Archive for Rock
Legend Has It – Driven Review
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For those of you who like rock music, and have your pop-rock guilty pleasure bands which you are into as well, Legend Has It (LHI) strikes a perfect balance between the two genres.
Whereas some of the previous bands featured lately have been more on the pop-rock side (The Weakness, for one), LHI elicits a Jimmy Eat World vibe…you know they aren’t pop, but they aren’t rock in the sense of a Three Days Grace, Rise Against, etc. type of band.
They aren’t one of those bands that you have to ‘be in the mood to listen to’, let’s put it that way. If you are a rock fan, you can throw this into your iPod playlist and just let it ride out.
The band lists ‘The Starting Line, Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day, Blink 182, 311, Metallica, Left Front Tire, New Found Glory, Weezer, Coheed and Cambria, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Mudvayne, you name it!’ as their influences, and their bio looks like this:
We are hard rocking band out of Atlanta, GA. Our style: Not like anything else. We take pop, punk, metal and many other genres and meld it into one unique sound. We dedicate ourselves to a high energy, engaging show that leaves fans always wanting more. Check out our show dates and come check us out. You will not be disappointed.
Most band bios on MySpace are just propaganda, but those second and third sentences there are actually a pretty legit description of the bands sound. Let’s put it this way: I’m not a fan whatsoever of cookie-cutter bands, so the fact that I chose to feature them should attest to their statements above.
I would try to give my own analysis of Legend Has It’s sound, but I really have no idea what to categorize them as – their instrumentals are very much rock (bordering on hard rock at times), but the vocals are more pop-punk/powerpop-ish. By vocals I mean the style they are sung in, not that the lyrics are all emo-esque.
Looks like you will have to just give them a listen and make your own call. Check out the video below for a good start.
For more information, visit the Legend Has It MySpace.
Highlights: ‘Anything You Want To Sing’, ‘After the Fall’, ‘Into Reality’
Recommended If You Like: Rock music or pretty much any sub-genre of it
All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.
When Black Queen Speaks, You’d Better Listen
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The first thing that caught my eye on the Black Queen Speaks (BQS) website was the crazy painting of the Queen of Hearts with a skull mask over her face…it reminded me of Skeletor from the Masters of the Universe movie.
Once I started up the media player on the website, my attention was quickly diverted elsewhere.
So far in 2010, BQS has played local venues such as Warehouse Live, Scout Bar, Rudz, and played their second showing at Austin’s SXSW Texas Rock Fest.
The Black Queen Speaks bio looks like this:
Formed in Houston, TX but hailing from across the country, Black Queen Speaks came together for a common love of the almighty groove. Their sound is an amalgamation of blues, hard rock, grunge, 70’s funk, dance, and soul peppered with flourishes of 90’s hip hop. In short, Black Queen Speaks can best be described as if Jane’s Addiction and SoundGarden got their asses kicked by James Brown.
The band’s EP definitely showcases many of the above styles – the music definitely has a classic rock/Led Zeppelin-ish feel to it; since the songs can range anywhere from a slow ballad-esque song (‘Domino’) to a mid-tempo rocker (‘Sludge’) to a song which is a shorter and more upbeat track, such as ‘Bad Habits.’
The slower tracks on the EP (like ‘Space Racer’) show the strongest funk and classic rock influences. To be honest, if they didn’t have these two influences and these songs were just straight-up rock and roll, they would probably feel like walking through wet cement. That’s more a testament to the songs turning out well than the songs being one step away from crap, by the way. The majority of songs out there are one notch away from monotony…they just chose to move a notch in the right direction.
The bottom line here is that if you are a fan of classic rock or any of the bands that have “carried that torch” into the new millennium, check these guys out. They definitely seem like they were a perfect fit at SXSW.
For more information, visit the Black Queen Speaks website.
Recommended If You Like: The Answer, Wolfmother, Black Stone Cherry, other funk and blues infused artists
All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.
Modena Interview
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Modena is a rock/alternative/grunge act hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. They were recently featured as one or ReverbNation’s 10 Featured Bands of the Week and soon will be recording their upcoming album with Jim Wirt, who has worked with Incubus and Hoobastank, among others.
OV: So what’s the story with the band name? What does it mean/how did it originate?
