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Acronycal

From Left to Right: Keith Madsen, Scott Lehman, Jayme Wenzel

Image courtesy of the band's Facebook page.

Canadian alt-hard rockers Acronycal have made their mark on the scene over the 6 years since their inception in 2008.

The 3 -piece band is comprised of Scott Lehman on guitar and the mic, Keith Madsen on bass, and Jayme Wenzel on drums.

In 2008, the band released a self-titled 4-track EP, packed with passion and power instrumental underneath strong vocals. Ballad “Because Of You” has great vocal melodies, and “Love And War” reeks with Three Days Grace à la Rise Against energy.

Acronycal followed up in July 2010 with a full length album, Showdown. Key tracks include “Naughty Boys and Naughty Girls,” “Dead or Alive,” and “Bomb Child.” Each of these songs has strong guitar to back up Lehman’s vocals.

More recently, they released their sophomore album, Ghosts, in March 2013. The album was named after the group’s fanbase, who have affectionately dubbed themselves “ghosts” on twitter.

Ghosts features 13 foot-tapping tracks, and shows evolution since their last batch of new music. Their sound has developed and they have broadened their scope by incorporating elements of funk, indie rock, and even hip-hop in each song.

In particular, “Save My Soul” sticks out as an anthem, especially because of the indie pop guitar riff in the bridge. The marriage of contemporary hard rock and indie is done quite well and creates an interesting sound.

“Better Man,” has a bright, So Cal guitar riff in the pre-chorus that captures the listener and keeps their leg bouncing even after the song has finished.

Acronycal toured extensively over the three year period between Showdown and Ghosts. Though they have no tour dates lined up for 2014, they covered several songs in fall 2013 and have posted videos of them on Youtube.

Check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Bandcamp, and head over to their website for fun ghost-related games.

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Devour The Day - Update 1-17

Devour The Day will be playing at the Rock On The Range Festival in Columbus, OH, on May 16-18.

The lineup was announced yesterday.

Metal superstars Guns 'n' Roses will be headlining with Avenged Sevenfold and Kid Rock. Other popular favorites playing at the show include Seether, Five Finger Death Punch, Bring Me The Horizon and many more.

Learn more about Rock On The Range here.

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The Sinking Teeth

From Left to Right: Julian Doan, Ben Stewart, Nick Manuell.

Image courtesy of the band's Facebook page.

The Sinking Teeth are Melbourne, Australia, based and thrashing the Western Australia scene with their puke punk mania.

They are quite proud of their self-proclaimed puke punk style, which is like a medley of Nirvana, 30 Seconds To Mars, and Muse, and their beginnings are just as obscure as the genre they seem to have created.

 The band started off shady; their first rehearsals were in a flat over a pawn shop. The owner had threatened to shoot the three bandmates, Nick Manuell, frontman, Julian Doan, bassist, and Ben Stewart, drummer, if they practiced. After a roof cave-in at their flat, they were forced to leave the building and they moved around several places before settling down and recording their debut EP, White Water.

White Water dropped in February 2013 and features 5 tracks which are available for purchase on Bandcamp, though they have live versions of the tracks on their Youtube channel. When they play a show, they embody all the dirty grunge of a 924 Gilman Street show in the 1980’s and 90’s.

As unique as the puke punk band is, each song they’ve written is unique as well. The EP opens with “The Sexy Mates,” which has screaming and a powerful catchline, “Just make the cuts/Just make the cuts,” and on a totally different note, the following track, “Dead Breeze” is much more an embodiment of the mellow, “whatever, man” sounds of indie rock.

Blunt Magazine, an Australian punk, hardcore, and metal magazine, listed The Sinking Teeth as one of the 20 Bands To Watch in 2014, and the band briefly discusses “Dead Breeze.”

Several tour dates for this winter have been lined up, with 3 of them in the Melbourne area, and one show in Brunswick, Germany. They plan to do lots more touring and aspire to record another EP in March.

The Sinking Teeth are on Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp. Be sure to check out the live videos on their Youtube Channel.

