HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Sum Up, Resolutions, Best Of 2013

I don't know why, but I'm really hyper right now and this is my last blog post in 2013 and unlike usual, I have quite some stuff to say!

2013 was the craziest and most chaotic year ever, I can't believe it's already basically over. I can surely say that music came out of nowhere and completely turned my life around. Of course it's been in my life ever since but in 2013 I developed a whole new connection to bands and lyrics and fans. I started to look at music from a completely different point of view and music might or might not have become the centre of my life. I created this blog in February and 99 posts and quite some clicks later, I work for an online magazine, I get to interview bands and I couldn't be happier about the direction my life is heading in.
2013 might have been weird at most points, but it gave me a whole lot of amazing moments. I saw 30 bands live, I had interviews with 6 of them, I met All Time Low and I attended my first festival ever. Music, or the people behind it, taught (and still teaches) me a lot about life and the attitude you could (or should) have towards it and I think these people helped me a lot to become the person I am today. 

Before this gets too emotional, I came up with some resolutions I probably won't stick to anyway but it became a tradition for me to think of some resolutions, if I stick to them or not. 

• read 100 books (I'll have to think of ways to afford this but yaay books!!)
• worry less, act more (this has been one of my resolutions for the past few years but I think I get better at it every year so I can't forget about it
• don't procrastinate that much (I am really good at procrastinating, sometimes I even procrastinate things I actually want to do and it needs to stop)
• write more (and when by saying that I mean reviews and stories and just everything that comes to my mind. Writing has been a big deal for me for a few years now and I just enjoy it but I never find the time to sit down for a while and just collect ideas)
• be more open-minded when meeting new people instead of directly judging them (sometimes I do this thing where I judge people from the sound of their voice, so if somebody has a voice that sounds unpleasant in my ears, I don't even talk to them and that's bullshit and I know it and I'll work on it!!)

Let's talk about this again in 12 months and see how far I got with these. What are your resolutions, if you have any? And if you don't, why not? Leave everything that comes to your mind in the comments! 

Last but not least I collected a list of my personal Best Of songs in 2013, so basically this is a collection of the songs I discovered this year and still listen to.

1. All Time Low - Time Bomb
2. All Time Low - Backseat Serenade
3. All Time Low - Me Without You
4. A Day To Remember - I Remember
5. Asking Alexandria - White Line Fever
6. Bastille - Things We Lost In The Fire
7. Biffy Clyro - Bubbles
8. Bring Me The Horizon - Sleepwalking
9. Bring Me The Horizon - Can You Feel My Heart
10. Fall Out Boy - Young Volcanoes
11. Of Mice & Men - Second & Sebring
12. Paramore - Still Into You
13. Pierce The Veil - Hold On Till May
14. Tonight Alive - Come Home
15. Tonight Alive - Hell And Back
16. We Are The In Crowd - Exits And Entrances
17. We Are The In Crowd feat. Alex Gaskarth - Kiss Me Again
18. We Came As Romans - Fade Away
19. We Came As Romans - I Am Free
20. You Me At Six - No One Does It Better
21. 30 Seconds To Mars - Do Or Die

What are your best of songs in 2013? Leave your list in the comments, I'm always happy to receive recommendations of new music!

I wish you all a happy, successful new year, let's close this chapter and open a new one! 

Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass - A Playlist

Hey guys, how's it going? I hope you already opened the first part of your advent calendar (I didn't because I left it at home but that only means that I can open 5 or 6 parts at once aw yeah) and I also hope you're getting into the Christmas mood! In case you're struggling with it, I came up with a little playlist for all of you who are too punk rock for classic Christmas songs. Enjoy and feel free to play it on Christmas Eve!

Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas

I have to admit that I'm perfectly fine with the original as well, even though I'll probably hear it five million times before it's even Christmas. Obviously a few guitars here and there never harm though, do they.


All Time Low - Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass

What can I say, ain't no playlist without All Time Low, eh. 


Issues - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

I'm new to this band but Tyler has a fantastic voice and this cover definitely is a win. 


My Chemical Romance - All I Want For Christmas Is You

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE TO COME BACK OKAY
sorry for shouting but I'm still waiting for them to come back like "lol that was just a joke we're back kids what's up??" 


Bowling For Soup - Feliz Navidad

That's the best version I found of this song, not gonna lie. 


All Time Low - Fool's Holiday

Alex Gaskarth's voice just makes me emotional sometimes and I couldn't spare you this song. 


Blink 182 - Won't Be Home For Christmas

I don't even have anything to say about this one. 


WHAM! - Last Christmas

Yeah I had to put the original as the last song, it's too good not to do so. 


These are the songs I found and like, so if you have some more great punk Christmas songs, feel free to share them in the comments or send me an e-mail (never-enoughmusic@hotmail.com) or tweet me @neverenoughm or come say hi on tumblr (x)! 

