead Zone Boys"

by: Alex Mayfield

Jookabox definitely does a unique job of experimenting with sounds and vocals which creates an interesting experience when listening to the album. Dead Zone Boys brings forth some suprisingly pleasant tracks where the (for lack of a better word) weird vocals join with tribe-like beats to produce something that is unique and uplifting. For example, "Don’t Go Phantom" has vocals that make it seem like Alvin and the Chipmunks found some illegal substances. However, the track pumps and thrives in a way that only Jookabox could pull off. But with its great tracks, Dead Zone Boys has it tracks that suffer. Though just as weird, some tracks produce a noise that is somewhat unlistenable. Mixing, weird disonant vocals and a chaos of instruments that keep some of these tracks from being really good (Xxxiawn Shell). Though there are some very poor tracks, there are a lot of high-quality songs that bring this album to an enjoyable level. 7.0 out of 10

Download: “Zombie Tear Drops,” “Don’t Go Phantom,” “You Cried Me”

Album Review- Say Anything "Say Anything"

by: Alex Mayfield


Max Bemis, frontman for Say Anything, is back once again with another installation of his life. “Say Anything” fits this band in the most honest way possible. They are back with their self-titled, fourth studio album where Bemis, who is a little bit calmer, puts everything out into the open once again. I say he is calmer even as he spouts off his hate for everything imaginable (Hate Everyone). Bemis is someone who is very willing to tell you the world as he sees it, and the album (and the band) is better for it. My one problem with past Say Anything albums, such as …Is a Real Boy and In Defense of the Genre is the fact that they try to shove so much onto one album that they add a lot of fillers. I was pleasently surprised that this album wasn’t a 25 track album and that SA decided to lose the songs that take up space.

Since the beginning, Bemis has thrown his entire life into his records, with songs on past albums about his break down on his tour bus, drugs, and medical issues. He depicts his life and soul through out this album and he shows he is in a place of acceptance of what he does. Such as his thoughts on Kings of Leon (Mara and Me), the way he beckons the love of his life into a back room to sleep with her (She Won’t Follow You), and how he knows all women are objects (Property). The fact of the matter is that Bemis’s twisted world and lyrics, backed by catchy but not generic guitar riffs, harmonistic vocals, a tad bit of a doo-wop 50’s feel, and a use of synthesizer that does make me want to destroy anything with keys (Death For My Birthday), leads Say Anything to be a really good album and one worth listening to. Old SA fans will enjoy it due to its similarity to older albums(in music style) and new fans will enjoy the stories of Max Bemis and his ability to make his horrible actions so likable. Break-up songs have never been so good. 7.9 out of 10

Download: “Ahhh…Men,” “She Won’t Follow You,” “Property”