Upon my first impression, I assumed that Derek Jordan was going to be a singer/songwriter. However, unless you look at the fourth track on Humanist, entitled ‘Cold Outside’, he doesn’t really fit that bill at all.

The five song EP has tracks that fall into both the harder and softer realms of rock music.

The title track has a bouncy, chugging guitar riff to it, and is more upbeat than the song that leads off the album, ‘Liberate You.’

‘Until We Fall’ again has a singer/songwriter-ish vibe; but with a harder edge to it.

Derek’s bio classifies him as ‘psych alternative rock’ and I would agree fully with that description.

Here are some clips from Derek Jordan’s bio:

Derek Jordan is king of individuality. The singer/guitarist from Los Angeles has electrified minds with his original genre, psych alternative rock. Combining psychological lyrics with high energized alternative rock to the likes of Chris Cornell, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots, Derek Jordan’s mission is to dissect the thoughts and habits of everyday life. He tells it how it is and expresses how it should be.

Derek doesn’t believe in under-living yourself…certainty doesn’t believe in conformity. What he does believe in is choosing your own path in life, pursuing your own passions, and forming your own opinions regardless of what you’ve been “taught”. There are no “rules” you have to follow in life. Certainty, security, and social customs are all made up. They don’t exist. They’ve been embedded in your minds through fear and avoidance of pain, resulting in the distortion of pleasure, adventure, and freedom that life is meant to be. It is a common conception that you can’t get what you want out of life and that greatness only comes from luck. This is absolutely absurd to Derek. This social mindset has plagued the mind and suppressed quality of life…With the instrumental aspects, he fuses a collection of blues rock, swing, folk and heavy rock elements…To Derek, individuality is what is missing and he wants you to reclaim it.

Doesn’t sound like all that bad of an ideology, right?

All in all, I would say that if you like rock music, check out Humanist. If you are into singer/songwriter music with an edge, check it out as well. Finally, if you like psychologic-rock music, this is an artist you aren’t going to want to miss.

Maybe the best way to sum up Derek and his music is this quote, which is at the very end of ‘Worry About Your Own’:

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding ones self of the ranks of the insane.”

For more information on Derek Jordan, visit the Derek Jordan Website, Derek Jordan Facebook Fan Page, and while you are there visit the Outsider Vocals Facebook Fan Page too!

Derek Jordan -- Until We Fall

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

The band Tenpoint -- who sent me their EP entitled Northern Rock -is a funny band.

Not funny in the sense of ‘funny like a clown’ as Joe Pesci says in the quote from Goodfellas, but more in the sense that the current band the members make up is nothing like the bands they used to be in.

The drastic departure from their previous sound(s) reminds me a lot of what a few of the members of metalcore band Eighteen Visions did -- they formed Burn Halo because they wanted to make a straight-up rock album. If you haven’t heard it, check it out -- it’s got a few pretty decent tracks on it, especially the song ‘Dirty Little Girl.’ It’s a song that may very well remind you of a Motley Crue track.

Mike DiMeo, Tenpoint’s lead singer, used to be the frontman for the band Riot. Their sound was influenced heavily by the 80’s ‘epic metal’ type bands.

Doug Bohn, the drummer, used to do the same in the band Suffocation. If you have seen a picture of pretty much any new metal/metalcore/deathcore, etc. band, someone is wearing a Suffocation shirt -- that’s how influential those guys were/are in the scene. For those of you that don’t know anything about them, blistering death metal would be three good words to start with.

Steve Seigerman used to be the guitarist in Welt, which was a little softer than Suffocation -- a little more of a metalcore vibe rather than straight up death metal -- but still pretty heavy stuff.

Chris Kozikowski, the bassist (and the one who contacted me about this review), was the bassist for Destroyed By Anger. Their name should give away what they sound like. They cite Hatebreed as one of their influences, and it definitely shines through.

So that brings us to the big question…what exactly does Tenpoint sound like?

The answer: They sound like a mixture between Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Also known as pretty sweet. Mike’s voice is so Chris Cornell-like it’s uncanny. From the first thirty seconds of ‘Killing Me’ (embedded below), the first track on the Northern Rock, you can hear Mike channel his inner Cornell; and it shines through even more on the chorus. The track is a great way to start the EP as well.