Thanks to angrycashews for the recommendation.

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Follow You Home - Update 1/9

Shortly after the publication of Follow You Home's feature, the band made a post on Facebook announcing the departure of drummer Tom Bradshaw from the band. While they wish him "great luck & success," they plan to attack the new year with a "bigger pair of testicles," and hinted at more tour dates in the near future.

Read the post word for word on Facebook.

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Follow You Home

From Left to Right: Rich Davis, Tom Bradshaw, Kayley Busby, Nick Ayre, Mikey Davis.

Image courtesy of the band's Facebook page.

Though at first glance, UK punk rockers Follow You Home appear to be a “Paramore clone,” as Youtube users have commented, they still show tremendous talent as a group and have built up a large following since their inception in 2010.

When four friends, Rich and Mikey Davis, guitarists, Nick Ayre, bassist and Tom Bradshaw, drummer, came together, they searched for a vocalist to complete their quartet. “Pink-haired uber-vixen” Kayley Busby joined the lineup as soon as the boys heard her strong vocals and noticed her don’t-give-a-damn attitude.

Their debut single, “Once Upon a Lie,” was released in May 2011, and in November, the band compiled a 4-track EP, called “Save Yourself” which features “Once Upon A Lie,” and 3 additional songs.

“Save Yourself,” the title track, starts off the EP well with heavy breakdowns and complex instrumental, which is only emphasized by the fact that this is the band’s debut EP – an area where many artists have produced significantly lower quality work.

“Playing With Fire,” the second track, again exhibits musical craftsmanship, though this time in the verses with epic drum solos.

Packed with energy and minor chords, “Once Upon A Lie” features an awesome guitar solo, and coupled with the rest of the tracks on the EP, creates quite the impressive setlist for a start-up band.

In October of this year, the band released their debut LP, “If It Kills Me.” Though seemingly sparse featuring 10 2-3 minute tracks, each packs its own punch. Busby’s vocals are spectacular, and with her alto voice, she adds the charm that only female vocalists can give. Killer tracks “What’s To Say You’re Not Alone,” “Void,” and “Save Yourself” augment the album – like icing on the cake.

Follow You Home played several shows in the Manchester area after the release of “If It Kills Me,” and with the arrival of 2014, they plan to “rock harder.”

Check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and stop by their website as well. You can buy their music on iTunes.

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the sinking teeth, please! you can listen to their stuff on bandcamp, they're so good and deserve more recognition.

coming right up! expect a post within a week or two

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Devour The Day - Update 1/2

Image courtesy of SeattleSoundLive.com.

Devour The Day has announced that they will rerelease “Time & Pressure” on January 14, 2014. It will be available on iTunes, Amazon, on their website, and physical copies will be sold in Best Buy.

They will post one song off the album every day on their website until the album is rereleased.

Additionally, they have announced 16 tour dates in the United States, with most of the gigs in the Great Lakes Region.

See the full tour schedule here. And again, check out their website, and listen to “Time & Pressure” here.

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Leave It To Us

From left to right: Evan Finkelstein, Dustin Castella, Sean Tapiero, Bryan Monsalvagte

Image courtesy of the band's Facebook page.

Exploding with all the energy unique to the Miami area, pop punk rockers Leave It To Us radiate sound filled with all the sunshine so characteristic of their Florida roots.

With Evan Finkelstein on vocals and bass, Sean Tapiero on rhythm guitar, Dustin Castella on drums, and former lead guitarist Bryan Monsalvatge, Leave It To Us formed in late 2009. In 2011, they released their debut album, “Never Turn Back,” which was an immediate regional success. The band has played shows with many big-name bands in pop punk, including All Time Low, Sum 41, and The Summer Set, and even played a set on the Tampa stop of Vans Warped Tour 2013.

In February 2013, the band released “Even If We Fall” on iTunes, a 5-track EP bursting with melodic choruses and bright 3-chord riffs.

