These are the top four tracks for the week of May 10-16.
Hidden Colours – Broadside
These boys knocked it out of the park on this song. Broadside is a great pop-punk band, but what sets them apart from all of the other bands is the balance between the lead singer Ollie’s vocals, and the guitarist Dorian’s vocals. They counter each other incredibly well, and the harmonies they are known for continue to tickle my ears in this new song. Lyrically, this song is an encouraging song for people to be who they are instead of trying to hide and be someone they aren’t. This is incredibly polished pop-punk, the kind of stuff you can show to pretty much anybody and they’ll dig it. Ollie’s vocals have just enough grit in them, but not so much that it’s off-putting for the average music fan. Great song from a great band.
RIYL: State Champs, Knuckle Puck, All Time Low
PARIS ($UICIDEBOY$ Cover) – BROJOB
Before diving into this song, I have to explain Brojob. They’re a relatively new band, and not a whole lot is known about them. They started as a band to point out the machoism and hyper masculinity normally associated with hardcore and metal, and call it out by being overly sexual. Their first song was called “Talk Sh*t, Get Kissed,” calling to mind Bodycount’s song “Talk Sh*t, Get Shot.” Lyrically, they are pretty tongue in cheek in an effort to make metal fans uncomfortable, and it works. Find any song of theirs anywhere online, and there will be comments calling the band out, saying they are a disgrace to metal, etc. However, they are incredibly good at what they do as a band, truly playing great metal. $uicideboy$ are a hip-hop ground I recently discovered a few months ago, and have really enjoyed getting into their diverse discography. Hearing a real cover of their most popular song by this band was a dream come true. It goes hard. Keep in mind this is a band that doesn’t care about keeping things PG, covering a hip-hop group notorious for their graphic lyrics. Consider yourself warned. But this song goes off, so bang your head if you’re down.
RIYL: Infant Annihilator, Thy Art Is Murder, Born of Osiris
Tunnel Vision – Siamese
Siamese came out of nowhere, contributing to this new genre of beautiful vocals to post-hardcore. It’s different than it was when the emo movement first began, as this is really polished and pretty in the vocals department. Some great polyrhythms in the instrumentation call to mind Periphery and other djenty bands. This is a song you can listen to a number of times, and find something new each time. Upon signing to Artery Records, they released this new song, which showcases what we can expect from them very well. And a little Justin Timberlake thrown in for good measure never hurt anyone. I’m expecting some pretty big things from these boys.
RIYL: Issues, Shrezzers, Hands Like Houses
Bite Marks – The White Noise
The White Noise put out my favourite song of the year in 2016 with Picture Day, so to say this was highly anticipated is an understatement. They took a bit of a different approach with this song, leaning more towards the hard rock genre than the hardcore/punk tendencies they showcased on their last EP. But make no mistake, this is still The White Noise, and they still bring the heavy. Even when doing a ‘softer’ song, they still have an intensity and grit that many bands can’t achieve in their heaviest songs. Bite Marks is a song they’ve been playing live for a while now, and many fans are thrilled that they finally have a studio version of this song released. I like this song for the most part, but it really kicks in a little over two minutes in. The breakdown they play seamlessly contributes to why this song is so great. They effortlessly throw the heavy elements before jumping right back into the chorus. I’m really looking forward to this release.
RIYL: Crown the Empire, Bring Me The Horizon, Bad Omens
BONUS:
Welcome – Mulligan
Mulligan is a brand new band, with no music released yet, save for this teaser they released this week. Mulligan is made up of two ex-members of The Ongoing Concept. While it’s still incredibly vague and unclear why 3/4 of the band left without any announcement, the fact that TJ and Parker are still making music makes up for it a little bit. TOC had an incredibly original chaotic style of music, and this teaser suggests that there is still some of that chaos in Mulligan too. This song is directed at all the fans and critics that continue to doubt the Idaho boys, while confirming that they have some big stuff coming up in the future. There’s not much to it, as it’s only 35 seconds long, but it’s a hint at things to come. And I, for one, am intrigued to say the least.
Alastair Heinrichs 