Liz’s Must See Bands of Warped Tour: Day 4 of 7

Once again, I bring you a British band. Now, I will be the first one to admit that I was not at all impressed with them upon first hearing them. And in all honesty, their music is not something I would usually be at all interested in hearing.

But after a few consistent best friends bugged me to listen to them, I did. And I was more than surprised to find myself head banging right along to them. Since then, Bring Me the Horizon has quickly become a guilty pleasure for me. And one of the reasons that they get that ever scary title is that they are the opposite of everything I listen to. My Zune mostly consists of Brighten, All Time Low, Third Eye Blind, etc.

I am so excited to be able to finally catch a live set from them because I’ve heard nothing but awesome things about their stage presence. So they definitely will be a set not to be missed (even if I will stand at the back like a little girl while Marissa tears it up in the pit).

Posted by So Young, So Insane 4 July 2 Permalink

Liz’s Must See Bands of Warped Tour: Day 2 of 7

Four Year Strong is just plain awesome. And while they’re awesome on CD, they’re even better live.

Be forewarned though. FYS is kind of a “bro band” so expect mosh pits galore to both new and old stuff alike. While the new album, Enemy of the World just dropped in March, it has quickly become a staple in my house. My brother and I are on opposite sides of the music spectrum most of the time, but FYS is where we collide. They are the perfect blend of hardcore and pop-punk. Rise or Die Trying is just as solid as it’s follower.

I got a chance to catch them with my best friend when they toured with another fantastic band, Fireworks, just after they had released an album comprised entirely of cover songs from the 90s.

Now, I don’t know about you. But any band that puts out an entire cover album that doesn’t suck deserves some sort of credit.

Posted by So Young, So Insane 2 July 2 Permalink

Band Recommendation: Empires
Sarah’s over all rating:5/5, one of the greatest things I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to

We all knew this was coming, it was only a matter of time.

If you have never heard of Empires, maybe you’ve heard of their guitarist Tom Conrad? Ex-member of The Academy Is… and thank heavens for that, because this band is probably one of the greatest things I’ve heard come onto the scene in a long time. Not only are they all completely talented, they do everything themselves. That’s right, Empires is a completely DIY band.

They spent a year creating, tracking, and recording their debut HOWL and who better to track/engineer this album than one of the band members themselves, Max Steger. And what a job they’ve done.

Not only did this band just give the album away for free for nearly a whole year, they worked their asses off so that they could tour the midwest and east as much as possible to self-promote. While they all may come from different musical backgrounds, the sound that they create is so raw and powerful that you wouldn’t even know it. Empires has a dynamic that just WORKS.

And live, that’s a completely different story. You may think you love and adore them on album but just wait until you see them play. Empires takes the stages they grace by storm and makes you leave wanting to see more and more. With Sean Van Vleet on the lead, commanding the stage effortlessly, your attention never leaves this band. They’re not one of those over-produced studio bands that can’t bring it live, oh no. Empires will make you fall in love all over again with each live show you see them play. While they haven’t been able to make it to the west, they’ve bewitched the midwest and east with their charm already and I’m fully confident this band is going to get the following they truly deserve in the next few years.

If you don’t want to check out the entire collection, check out these songs: Hayley, All Night Long, Midnight Land, I Want Blood, Spit In The Dark, Voodooized, Animal, Bang, Damn Things Over, Late Night Rendezvous

Empires just finished touring and recently released their newest album, BANG. Sample tracks over here and keep your eyes peeled for future tour dates!

Posted by No One Stays At The Top Forever 24 June 19 Permalink

Band Recommendation: Hit the Lights
Liz’s Never Wrong Rating is definitely a 6/5

Let me start off by saying that I am completely biased. There are very few bands that come out of Ohio that are decent enough to claim so to have a band like HTL hanging out in my home state is a huge deal to me. But really, there is just something about a bouncy pop-punk band that happens to include amazing metal-ish breakdowns and guitar riffs that makes me squeal with pleasure.

Lima, Ohio born and bred, Hit the Lights have made themselves stand out to me since the very beginning. Back when Colin Ross was their lead singer and Nick Thompson was still just a lowly guitarist and Kevin Mahoney didn’t even exist. Their very first album This is a Stick-Up, Don’t Make it a Murder is still one of my favorite CDs of all time. And their second one, Skip School, Start Fights is one of the best summer jam albums my ears have ever enjoyed. And then there’s their most recent EP, Coast to Coast is a smashing mix up of acoustic favorites, new songs and a couple covers of bands that no one really listens to anymore, but definitely should be.

As far as live performances go, Hit the Lights has the most energy in a live show that I have ever seen. Everyone bounces along like it’s their business and new(er) guitarist, Kevin, simply shreds like he was born to do it. While Nick was a great guitarist back in the day, he has simply come into his own as a lead vocalist. At first, he didn’t even want to do it and many different people were ‘interviewed’ to take over the position that Colin left. But I, personally, am very glad that they picked Mr. Thompson to deal with the vocals.

So overall, Hit the Lights is badass as can be and they write catchy as hell songs. They’re the kind of band that I love to see live and can never get sick of.

If you don’t have the time to listen to every song, download these: Coast to Coast, 309, Drop the Girl, Stay Out, Pulse, BodyBag

Hit the Lights are in the process of recording a new CD that is supposed to be released later this year.

Posted by So Young, So Insane 22 June 1 Permalink