Hailing from Los Angeles, the reorganized Smile Empty Soul is essentially the effort of Sean Danielsen – vocals/guitar; Ryan Martin – Bass; Jake Kilmer – drums. Kilmer (formerly with The Flipper Babies) is the newest piece in the puzzle. The group is far from an infant in the music business, as it has been on the scene for more than three years. In fact, the 2004 song “Bottom of the Bottle” was a certified Gold Record.
But the group found that in-your-face challenges to the icons of U.S. society could be hazardous to your health. In essence, Smile Empty Soul lost support and a major label along the way. That’s the short version.
Smile Empty Soul is still a rock band, and in some ways, an alternative effort as well. “The Freaks Are Coming” from Vultures (2006) hits the listener immediately with some of the darkness that is in this empty soul. But in the same song, the band softens the sound to highlight clear vocals. The alternatives presented in most songs separates them just a bit from other hammering groups.
Smile Empty Soul’s musicianship is advanced enough to include some interesting percussion changes and guitar sounds. “Out To Sea” begins as a straight-out angst-filled ballad. This is not screamo, but something just short of that. The mellow guitar work that appears occasionally saves it from being pedal-to-the-metal from start to finish. That may be good for the fans, or it may not be. In any case, the seagull sounds are right!
Smile Empty Soul will play live shows in California, Nevada and other west coast venues during the fall of 2007. The current CD is on the Bieler Bros. label.
Tags: smile empty soul, indie music, independent music, indie, music
This eclectic gathering is alternately classed as indie, pop and rock or, for lack of a better term, “other.” Judging from the rather unusual design of the songs by this group, the band members would probably like that last classification.
Nominated for a 2007 Woodie Award, Silversun Pickups consists of Brian Aubert – guitar/vocals; Nikki Monninger – bass; Joe Lester – sounds/keyboards; Christopher Guanlao – drums. This lineup offers such tasty items as “Lazy Eye” from Carnavas and “Three Seed” from the same collection. “Lazy Eye” has a straight-ahead beat with interesting guitar icing and unobtrusive keyboard presence. The song moves from frenetic to thoughtful and back again, showing that this quartet is a group of real musicians.
The bass-focus at the start of “Three Seed” (Carnavas) is right for the understated high-hat tap and vocals. Keyboard and sounds again add something that are difficult to describe without saying “interesting.” But that’s OK. There are some other selections to check out on Carnavas – “Checkered Floor” and “Dream At Tempo 119.” “Pikul (2005) was the first Silversun Pickups effort.
A fall 2007 tour began in California, close the group’s home base. But after a few shakedown shows in the Golden State and Canada, the tour moves quickly to Europe, with stops in Germany and Denmark. The band returns to complete their travels in the United States.
Tags: indie music, indie, music, silversun pickups, independent music
The seed of Rookie of the Year actually comes from singer Ryan Dunson’s time in Florida (primarily a solo project). Growing from the 2002 start, the group now calls North Carolina home base. College towns and regions around universities spawn some fine young groups. Many of these don’t survive the test of time. Rookie of the Year hails from Fayetteville, North Carolina and that state has a wealth of great universities and so, several good bands.
Youth, properly used, is a wonderful thing. Rookie of the Year’s musicians are still relatively young but these players are no longer rookies. “Poison Like Your Own” on The Goodnight Moon (2006) is a nice straightforward rock song, clean and well constructed. From the same CD, “Liars and Battlelines” is a searching-for-meaning song that always finds a place on the compilations of acoustic/rock groups such as this. “The Blue Roses” is good listening.
Mike Kamerman – guitar, David Whitney – drums, Pat Murphy – bass and Brandon Schade – guitar join Dunson in a recent lineup. Mick Parsons also worked on the drums for Rookie of the Year in 2007, while two other drummers worked with the group from 2003 to 2006. Several other musicians have been part of the effort over the years as well.
Rookie released Having To Let Go in 2005. Just a year later, the band put together their newest collection and is now allowing time to create songs for their anticipated 2008 CD. The 2007 fall tour worked its way from the east coast through the Midwest.
By the way, this band has a fantastic Web site.
Tags: indie, independent music, music, rookie, indie music
Getting past the unique name of this Seattle, Washington group is easy, considering the musicianship displayed on “Planet of Ice” (2007). This veteran group promotes the new CD with an extensive tour that stretches from Austin in Texas to Amsterdam across the big pond. Word is that the London show is sold out and that’s at the end of the two-month journey.
Minus The Bear is variously billed in the media and recording industry as experimental, indie and rock. Personal note: Growing up listening to legends such as Yes, it’s good to hear that MTB is continuing to play at the top of the “quality rock” pile. The drumming and the chord changes fit very tightly, and the guitar work is some of the best among recent work. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, check out “Pachuca Sunrise” from 2005 and Dr. L’Ling from the new CD. Keyboards help set this band apart.
MTB includes Dave Knudson – guitar; Cory Murchy – bass; Alex Rose – synthesizer, drum machine, vocals, saxophone, electronics; Jake Snider – lead vocals, guitar; Erin Tate – drums. Originally the band’s keyboard expert, Matt Bayles left the band to give more attention to his work as a producer in the recording industry.
Once named the MTV band of the week, Minus The Bear has created and produced a number of fine works, including: This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic (2001); Highly Refined Pirates (2002); They Make Beer Commercials Like This (2004); Menos el Oso (2005); Interpretationes del Oso (2007).
Tags: music, indie music, independent music, minus the bear, indie
What does Hit The Lights have that gives them such a loyal fan base? A couple of things probably make the difference – this is a pretty good rock band and that always helps. They also like to party, judging from photos and comments (that doesn’t hurt a group’s popularity either). Many fans also enjoy the “bank robber” and “criminal” atmosphere set up by various photos and Web design.
If there was any doubt about this band’s ability to put together a song with strong vocal emphasis, “3 OH 9″ took care of that. Of course, the news that vocalist Colin Ross was leaving the group (June, 2007) was a bit of a bummer for HTL fans, but according to the rest of the members the attitude is still “hopeful.” Work continued on a CD as Ross moved to a more “normal” life away from the road. This led to cancellation of the planned October U.K. tour, again quite a bummer for the fans.
For now there are always the past CD efforts of Until We Get Caught and This Is A Stickup, Don’t Make It Murder. “Bodybag” has a certain darkness about it, though real robbers and killers don’t sing this well. “Speakers Blown” actually hits us where it hurts, with its reference to reality sounding like static. Get it?
Everyone’s record skips now and then. HTL’s record is skipping a bit at the moment, so we’ll have to wait and see what comes next.
Tags: music, indie music, indie, hit the lights, independent music
