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.