thePULSEThe Sunstreak’s Once Upon A Lie
By Jillian Locke
Love, heartache, completion, the vicious cycle that ties us all together, running ourselves ragged like gerbils in a wheel. Yup, The Sunstreak will drag you through the proverbial mud, through the ups and downs, and help you land on your feel once it’s all said and done. This love-induced, heartache spliced rollercoaster is brought to you by tons of synthesizers, compliments of David Schuler, jump-your-face-off guitar and bass licks, brought to you by Schuler, Jack Flynn, and Jason Sarkis, the pop-tacular electric drum beats of Gary Foster, and the soothing, dripping harmonies of vocalist Tony Rebis.
The Sunstreak burst into life in Rochester, NY in 2005, and has since compiled three releases: 2006’s self-titled debut, 2008’s Top Secret, and their October 2009 release, Once Upon A Lie. Their look somehow resembles the bastard child of an Orange County hardcore outfit, Bleeding Through, and Miami Vice. And with guitarist/effects master Schuler at the helm of production/recording/engineering/editing and mixing, The Sunstreak have made their sound, albeit similar to today’s popular music, uniquely tailored to their own internal soundtracks.
The album’s title track vibes with a feel comparable to a blending of Funeral for a Friend and The Sleeping, heavily laden with effects, giving it an 80s, Pretty in Pink feel. The whole album has that energy, really, because when we look back to the decade of leg-warmers, The Rat Pack, Madonna and Tears for Fears, love and coming of age was the theme, and Once Upon A Lie is no different ~ from the title track to “Great White Coma,” a song that cries of staying steadfast and never changing and ensuing heart-break, to “Everyday,” which laments over the ever-changing, never-constant winds of life. As Rebis bellows, “Choices never ending/My head is spinning round and round/And everyone against me/But every time I hear your voice/I know that my heart made the right choice/When I chose you.”
Other ballads like “Until I Met You,” “By The Way,” and “Here In My Arms” make Once Upon A Lie the perfect soundtrack to a modern day romance…think Sixteen Candles meets 10 Things I Hate About You. For best results, give it a spin on a sunny day, driving with the windows all the way down.
www.TheSunstreak.com, www.myspace.com/TheSunstreak, www.twitter.com/TheSunstreak, www.MRVmusic.com
Andrew W.K.’s 55 Cadillac
By Tom Godfrey
If you pick up Andrew W.K.’s new album 55 Cadillac expecting the hard hitting party anthems he is known for, you are going to be shocked. 55 Cadillac is an album of a man and his piano ~ full instrumental.
What makes this album great is that it is different from what you’ve come to expect of piano music; it is not haunting and it will not bum you out. The keys dance from emotion to emotion, at once anxious and elated.
“I set out to try and make the complete opposite album [than previous releases],” says Andrew during our recent interview. “The album is about people sitting down and thinking about what makes a song, what makes an album. This is just an experience of a guy playing piano.”
The experience is accomplished ~ in spades ~ in 55 Cadillac. Many of the tracks are more like fleeting ideas than traditionally arranged songs. Songs that open in somber minors meander through tempo changes and build in funky staccato mirrored by Andrew drumming on the top of the piano, only to finish with a feeling akin to that of the funky waltzes in old Looney Tunes shorts.
Indeed, 55 Cadillac is exactly what Andrew means it to be. It is an unfiltered musical experience, sans any narrative save that which plays in your own mind. It is the closest thing to sitting in a room with a talented pianist who just wants to play nothing in particular, but play it well.
“It’s all about this feeling that you are glad to be alive,” Andrew says. “You get this high from doing what you were born to do and you can get that through music. It doesn’t always come easy and taking risks is the only way to get that feeling.”
55 Cadillac, available now, is a risk worth taking.
Check out www.andrewwk.com for more.
The [Glorious] Insanity of MTV’s “Nitro Circus”
By Patrick Douglas
When most couch potatoes see someone jump from an airplane without a parachute, they ask “Why?” When you’re a part of the hit TV show “Nitro Circus,” you ask, “Why not?”
Mixing elements of Evel Knievel with “Jackass,” the cast of “Nitro Circus” are always looking to conquer something never before tried by man ~ at least never tried with success being the end result.
“That’s what we’re here to do. This is something that we all really love,” said motocross expert Jolene Van Vugt. “To travel together and try stunts that no one’s ever done before or [attempt] ideas that we think would be really cool, it just happened to be an outlet that nobody had tapped into yet.”
Spearheaded by super intense motocross champion Travis Pastrana, the show was born of his desire to pull off stunts that regular people couldn’t even dream up, much less attempt. On the show, Pastrana is usually the one to conquer the most ridiculous of tricks, like hydroplaning a motorcycle across a lake and flipping it off of a floating ramp.
What started as a project simply intended for an annual DVD, “Nitro Circus” became a hit show, currently airing new episodes in Season Two. Some people look at it as being sponsored insanity, but Van Vugt prefers to see it as a way of conquering the unknown.
