Four Year Strong - Brain Pain
Label: Pure Noise Records
Press Release: Four Year Strong have finally announced their highly anticipated fifth full-length album Brain Pain will be released on February 28 via Pure Noise Records. This will be the band’s first album since their self-titled release in 2015 and soon, fans will learn that it was worth every second of waiting.
My thoughts: A lot of pop punk bands are ditching the traditional sound of pop punk for a sound infused with late 90's alternative music as seen recently by bands like Seaway, Roam and Bearings. You can now add Four Year Strong to that list but they keep it heavy on Brain Pain which makes this a strong listen even though you're never quite sure what you will get from track to track.
Body Count - Carnivore
Label: Century Media Records
Press Release: The originators of Rap Metal are back. ICE-T and his band are as angry as ever on their 7th studio album, titled “CARNIVORE”, which coincides with their 30th anniversary as a band! 'Carnivore,' the band’s second album for Century Media, pairing ICE-T’s angry and socio-critical lyrics with thick guitar riffs and nods to metal and hardcore greats like Slayer, Metallica, Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies and Rage Against The Machine.
My thoughts: There are way more hits than misses here but the strongest tracks are the ones that lean hardcore like the title track Carnivore and Thee Critical Beatdown. The biggest miss is the features as Jasta comes off as a bad hype man and Lee's cringy chorus in her feature completely overshadows Ice's great verses.
Derek Sanders - My Rock And Roll Heart
Label: Rise Records
Press Release: Derek Sanders, the frontman of beloved Tallahassee emo/alternative band, Mayday Parade, has announced the release of his first solo EP, My Rock and Roll Heart, out on Friday, February 14 via Rise Records. Comprised of five stripped-back covers of tracks from Jimmy Eat World, Something Corporate, Saves The Day, The Juliana Theory, and local Tallahassee band Goodbye Love, the acoustic EP acts as a snapshot of songs that inspired Sanders to become a musician.
My thoughts: If you like acoustic Mayday Parade, you'll like this. Derek simply plays these covers on an guitar and croons through them all effortlessly. Although as a fan of most the original recordings I probably won't come back to those however knowing the backstory behind lead single "But Lauren" makes that song all that much more enjoyable.