Vans Off The Wall Music Night presents: Like Moths To Flames, Memphis May Fire, We Came As Romans and Parkway Drive

Music never fails to make my life at least a tiny bit better. I had a pretty crappy week but I made it through and as some sort of reward so to say, I went to see these four amazing bands. Unfortunately, I didn't have an interview though but it was still a blast. 

Like Moths To Flames started the insanity with the perfect performance to get the crowd into the mood to mosh, the first circle pit happened maybe two minutes after the guys from Columbus, OH started to play.

Memphis May Fire were up next and I'd really like to talk about Matty's Legacy-speech. I don't remember his exact words, but it went somehow like this: "each and everyone is so special in their own way, I love you all from the bottom of my heart, screw everyone who tries to bring you down! Chase your dreams because all of you are capable of making them come true. I belive in you!"

I actually got goosebumps because sometimes it's just nice to hear encouraging words like these, even if they come from a total stranger. I mean, these bands are the reason why you're reading this right now and I have no clue where I'd be without them.

Memphis May Fire played a good mix of their two albums, for example Alive In The Lights, The Sinner, Vices and The Victim. I'm pretty excited for new stuff though! 

My personal highlight was finally on stage after MMF: We Came As Romans. I was really excited and had certain expectations but these crazy guys exceeded those expectations by far. I'm still fascinated by Kyle's pleasant presence on stage - as soon as he started to perform, I stopped thinking about all the things that were bothering me and just paid attention to his voice. He has this very special sound which is a big part of the things that make this band so special. They mostly played songs from their current album Tracing Back Roots (for example Fade Away, Ghosts or Present, Future and Past) but when they played their version of Glad You Came (which is originally by The Wanted and if you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out), they got this party started. Instead of moshing, people were actually dancing and screaming along and that was a beautiful thing to experience. However, not only the crowd had fun, but also the band what was even more beautiful to watch. I really hope they'll be back in Germany soon because these guys totally cast a spell on me (is that a cheesy expression to use when it comes to a metalcore band?)

The final performance belonged to a bunch of guys from Australia: Parkway Drive. As aggressive as their music might sound, the people behind it are super nice. They were at least as excited to play as the crowd was to see them and what can I say? The Australians burned the place down. Crowdsurfers were literally flying around, basically the whole performance was one big circle pit and things got totally insane. I loved how the band interacted with the crowd, for example when they blew out these little white pieces of paper, and their vocalist was like "We don't have snow in Australia, so we thought we'd bring some for you."

Some people got a little mixed up in the pits (bleeding noses, black eyes, whatever you can imagine) but I'm pretty sure that every single person in this room had a fantastic night. 

That was my last concert for this year, so I'll focus on reviews for the last few weeks that still remain in 2013. If you have any wish or request, just drop a message and I'll have a listen!

Last Concert Of The Season!!

Hey guys, I'm just here to apologize for the lack of posts (business as usual) and to give you a quick update! Tomorrow I'll attend the last concert of my season, so to say, the Vans Off The Wall Music Night feat. Like Moths To Flames, Memphis May Fire, We Came As Romans and Parkway Drive!! I'm so so so so so excited for We Came As Romans, I gotta admit that I developed a thing for them during the last couple of months, so it's pretty cool that I'll get the chance to see them. I'm also very pleased to see Memphis May Fire again and I'm 100% sure that Parkway Drive will tear the place apart. Long story short: If you'll be there, come say hi! And if you won't be there, I'll provide you with some lovely pictures and a review on Sunday or on Monday. 

I also plan on doing a little summary of my concert season and a little foreshadowing for 2014 (yes, I already started planning concerts for next yea!), so yeah, stay tuned! 

Concert Review: Sights & Sounds, Pierce The Veil and Bring Me The Horizon in Stuttgart, Germany

This was the best concert I've attended since Rock am Ring, not even kidding. I expected it to be great but last night completely blew me away. 

I had an interview with Andrew from Sights & Sounds but I didn't know when, so we arrived at the venue pretty early. I asked somebody with a laminate about Sights & Sounds and he said he'd send them outside (what never happened but oh well). We waited next to the backstage entrance and waited and waited and waited until a girl who stood next to me looked to the main entrance and said: "Hold on a second, they're taking pics, there's somebody...THAT'S OLI!!" Of course we wanted to take a glimpse at him so we walked to the entrance but couldn't get close because Oli was already crowded by fans. We went back to the busses, still waiting for Sights & Sounds, when Saskia suddenly got super nervous, so I twirled and saw Oli standing right next to me. We didn't hesitate a second, of course. 

(heck yeah, my friends!!)

