Alternative/Indie
The Graduate -- Only Every Time Review
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Recently (and by recently I mean within the last few hours), I was invited by Razor and Tie Records to join an exclusive panel in which they let individuals preview their upcoming artist releases. Pretty cool, huh?
The invitation was specifically to hear The Graduate’s upcoming release Only Every Time, which is due to hit stores on August 31st.
Here is a brief bio of the band via information from a press release:
Atmospheric rock band The Graduate will release their new album, Only Every Time on August 31st. The album will be the first since the band signed to Razor & Tie in May 2010…Vocalist Corey Warning expressed his view on the album when he said, “We do see this album as an evolution of sorts. I think about bands that make the same record over and over again, and it has to get boring for them – and even more for the listener. We made sure we didn’t do that on this record.” While Only Every Time has the atmospheric feel for which The Graduate is known, it is definitely a different album than anything they have previously recorded.
Produced by Brian McTernan, who has previously worked with artists such as Thrice, Circa Survive and Cave In, Only Every Time was recorded at McTernan’s Baltimore based studio, Salad Days Studio.
The Graduate will hit the road once again this August for a month of dates with The Bigger Lights. They will then join Ludo, off of Razor & Tie Music Publishing’s roster, for a two month nationwide tour throughout September and October kicking off in Chicago on September 9th and ending in Milwaukee on October 15th.
Only Every Time kicks off with ‘Don’t Die Digging’, which has a Killers-meets-gang-vocals-chorus vibe to it. If you are using Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion’ as a baseline, ‘Stuck (Inside My Head)’ -- Only Every Time‘s third track -- wouldn’t be all that out of place on Neon Bible.
Just judging by the last two sentences, you can see why I scoffed at some of the YouTube comments from people classifying The Graduate as a pop-punk band. Simply having a catchy chorus does not make you a pop-punk band. Try to tell the nearest guy on a Harley that AC/DC is a pop-punk band…but make sure you practice picking up your teeth from the sidewalk beforehand.
‘Make Believe’ sounds like a track that Black Lab would have put on their album Passion Leaves a Trace. Bands like this -- Black Lab, the Killers, Future of Forestry, Snow Patrol -- are the best comparison I can make when listening to The Graduate.
The bottom line here is this: Corey’s quote in the blurb above is a perfect indication of this band. A lot of bands say they are influenced by 20 different artists from varying genres, but their music sounds exactly like the last big band in their scene that broke out of obscurity.
This is the first release in a while that I listened to and it actually sounded like the band took their influences and paid homage to all of them…instead of just the hottest one at the moment.
If you are looking for a unique blend of pop, indie, and rock, give Only Every Time a spin when it hits shelves at the end of August.
Here is The Graduate’s ‘I Survived’, from their 2007 album Anhedonia:
Special thanks goes out to Razor and Tie Records for the invitation to the panel.
For more information and to see a whole slew of tour dates, visit The Graduate MySpace Page
All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.
Wildwood Music Company
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Here we have another artist, Wildwood Music Co., submitted by Jon over at LikeZEBRA.
Their Facebook Page Info reads like this:
A little bit of blues, rock n roll, folk, and indie, Wildwood Music Co. has been about fifteen years in the making. Noah Berberea and James (Jimbo) McKinnon have been singing and playing music together since 1996.
Born and raised in Southern California (former members of the band Ferona Vei, A Streetcar Murder), the pair met at 16 and quickly discovered that they both had music in common, and people liked it when they played together. They spent a long time playing together in various projects, in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but ended up back together in Ventura, California, writing music with an ocean view.
The two have taken back to their roots in music, drawing from the music that inspired them growing up and what pouring in their ears today. Naming the band Wildwood Music Company to dedicate it to the memory of a wonderful friend, and the love energy that comes from the coast of California.
Their EP, comprised of just four songs (‘Little Boy Boo’ [embedded below], ‘Race’, ‘Stoned and Fidgety’, and ‘Sunset’), shows a lot of promise and sounds very crisp and clean. If I sound surprised by that, it’s simply because a lot of first recordings by bands sound like they were recorded in someone’s closet…through a coffee can.
‘Race’ actually sounds a lot like ‘Stay Tonight’ song by Eagle Eye Cherry at the very beginning. Like the previous song (‘Little Boy Boo’), it’s another uptempo rocker.
Likewise, ‘Sunset’ sounds like a track that a crossover country/rock artist could pull off (think Keith Urban or even Rascal Flatts).
These guys definitely have a lot of potential; and if they get some more songs under their belts they could fit well as an opening act for any of the bands listed below.
If they have more songs like these four up their sleeves, I wish this would have been a full-length album rather than just an EP.
For more information on Wildwood Music Co., head over to the Wildwood Music Co. Facebook Page, and while you’re at it, also visit the Outsider Vocals Facebook Page too!
Recommended If You Like: Carbon Leaf, Ryan Adams, Old 97s
All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.