The second track, ‘Untied’, also showcases Mike’s vocal ability. As would be expected with any band whose members have been in the music scene for over a decade, the other members of the band are all very instrumentally proficient -- Mike is not the exception to the rule here.

The bottom line here is that if you are a fan of rock music -- especially bands like Audioslave, Alice in Chains, and/or Soundgarden -- check out Tenpoint. The press kit I got in the mail said that “this is just the beginning!”

With a sound like this, it’s hard to disagree.

For more information on Tenpoint, head over to the Tenpoint MySpace page.

Tenpoint -- Killing Me

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

Before I went under the knife for surgery, I got an email about ex-jazz players who have a love of modern rock and have just released a unique album entitled Dark Days.

First off, thanks goes out to their publicist for the email and the kind words about the site. After getting my hands on Dark Days, I was pleasantly surprised at what I heard (I know that I say that a lot; believe it or not there have been bands that have been submitted where I thought to myself “Yeah…not gonna happen”).

The jazz influence of the musicians is definitely prevalent -- you can hear it in the way the songs are structured. While Nicole described the album as the members expressing their love for modern rock, don’t expect to hear a song that could double as a track from Breaking Benjamin.

In fact, Dark Days is one of the rare albums I have heard recently that actually gets stronger as the album goes on. Songs like ‘Michelle’ and ‘Rain’ (the mandatory ballad) are the last two tracks of the album, but are some of the best songs on it.

Below I have the songs ‘Chemical Love’ and ‘Flood the Gates.’

While ‘Chemical Love’ is a really great song, it’s a little harder and more rock-oriented than most of the other stuff on the album. ‘Flood the Gates’ is a much better example of what you will find on the majority of the album.

Overall, the album may be titled Dark Days‘ but with the proper exposure there are certainly nothing but bright days ahead for Louder Than Love.

For more information on Louder Than Love, visit http://myspace.com/louderthanlovemusic

Louder Than Love -- Chemical Love

Louder Than Love -- Flood the Gates

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

Continuing the trend of reviewing artist submissions, we have Guildford, UK, based five piece Without Thought.

Note: If you are interested in being reviewed on our site, use our OUTSIDER VOCALS CONTACT US FORM.

Their sound reminds me of the early Silverstein stuff around the When Broken is Easily Fixed era in terms of the rawness of the record. While their MySpace bio describes them as a rock band with Jimmy Eat World influences in terms of the melodies, I can definitely see their punk/hardcore influence sneak through on songs like ‘Perpetuity’ in the way the song riff is structured.

That’s not to say that if you aren’t a fan of those two genres you should shy away from this record -- the rock influence is definitely the more prevalent out of the two. But if you are a fan of both, you may very well be a fan of their blending of the genres.

I would almost describe the breakdowns as very Hatebreed-like at points; but the actual instrumentals are a lot more complex and better put together. Also, the lead singer doesn’t just stand there and yell into the mic, he sings as well.

As you can see from the video for ‘With Any Arms’ that is embedded below, the band has more of a rock sound but their stage presence is not unlike that of a hardcore band. This is a better thing in my opinion. Instead of standing there trying to strike ridiculous poses (see Shinedown’s video for ‘Second Chance’…seriously dude, what are you doing?!), they are more concerned with putting on a high energy live show.

Direct from their MySpace page:

After four years of regular touring, the band have built up an army of loyal fans and continue to attract admirers with every show. Taking to the the stage with acts including The Wonder Stuff, Sikth, Attack! Attack!, Fell Silent, The Ghost Of A Thousand, Hondo Maclean, Million Dead, Enter Shikari and Exit Ten the band are becoming a regular fixture on line-ups across the south east.

Heralded as one of the best new rock bands to come out of the UK, the quintet’s admirers already include Matt Pinfield of MTV/Sony USA and Bruce Dickinson who championed their singles Grey Matter and With Any Arms on his 6 Music show.

Not bad, guys.

If you are into soaring melodies coupled with some hardcore-infused breakdowns, give Get Down and Give Me Infinity a spin -- might just be the crossover album you have been looking for.

Highlights: With Any Arms, Recovery, Self Preservation, Perpetuity

For more information on Without Thought, visit their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/withoutthought.

To Purchase Get Down and Give Me Infinity from iTunes, click the album artwork below:

Here is the video for ‘With Any Arms’ from Get Down and Give Me Infinity:

Without Thought -- With Any Arms

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.