We were still waiting for my interview to happen; in the meantime we met Jordan and Matt from Bring Me The Horizon: 

(Matt looks really confused, and I'm confused because "fans" don't seem to recognize him unless he's on stage)

Things got a little chaotic when Andrew from Sights & Sounds contacted me. Usually interviews happen before they let people inside the venue, this time we had to get in line, it took us 20 minutes to get inside and of course then it was too late for the interview. We got a spot in the 4th row what would be fine if I was tall but since I'm not, I couldn't even see the stage properly. 
Sights & Sounds opened the show with a mixed set: They played songs from their full length album and their new EP which came out last week. It was a good way of preparing the crowd for Pierce The Veil. The mexicans were my highlight of the night; I've been looking forward to this moment since I saw them play at Rock am Ring for 15 minutes and let me tell you - the wait was so worth it. 
They started their set with Hell Above and when everyone around me sang along with Vic "this is a wasteland, my only retreat", I felt like I belonged somewhere, you know what I mean? Like, I wasn't the weirdo anymore, I wasn't the outcast or the freak and that felt amazing. 

This is the setlist from London (November 7th) and last night they played the same songs, just in a different order.(taken from here)

My personal highlight was Hold On Till May. I didn't even expect them to play it but when Vic said "This song goes out to all of you who need music to survive" I got goosebumps and became slightly emotional. When this particular line ("Darling, you'll be okay") was up, Jaime pointed at the whole crowd and I think that was a really beautiful gesture. 
Another thing I noticed in particular was how passionate Tony was. He sang along to almost every song, sometimes he looked at us and just smiled so happily it gave me this warm, fuzzy feeling. It always makes me so happy to see how much band members love what they do. 

By the way: We should start a petition to get Jaime to sing more because in my opinion, he's an incredibly talented vocalist and more people should appreciate this. 

I didn't take any pictures because I was busy not getting crushed by the people around me. However, I saw Adam Elmakias sneaking around, so as soon as he uploads the pics he took, I might add them here. 

If you saw BMTH before, you know how wild it can be. I saw a girl getting dragged out of the pit with a bleeding nose, Oli asked crowd surfers to make their way to him, so he could give them a high five (shoutout to the security for doing a fantastic job) and I bruised my knee when everybody had to sit down only to jump up again when Oli told us to do so. 

All in all, I had a fantastic night and I can't wait to see BMTH and PTV again!

Impericon Never Say Die Tour: Northlane, Hundredth, Hand Of Mercy, Betraying The Martyrs, I Killed The Prom Queen, Carnifex and Emmure

Hey guys, in case you were wondering: I'm still alive, university is going good and I was at the Impericon Never Say Die tour last sunday! It was one of my best concert experiences so far, but let's start at the beginning. 

We arrived at the venue around 5pm, my interview with Northlane was scheduled for 5.30 so we walked around the venue for a while until somebody who looked like he belonged to one of the bands, sent us backstage to look for the guys. That's what we did and we ran into Nic from Northlane right away. He took us inside to look for Adrian and Alex who were up for the interview but we couldn't find Alex, so Nic jumped in:

Originally, the interview was longer but due to some technical issues, I had to cut out some parts. However, Northlane will hopefully be back in Germany next year, so we'll be able to catch up.

Thanks to Nic and Adrian for having us!

My interview with Hand Of Mercy was scheduled for 7.30pm, so we had almost 2 hours to kill and went inside again. HOM also opened the show and we didn't want to miss that, so we got a spot in the first row and waited until it started. 

The boys from Sydney kicked ass and were the perfect opening act. They had so much energy which they easily transferred to the crowd - they were exactly what you'd expect at a gig like that.

Northlane were up next and unfortunately we only managed to see half of their set because of the next interview. However, these guys exceeded my expectations. Adrian might not look like it, but he can sound very angry and combined with the rest of the band supporting him, Northlane showed why they belong in this genre.

As I said, we had to leave their set earlier for the interview with Hand Of Mercy. I had no idea how their tour manager looked like, so we decided to wait at their merch table until Dawson showed up and I asked him about the interview. A few minutes later Dawson, Josh, Saskia (who filmed) and I were on the way to the band's tourbus, what was the highlight of my career as a journalist so far. 

The quality is terrible because the only lighting we had were two little lights on the bus but the sound is alright so just concentrate on that. 

After interview #2, we went back to the venue because the interview with I Killed The Prom Queen was up next. Again we went to their merch table and when Jona wasn't surrounded by a gazillion of people anymore, I went to talk to him and that's the outcome of it: 

Huge shoutout to all the band members for being so easy-going and uncomplicated and thanks to all of them for having us!

Now that all the interviews were done, we went back inside to watch Betraying The Martyrs. It was my second time that I saw them and they tore the place apart just like I thought they would. It's a little sad that their drummer couldn't make it to this tour because he's stuck in Russia but nevertheless the band had the best show of the evening. Furthermore, Aaron reminds me so much of Mitch Lucker, I don't know why but I keep thinking about this. 