“We’re doing it because there’s the possibility,” she said. “I think a lot of people don’t challenge themselves because there’s the possibility of failure and we challenge ourselves because there’s the possibility that you can make it and we wanna see if we can make it. Sometimes it comes out negative, sometimes it comes out positive, but it always turns out to be pretty darn good footage.”
Look for Season One out on DVD now.
Photos courtesy of MTV
Barren Earth’s Our Twilight
Peaceville Records
By Jillian Locke
On November 17th, Our Twilight, the four track EP from metal masters, Barren Earth, was released in the US, with a full album anticipated in early 2010. The teaser EP is breathtaking, drawing from vast pools of influences, calling upon textbook prog influences such as Pink Floyd, the classical, folk soaked sounds of Jethro Tull, the more experimental and atmospheric tones of Opeth, and the gothic overlay of Paradise Lost, not to mention more obscure, experimental and traditional muses.
Barren Earth’s sound is as impressive and bombastic as its acclaimed line-up ~ in truth, there was really no way this super group wouldn’t sound good. Including the talents of vocalist Mikko Kotamaki (Swallow The Sun), guitarist Sami Ylisirnio (Kreator, Waltari), keyboardist Kasper Martenson (Ex-Amorphis, Ben Granfelt Band), guitarist Janne Perttila (Rytmihairio), bassist Olli-Pekka Laine (Ex-Amorphis, Mannhai), and drummer Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow), this fantasy metal ensemble has created a sound that both drifts between and defies genres like only seasoned metal-smiths can do.
The opening/title track meets the challenge this holy metal matrimony has laid out for itself, marrying elements of melodic harmonies and death metal vocals, which then, almost instantaneously, break into smooth, clean vocals and more traditional rhythms; the track takes on an almost surreal energy, floating seamlessly back and forth from classical to death to more experimental lengths of metal, all the while holding steady as an independent masterpiece.
“Jewel” continues in this vein, with keyboards and vocals that resound with any airy quality, reminiscent of choirs of angels, creating a sharp contrast to the brusque, punishing growls that follow. The “The Flame of Serenity” follows suit, but cranks the ante up a notch, delving deeper into the metal psyche, calling up images of both light and dark, merging them in an eerily natural fashion.
“Floodred” ties together all the deathly beatific elements of this breakthrough EP, spinning the classic metal tapestry into a neat and epic finish, like the fates weaving the web of metal destiny. The guitar work brings the album to a close that is indescribable ~ I can only imagine this being the background music a fallen Viking warrior hears once he’s finally reached Valhalla.
The name of Our Twilight’s game is layering ~ layering of good and evil, angels and demons, harsh and gentle, life and death, bringing both sides of the spectrum into the light, showcasing the brilliance and promise of this conglomeration of metal masterminds.
www.myspace.com/barrenearthofficial, www.barrenearth.com
Katatonia
By Jillian Locke
Night is the New Day, Katatonia’s eighth studio album, opens strong with “Forsaker;” the rugged chords that preface the soft lyrics harken to the sound that French prog-metal engineers Gojira, are becoming so popular for ~ an intense, take-no-prisoners chug, raw and pure in form and approach. The song quickly transforms into a lighter, more transcendental sound, emanating the feel and energy that Katatonia embody. This Swedish progressive metal band really embraces what I call “spiritual metal,” which is metal that takes the listener to new heights, both in mind and heart. Music that transforms.
Slight industrial elements graze the surface of “The Longest Year,” and again, the raw chug rears its rugged head, bringing the listener back from the ambient la-la-land and reminding them that yes, this IS a metal album, albeit a unique one. Drawing from such influences as Fields of Nephilim, Red House Painters, The Cure, Jeff Buckley, and David Sylvain, Katatonia swells in dynamic orchestration, taking progressive metal to new heights.
The beginning of the album gets the pace going, then slows to a more introspective crawl with tracks “Idle Blood” and “Onward Into Battle,” but begins to pick up again, ever so slightly, with “The Promise of Deceit.” The pace dips down again, but the thick atmosphere continues, fueling the hypnotic feel of the album.
“Day And Then The Shade,” the first single and video, brings the energy present in the beginning of the album back, full circle. The pace quickens, the guitars regain their brute strength, and the vocals take on a lighter, more uplifting tone. The chorus of “All my fear is coming to view/There must be an end soon/Every waking hour is part of the lie” resounds, bouncing off the invisible walls of the track, succinctly summing up the overall vibe and attitude of the album.
This energy is no doubt a direct result of the haunting, ethereal tones of vocalist Jonas Renske, and the choir of meticulous musicianship of guitarist Anders Nystrom, guitarist Fredrick Norrman, bassist Mattias Norrman, and drummer Daniel Liljekvist. Along with the help of co-producer/engineer/mixer David Castillo, Katatonia have once again created another world ~ another plane ~ within Night is the New Day.
www.nightisthenewday.com
www.myspace.com/katatonia
www.twitter.com/katatoniaband
www.peaceville.com