M: Honestly, I was playing a racing video game when I first saw it. I chose the Ferrari 360 modena and I thought ‘that would be a AWESOME band name. I really hope it’s not taken.’ At the time I had a huge list of like, over 100 ridiculous names that I had been conjuring up in my head for over a month of different things ranging from random thoughts, places, objects, phrases, etc. I knew we wanted one word, at MOST two. Something short, sweet, & edgy kinda like our music. I was totally against long, drawn out band names. Only a select few can get away with stuff like that (i.e.: Stone Temple Pilots) and it seemed like every new rock band coming out had some stupid name referring to an ex girlfriend like ‘Finding Delia’s Heart’ or some lame emo crap like that.
As far as its meaning goes – it’s a city in Italy where the great Opera singer Pavarotti was born, and it’s a place where they make bad-ass Ferrari sports cars. If we ever sell a million records that’s the first thing I’m buying and that’s the first city I am visiting.
OV: Your MySpace page classifies you as Rock/Alternative/Grunge. What bands do you draw inspiration from?
M: Wow, now that’s a loaded question. Here’s a list of some of our biggest influences (in no particular order): Alice In Chains, Mr. Big, Nirvana, Guns N’ Roses, KISS, TOOL, Silverchair, Bush, Billy Sheehan, Steve Vai. I think this list could go on for days.
OV: Jaymz, I hear you will be guest conducting at The North Carolina Opera in June. How did that get set up?
M (Jaymz): Believe it or not, I actually won this at a live auction. My mom is really into Opera and hooked me up with a free ticket to one of their fancy get-togethers. I figured that any party where I can eat and drink for free would be worth my time, so I went. I got a little tipsy and when the auction started, one of the prizes was to conduct an orchestra @ an NC Opera event. I figured “what the hell?” and raised my number… I’ve always been really interested to try something like this out because I was in the school band from 2nd until 9th grade. It’s the total other end of the spectrum from our genre of music and I’m really looking forward to it.
OV: How excited are you guys to be working with Jim Wirt?
M: We are REALLY stoked. His track record and reputation precede him. We’re excited to be working with someone who is a well-versed veteran in rock & roll production as well as someone who can capture our sound the way we have always known we could sound.
OV: Is there anything specific that you really want him to focus on helping you guys improve upon in the studio?
M: We’ve really grown as musicians since our last EP effort in 2008 – especially with our new bass player Stew & lead-singer Terry. We have a much more matured & rounded-out sound. With that being said, we’re hoping Jim can harness this new machine we’ve evolved into and help us use the tools we’ve acquired and learned over the years to polish a sound so totally awesome & rockin’ that it will make your ear drums pop at the mere thought of listening to these new songs.
OV: There are a ton of rock bands out there…what are you guys doing to make sure that you stand out from the crowd?
M: Our musical discipline for perfection is unmatched by any act I’ve seen at our level. We can now proudly say that we have all the bases covered in both our studio and live performances. What you hear on the record, you will hear live. Having three singers will provide us with unlimited potential to do make the biggest harmonies possible. We’re all about an in-your-face, fat sound, both live & in the studio, that a lot of newer rock bands lack these days. Big drums, catchy riffs, pounding bass, in-your-face guitar solos, and huge melodic vocals. That’s Modena.
OV: What do you have on the horizon as far as tour/recording/etc. plans in between now and the end of summer?
M: Well after we record with Jim Wirt, we plan on promoting the new single with a local mini-tour around NC, VA and SC. Eventually we’d like to do shows in Tennessee, Georgia, or even Florida & beyond. We recently signed with a new booking agency called C&A Media that we are really excited about. In addition we are about to sign a deal with Filament Records, who will release our new single this fall. They have high hopes for us and they seem to share our same vision in terms of where we think the industry is going and how to make the new advances in technology, social media, marketing & promotion work in our favor in order to make Modena the biggest up-and-coming modern rock band possible. It seems to be a win-win situation for everyone involved.
For more information on Modena, visit the Modena MySpace Page.
Anberlin Concert Videos – Mr. Smalls Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
Posted by: | CommentsFor more concert videos, check out the Outsider Vocals Facebook Page. The total count is up over 40 videos now, so what are you waiting for? Go check ‘em out!