The last band we watched was I Killed The Prom Queen, of course. They absolutely convinced me with fantastic guitar solos and an amazing show. As Jona said, their album will be released next year, so keep an eye on that, it'll be worth it!

We couldn't stay for Carnifex and Emmure but nevertheless I had a terrific night! If you haven't already done it, I highly recommend you go and check out these bands, you won't regret it!

NEW RELEASE: A Day To Remember - Common Courtesy

It's here! The long awaited album of the five-piece hardcore/metalcore band from Florida was released almost a week ago and proved the whole music industry that A Day To Remember know how to make music and how to surprise people. First of all it's important to say that Common Courtesy is self-released because the band has some serious trouble with their (ex-) record label Victory Records (yes, this is a hint for all of you to go and buy this record in order to show your support).

Common Courtesy only hits a small part of my expectations and that's something I'm very happy about. I thought it would be just like What Separates Me From You but I couldn't have been wronger. In fact, it's fresh, it's energetic and it brings out all the great aspects of every band member, especially of Jeremy. It's really good to see (or hear) how there's a perfect mix of aggressive hardcore sounds (for example in Violence) and slower songs which even contain acoustic guitars (for example I'm Already Gone). It's also very good to hear how Jeremy performs the clean vocals, for example in I Surrender. It doesn't really sound like the A Day To Remember we all know but most changes are for good because they show how a band develops and improves and that's definitely something they did. 
My favourite song on the album is I Remember and I suggest every band to do a song like this one. Why? Because it's a great way for the band to share their craziest, best, most memorable experiences of their life in a band with us fans. We're all interested in these stories! There's this part at the end of the song where they talk about how they saw snow for the very first time and when I heard that I was a little confused until I realised that not everybody is used to snow like we Europeans are. It's just so great to hear these stories because band guys experience so much on their way around the world!

All in all, Common Courtesy turned out to be my favourite album of A Day To Remember ever and it's ranked very high on my list of albums released in 2013. All the hard work the band put into this record was definitely worth it.

New Discovery: Those Who Seek

Between all the preparation for university and writing for The Wellz Street Journal, I sometimes forget that I have a blog to run, too. In other news: Sorry for the lack of posts, it shall get better soon! 

Today I got some free music by a band from Manchester, UK called Those Who Seek. They released their debut EP Because Really, We're Just Animals on July 12th 2013 and will tour the UK this month (so, if you can go to see them, do it!)

Those Who Seek classify themselves as "progressive heavy pop punk" band what couldn't be more accurate. The record contains breakdowns and screaming (e.g. in Look To The Skies), acoustic guitars and clean vocals. It offers passion, emotions, stories and experiences we all have to make sooner or later, for example in Run From Me. It's a pity that there are only four songs on the record, I'd love to hear more! 

Now it's your turn: go listen to Because Really, We're Just Animals on bandcamp and give the band a like on facebook!

Thanks for the music, guys!

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New Discovery: Double Lined Minority

Today I've got something for the lovers of pop punk: Double Lined Minority from Gold Coast, Australia. Founded in 2009, the four guys released their debut EP "Calling All Liars" on June 18th 2013 and I highly recommend you go check it out. 

The record kicks off with Stop Me, a song which already makes you want to mosh around your room because it has everything a good song of this genre needs. 

Song number two, I Hate This Song And So Should You, could easily be by Fall Out Boy before they came back to save Rock and Roll (and I'm not just saying that because of the title). I like how catchy it is and Eddie, Double Lined Minority's vocalist, has a very pleasant voice which fits perfectly with the sound of the band's music. 

Loved, song number three, is my favourite on the whole album. It contains some very accurate lyrics combined with an amazing guitar part at the end, and who doesn't "just wanna be loved"?

The next song has the most accurate title ever: Facebook Likes Don't Make You Famous (I'd suggest the band gets this printed on shirts and adds them to their merch, I'd wear one!)
Smoke And Mirrors is the end of a promising record. Double Lined Minority definitely is a talented band with much to come in the future and "Calling All Liars" is just the beginning of something great!

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Concert Review: letlive., Night Verses & The American Scene in Stuttgart

There are two things I still think about a few days after the concert: 1) Why did Douglas (vocalist in Night Verses) wear a rain coat on stage? (Douglas if you're reading this right now, you can probably give me an answer) and 2) Does Jason Butler count his bruises after a show? 

I arrived at the venue early because I didn't want to be late for the interview with Night Verses but in the end the guys were late because they were looking for a Starbucks - a mission which failed tragically. Anyway, when they came back with coffee, they took me downstairs to a room where the interview took place - on a billiard table.
You definitely have to check out Night Verses because they're the nicest people I ever worked with. They managed to take away all of my nervosity and actually they deserve an award for that because on a scale of 1-10 my nervosity before the interview was at 25. I didn't even worry about my english anymore. 

The venue itself was pretty small, there were no barricades so I stood right in front of the stage. 

