Friendly Recommendations

A few months back a friend of mine requested that I check out this band, and I did.  But for whatever reason, probably due to having a stack of albums to hunt through already, they fell to the back burner.  Well recently I found the record and remembered his praise and thought “what the hell”.  Boy was I sorry I didn’t check it out sooner.  This Day & Age have created a pop-rock-indie record that shouldn’t be ignored.  It’s smart, it’s sexy, and unfortunately it’s the last of this band.  That’s right, just like the heroes of past, they created a masterpiece and were gone.  The band played their final show this past November 2006…but lets focus on what they left behind…a brilliant album titled “The Bell and The Hammer”. This album isn’t groundbreaking, it isn’t anything any one of us hasn’t heard pieces of before from a hundred different bands, but this is the first time I found myself thinking it was done right.  Pop-rock with a sense of intelligence and true songwriting, layers this album with glue that holds the standard together.  This album is melodic and truthful and you’ll find yourself trusting the words and instruments within.  Which after finding out the vocalist left the band because his “passion” for it was gone, left me wondering if I’d been duped.  Upon contemplation I decided instead of feeling like I was cheated into believing his gospel and then finding out it was untrue, the opposite occurred; I was given the last gift from a man who was sure this couldn’t be topped.  Or that’s how I plan to remember it and hear it.

The second recommendation from this friend was the band “Kiss Kiss“, who even after the first listen I was hooked, and couldn’t help but feel like I’d known this band my whole life.  There was something familiar, something so “me” about them.  Was it the Clann Zu instrumentation (without the ethnic feeling), was it the Dredg passion, or was it the simple fact that it was grabbing my soul.  This full-length album, out February 6th, is both melodic and beautiful yet manic and aggressive.  Though some may take this sentence as a turn off, my thoughts on the record are almost like “Phantom of the Opera” meets Kaddisfly and System of a Down.  It has that feel to it, that it could go anywhere, and often does, but with purpose, with conviction. http://www.purevolume.com/kisskissny - Check em out!

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