The American Scene opened the show with a solid performance. They sound like a mix of Coldplay and Kings Of Leon, I liked how concentrated they were even though their setlist didn't fully convince me. They played a few slower songs which sounded great but I don't think they helped to increase the atmosphere in the crowd. I was hoping for more kick-ass songs.

I was so busy listening to The American Scene while taking notes that I didn't realise that Jason from letlive. stood right next to me during most of their set. However, when I noticed him, I didn't have the guts to ask for a picture or autograph (Yes I can be shy sometimes!)

Night Verses were up next and let me tell you, they tore the place apart. I literally got to shower in Douglas' sweat (why didn't you take that jacket off??), he almost kicked me in the face, things got intense up there and the crowd started to fill the space in front of the stage. The whole band gave their everything and watching them was simply amazing. I definitely have to get their current album Lift Your Existence soon and I'm very excited for new material!

Finally letlive. were on and things got totally mental. The first thing I noticed was Jason's beard, I mean how could you not. I'm not the biggest fan of beards but damn, he can definitely wear it. 

There were around 200 people there what doesn't sound like a huge crowd but nevertheless there was a mosh pit and a circle pit and both almost pushed me on stage while Jason stumbled around on it - I didn't count how many times he fell on the floor but there were moments when I wondered if he was okay or if he hurt himself. I also wondered if it stopped being common sense not to put your empty beer bottles on stage but that's another story.

I had enough time to think about their performance and I came to the conclusion that Jason Butler is an artist through and through. The whole show was a reflection of the dedication and passion and energy he puts into music. It was more than obvious that he breathes and lives music. I dealt with their songs long before I attended the concert, but I wasn't aware of the real intensity of every single track. I only realised how honest and serious they are when I saw Jason perform them. He almost started to cry when he told us how thankful he was for every single person who came out to see them because he thought nobody gave a shit about his stuff. Jason, here's a message just for you: There are people who give a shit about your music, there are people who appreciate and understand your lyrics because they know how you feel, me included. I'm so happy that I got the chance to see letlive. live because they're one of the most special bands I've ever seen. 

If you ever get the chance to see Night Verses or Letlive., go and take that chance, you definitely won't regret it! 

PS: I'm really, deeply sorry for the crappy pics but I can't afford a proper camera (hit me up if you're cool with donating to a poor student). 

Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape Or Form

First of all I have to thank Andy for keeping this blog alive while I struggle with the worst writer's block ever. I should probably bake him a cake or something.
On a brighter note: I'll see letlive. tomorrow and I'll have an interview with Night Verses so you can expect a long concert review, blurry pics and my weird accent. If you'll see me there, don't hesitate to say hi! In the meantime you can read about some "hairy hillbillies from Massachusetts".

by Andy

My first thought about the last recent album by Four Year Strong was that it has a pretty cool album cover showing a bunch of things, all in “some way, shape or form”. I was highly excited for the album, since 2009's “Enemy Of The World” was such a huge deal in the melodic hardcore scene. The album “In Some Way Shape Or Form” was released in November 2011 and is the most recent album of the hairy hillbillies from Massachusetts. God, I love their beards.

First of all, the sound is much different than in the previous albums “Rise Or Die Trying” and “Enemy Of The World”. Before they started working on their new album, the band announced the departure of keyboarder Josh Lyford and that the album would have no synthesizers in it. The guys kept word - there are truely no synthesizers in the album, which affected the record to have a stronger “hard rock” side. It's understandable that they wanted to develop their style in a more mature way, but I liked the old style slightly more.
Furthermore, the drums are kinda weak if you compare them to the drums in “Enemy Of The World”. I don't know why they did this, if they wanted to get a more mature sound it would have been better to add some kick-ass-doublebass drums. Drums are mostly overrated in music scene, look for example at Avenged Sevenfolds new album. Lame Drums really cut the quality of an album.
What and how Dan and Allen are singing in “Some Way, Shape Or Form” is just heaven. Four Year Strong always had and still have great lyrics touching your heart. They're writing about life, bad and good things happening and feelings everyone has. Maybe it's just me but I also think their voices improved due to all the touring in the last years.
The songs on the record are slower, the shocking breakdowns are less, the riffs are not as freaky as in previous pieces. They are more radio-rock like and even some fans started to call the band “Foo Years Strong” (You know the Foo Fighters, right?).
Nevertheless I think the album is a piece of decent music, the songs “Just Drive” and “The Middle” even made it in my list of favorite FYS songs. I always prefered Four Year Strong over A Day To Remember, so that pretty much says it all about the quality of the guys in lumberjack shirts.
God, I love those beards.

Rating: 7/10

Songs for listening: The Middle, Just Drive

For folks who like: A Day To Remember, The Story So Far

Zebrahead - Call Your Friends

by Andy

Zebrahead's new album came out 4 weeks ago. Since I put it in my car it was kind of stuck in the car stereo, so I had to listen to it. Driving without music is too boring, so what else could I do?

The album kicks off with a classic speed up song. “Sirens” is the perfect intro song for the album. Just after this first impression I already wanted to make love with the album. But it was stuck in my stereo! And...ehm...back to business.
The next 2 songs do have amazing titles for sure: "I'm Just Here For The Free Beer” and “With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?“ are also very good pieces, you've got to listen to the intro of the second one, it's the best intro of the album and Zebrahead are gods in making intros.
“Call your Friends”, the title song of the album, is a pure party song. It's perfect for drinking games (Jesus, I really approve of that) and has a funny music video featuring 2 porn stars. At least that's how they look.
“Public Enemy Number One” is one of my favorite songs of “Call your Friends”. It's a little bit harder than the other songs. Again the intro is just perfect and the guitar riffs could easily appaer in a “Bullet For my Valentine” song. I also like the line “It sucks to be you, it sucks to be you, no matter what you do.”
While “Born to lose”, a song about not beeing accepted the way you are, is doing a pretty good job, “Stick 'Em Up Kid”, “Automatic”, “Nerd Armor” and “Don't Believe The Hype” are too exchangeable. Don't get me wrong, those are good songs, but you listen to them and ten minutes later you can't remember the chorus.
“Until The Sun Comes Up” is a song for long summer nights and partying at the beach (“Don’t wait up for us, ’cause we ain’t coming home ’til the sun comes up” … “have the time of our lives, never take it slow, so tonight gonna live, gonna let it go” ).
What excites me the most about Zebrahead is that they work so well, it's just great how Ali Tabatabaee's rap parts and the singing of Matty Lewis are so different but together they complete each other perfectly. The guitar parts are stronger than in the other albums, I think the reason for that is new guitarist Dan Palmer. The bass parts are cool and catchy and the drums really fit to every song.
The only weakness of the album is that too many songs are too exchangeable, what I miss are some hit songs which you can't get out of your head. Also they could have used less “Whoaaa wohooo” singing parts, I do like thid 90's style but they really took it too far.
If you compare “Call your Friends” to recent albums of the scene, the album is a 9/10, it's an impulsive album and Zebrahead really stayed true to themselves, and thats what I really, really appreciate.

Rating: 8/10

Songs for listening: Sirens, Call Your Friends, With Friends Like These Who Needs Herpes ?, Public Enemy Numer One

For folks who like: Sum 41, New Found Glory

COMING SOON: Tonight Alive - The Other Side

[I know I posted this before but it wasn't official back then so now you get it again.]

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the team of The Wellz Street Journal got the chance to preview the new album of Tonight Alive which will be released on September 9th and I got the honour to say a few words about it.

While listening to “The Other Side” for the first time, it was clear that the five-piece band with front woman Jenna McDougall matured a lot. They sound determined and more passionate than ever, they have something to say and they want the whole world to hear it.

“It talks about challenges and experiences that we’ve never covered before – it’s a whole new spin for us lyrically and musically it has so more direction than we’ve ever had before. It’s definitely rockier and it’s even more confident than What Are You So Scared Of?”, explained Jenna when she talked about the record and told the story of how The Other Side emerged: “The first track that we wrote for The Other Side was penned in Jakarta, Indonesia whilst we were on tour, the rest of the album was written on tour too and we’d spent so long on the road that we decided to go back to Australia to record it. To make sure that we weren’t in our comfort zone we found a big house out in the bush, five minutes from the beach, and set up our own studio there to record with Dave Petrovic who produced our very first EP.”

The Other Side perfectly shows what great musicians Tonight Alive are. With songs like “Coming Home”, “Bathwater” and “Lonely Girl”, Jenna demonstrates her amazing skills when it comes to carrying messages and emotions through her voice. The four guys around her aren’t silent either - “The Ocean”, “The Other Side” or “The Fire” outline how diverse the band is as a whole.

With this album, Tonight Alive tell the world that they have many plans in the future. They’re willing to make new experiences, to create memories and to make music until the end of all time and I can’t wait to witness all of this. 

Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue Acoustic

by Andy

When pop punk was on its peak and bands like blink-182, Sum 41 and Green Day were played on the radio all day long, one of the greatest albums of the scene was Yellowcard's “Ocean Avenue”. Released in 2003, the album was convincing with a mix of impressive punk songs and heartbreaking ballads. Also the use of a violin in many songs was pretty cool. The smash-hits “Ocean Avenue” and “Way Away” got a lot of reputation in the scene. Now, ten years later, the band around the charismatic singer Ryan Key, published an acoustic version of the whole album simply called “Ocean Avenue Acoustic”.
The album cover looks very similar to the original cover and all songs are in the same order. The first 3 songs “Way Away”, “Breathing” and “Ocean Avenue ” are very loud for an acoustic record. The drums are as fast and as hard as the drums on the original songs. Furthermore, the bass guitar is a little bit too loud.
“Empty Apartment”, which was already half acoustic in the original version, is now completely acoustic and has beautiful guitar and vilolin parts in it. In “Miles Apart” you have loud drums again and the peaceful atmosphere gets lost. “Only One” and the amazing “Believe” (which prevents teenagers from depression since 2003) are still awesome songs when played in acoustic but they kind of lost the “Fire” they had back in 2003. “One Year Six Months” is played on a piano, so it slightly breaks up the album before “Back Home” finishes the record with a nostalgic touch.

All in all I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed by the album. Of course all the songs are very well written, but the original album from 2003 is way better than the acoustic version. It seems like Yellowcard didn't try very hard to give the songs their own spirit. Almost every song is played exactly like the orignals, just with acoustic guitars.
However, its a great album for an evening you spend with your girlfriend or for having a good time with your friends or you can just listen to the songs and imagine you are back in 2003.
At least for 49 minutes. nostalgia is in the air.

Stay true to yourself.

Cheers, Andy.

Rating: 7/10

Songs for listening: Empty Apartment, View From Heaven, Back Home

Back To School - A Playlist

Hey guys, summer is almost over for all of us and many of you will go back to school for another year of useless knowledge, lessons in how to deal with bullshit and finding out that you really won't need maths in your later life. For those of you who can refer to this, I created a little playlist in order to make the first few days a little bit better. I hope it'll help and good luck, you'll do just fine!

30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War

The title speaks for itself I suppose.

Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care

Honestly - how many times a schoolday do you think "Good God, I don't care about why this author wrote the scene like this and not in another way.", or "I don't care about this, what do I have a calculator for?" or "I don't care whether you'll see your boyfriend tonight or not, shut the fuck up." ?

Bring Me The Horizon - Antivist

Middle fingers up, if you don't give a fuck! :-) 
Well, obviously you can't walk around school with your middle fingers up all the time, so just do it in your mind. 

Of Mice & Men - The Great Hendowski

This song offers some very inspirational and comforting lyrics, so if you can't bare with school or life in general anymore, listen to this one. 

We Are The In Crowd - Better Luck Next Time

In case you fuck up an exam: don't let it bother you too much, it happens even though you studied a lot or put some extra effort into it, it happens to all of us from time to time. You'll have better luck next time. 

All Time Low - Stay Awake

No, actually not. Make sure you get as much sleep as possible, sleep is important when you gotta fight a battle called school five days a week. 

Bullet For My Valentine - All These Things I Hate (revolve around me)

at least that's how it was for me when I went to school (at least around 90% of all the 9 years I spent at secondary school).

Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

I believe that school does this thing where it breaks and ruins your dreams. Maybe because they're "impossible to reach", maybe because they don't provide a safe job and a good career, maybe because people there don't understand the value of big dreams. Let me tell you something: if you're already on it, leave the boulevard of broken dreams right now. Don't take shit from anybody, this is your life, you can do whatever you wanna do with it. 

Coldplay - Don't Let It Break Your Heart

No matter what happens to you, don't let it break your heart. Everything will be okay in the end, I promise. 

Blink-182 - Easy Target

Don't be an easy target. I know it's easier said than done, but try to stand up for yourself, try to show the douchebags that you're somebody, too. 

Bring Me The Horizon feat. Josh Franceschi - Fuck

Oli says "Fuck" a lot, that should be enough reason. 

All Time Low - Heroes

Because no matter how you handle school, you're all heroes and I'm proud of you. 

Rise Against - Make It Stop

Bullying is shit. It fucks up young adults who already have enough crap to deal with, sometimes it even costs lives. So, if you ever see how somebody gets bullied, please grow some balls and help them, you'll make a change and maybe save a valuable life. 

Blink-182 - Neighborhoods: A Guest Blog by Andy

Good evening lovers of reliable pop-punk music, I have something special for you today, a premiere: There are a few bands out there I have absolutely no connection to, for example blink-182. However, that's no problem at all because Andy, a friend of mine, is a huge fan of them with a whole lot of knowledge about this genre in general, so he sat down to write about Neighborhoods, one of the albums by blink-182. Enjoy!

Back in 2011, my absolute musical highlight of the year was the new album by my favorite band blink-182. I had been waiting for this record for years, so I was close to tears when I finally held it in my hands. Called "Neighborhoods“, the album was the first material in 8 years, and many people were wondering what style the album would be. Although the 3 gentlemen are known for their amazing pop-punk songs like “Dammit“, “All the small things“ and “Whats my age again?“ (the song which belongs to the video where they are running around naked), the self-titled album in 2003 was already showing a different, darker side of blink-182. So it was pretty obvious that Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker would not go back to writing fun songs about dating girls, parties and sex with dogs.

“Ghost on the dancefloor“ opens the album quite sad and slowly, it's a song about a lost love. You can clearly hear the “Angels and Airwaves“ influence on that song, Tom Delonge added a lot of effects and synthesized parts. The second song, “Natives“, is quite the opposite of the first one. Really fast and with an amazing guitar intro, the song reminds of Mark Hoppus side project “+44“. The next two songs, “Up all night“ and “After midnight“ have very strong and solid riffs, but they also can't hide their influence by the past side projects of blink-182.
“Hearts All Gone“, written by Hoppus and Barker, could easily be on the bands second LP “Dude Ranch“, the punk song is incredible fast and Travis' Drums nearly beat the sh*t out of you.
“Wishing Well“ and especially “Kaleidoscope“ belong to the better songs of the record. While “Wishing Well“ has some of the old blink-182 spirit in it, “Kaleidoscope“ impresses with a strong guitar riff, amazing drums and great lyrics, which makes it to my favorite song of the album.

All in all “Neighborhoods“ is an awesome album but it can't keep up with their previous albums because those are just masterpieces. “Neighborhoods“ is a very serious and dark comeback and in most songs you can hear influences by Tom Delonges side projects “Box Car Racer“ and “Angels and Airwaves“. In particular this means both strong riffs and many synthesizers.
People who buy the album because they hope for funny pop punk songs will be disapointed. This is a much more mature blink, it's like blink 2.0. If you allow a band to mature and you like open alternative-songs, buy this album !

Rating: 7/10

Songs for listening: Up All Night, After Midnight, Kaleidoscope

NEW RELEASE: Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King

Yesterday, Avenged Sevenfold from Huntington Beach, California released their sixth album Hail To The King in several countries, you can check all the release dates here. 

Hail to the King starts with one of the best intros the band could have chosen. "Sheperd Of Fire" sounds impressive with the combination of guitars, drums and trombones and their vocalist only underlines this impressive song with his incredible voice. 

Avenged Sevenfold probably has two of the best guitarists ever: Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance make the songs on this record alive with their instruments; I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is magic, for example "Hail to the King", the song which gives the album its name, starts with the best guitar solo I ever heard. However, it actually doesn't matter which song you pick because these two guys prove their excellence in every single part of this record.
If you take a closer look at the lyrics, you notice again that Avenged Sevenfold are very special. They carefully write and choose the words so it's not that easy to figure out what's going on. "This Means War" could be about struggling with inner demons and about being lonely because one line says "Lash your tongue of bane, carry me to nowhere, mental holocaust, battle never ends."
"Requiem", song number five, has a very religious touch. At the beginning there's some latin chanting which sounds like a church choir (I'd translate it for you but I don't trust google and I stopped doing latin at school three years ago so I don't remember anything useful).
The topic of religion can also be found in the lyrics with words like prayers, heaven, mercy or prophets. 
Another song which tackles religious aspects is "Heretic". I have to admit that this is one of the songs that makes me wonder how artists come up with lyrics like these. 

I can't really decide on which would be my favourite, but I like the last song "Acid Rain", especially this line: "Life wouldn't be so precious dear, if there never was an end."

Once again, Avenged Sevenfold showed the world why they're such a popular and famous band and if you don't already own this album or at least pre-ordered it, I highly recommend to do so!

NEW RELEASE: Blessthefall - Hollow Bodies

Two days ago, the five-piece band from Phoenix, Arizona released their new album Hollow Bodies and if you haven't listened to it yet, you're definitely missing out. 

Kicking off the record with "Exodus", we already get a promising start with a brilliant intro. Going on with "You Wear A Crown But You're No King", I feel like being taken to a huge concert - this song makes me think of sweaty bodies in a huge pit, it's one of those songs I listen to when I'm really angry. 

Blessthefall stick to the style we know from their other albums, they also added a calm song without any screaming again: "Buried In These Walls". In this genre, songs that only consist of clean vocals are the most interesting part of a record because they separate the vocalists from each other.
The band also got some guest vocals for Hollow Bodies: Jesse Barnett from Stick To Your Guns sings in "Youngbloods", Jake Luhrs from August Burns Red can be heard in "Carry On" and my personal highlight of the record is Lights, wife of blessthefall's vocalist Beau Bokan, singing on the last song "Open Water". The beginning of the song reminds me of "Don't Go" by Bring Me The Horizon where she sang with Oli Sykes but then Beau starts to sing and you stop thinking of anything else. These seven minutes belong to him and his wife and it's safe to say that  this is one of the most beautiful songs I heard in a while. Lights has such a clear, fragile voice and then there's Beau in contrast to her and before I start rambling I can only say that these were the best seven minutes I ever had while writing about an album. 

Hollow Bodies turned out to be worth the wait. It definitely fulfilled my expectations and you won't regret buying it, that's for sure.