"So Long Suburbia,” the leadoff track, is very A Day To Remember–esque, with peppy yet still decidedly rock ‘n’ roll melodies and power chords galore. The second track, “Save It For Another Day,” harmonizes well with the upbeat, high tenor melodies and various other instrumental motifs that are so characteristic of Florida pop punk. However, the band creates more than the typical pop punk song.

“Eighteen,” ballad and seventh track off “Never Turn Back,” plays with country-style guitar picking in the intro and verses, but Finkelstein sings of escaping the cage created by parents, and how much he longs to move away once he turns 18. Immediatley, the mind jumps to what an acoustic blink-182 song might sound like, but this song, while staying true to the pop punk roots, is unique in its own way.

Though the band announced Monsavaltge’s amicable departure from the band in November of this year, they informed their twitter followers in a Sept. 16 tweet that “a lot of things have been happening around us.” They “promise things are developing.”

In the meatime, check out their Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation, and their website. You can listen to "Never Look Back" in its entirety on their Youtube channel.

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oh look at you ;)

you're cute xxx

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Brave Coast - Update 12/14

Image courtesy of the band's Facebook page.

Brave Coast announced an upcoming tour with hardcore band Days Of Struggle on Friday.

The tour has a potential 17 stops in the month of January across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas, with 13 confirmed dates and locations.

Read the band's personal announcement here.

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Devour The Day

Left: Joey Chicago Right: Blake Allison.

Image courtesy of Devour The Day’s Facebook page.

Picture this: a girl of 5’1” stature running on a treadmill in her basement. Avenged Sevenfold à la A Day To Remember Pandora radio blasting. She powers through her workout with well-known tracks like “Afterlife” and “Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End,” when a song by a band unbeknownst to her comes on. “Good Man,” by some band called Devour The Day.

Devour The Day is a hard rock band from Memphis, Tennessee, founded in 2012 by Blake Allison (vocals, lead guitar) and Joey Chicago (vocals, bass) upon the break-up of Egypt Central, a metal band active from 2002-2012. This November, Devour The Day released an EP entitled “Good Man” in order to promote the release of their album, “Time & Pressure,” which dropped on May 7.

The EP features six tracks, including the title track and an acoustic version of the title track, and others, “Move On,” “Crossroads,” and “Check Your Head.”

“Good Man” features lyrics like “I wanna be a good man / Is there any good left in me?” over an almost hip-hop drum track. The guitar is simple, and the way it’s integrated with the drums gives the band a unique sound. It also has religious themes, and the narrator essentially questions whether a sinner such as he will ever see the light of God again. Though its themes may not appear to everyone, the religious imagery is an excellent way to convey the message of coping with moral imperfection. The acoustic version has a Bullet For My Valentine feel to it.

“Good Man” ranked #5 on Noisecreep’s Top Rock + Metal Songs of 2013. It was acclaimed for its “foot-stomping, fist-pumping anthem.” I’d like to add head-banging to the list.

Another stellar song is “Handshakes to Fist Fights,” the ninth track off “Time & Pressure.” It too secretes anger in the hatred-driven laments of the narrator’s bad experiences in cities like Memphis and Fort Wayne. It repeats the idea of retaliation and determination which couples well with the – dare I say it – catchy melody and instrumental.

The band is currently touring the eastern United States.

Many of their songs are on Youtube. They also have a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, and a website. You can listen to “Time & Pressure” in its entirety here.

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Brave Coast

From left to right: Elmo Arteaga, Kenny Aguilar, Chris Blas, Nick Lopez.

Image courtesy of Brave Coast’s Facebook page.

Hailing from southern California, hardcore punk band Brave Coast strives to “promote positive growth” among their fans with their music.The band is composed of Chris Blas (vocals), Nick Lopez (guitar), Kenny Aguilar (drums), and Elmo Arteaga (bass).

In May 2013, Brave Coast dropped a six-track album with Hotel Books, a hardcore spoken word band also native to southern California. The album features three tracks from each band. The Brave Coast tracks, “Sincere (Love Never Lived Here),” “Nothing More Than Bone, “ and “Dead End Dreams” all showcase Bring-Me-The-Horizon style instrumental and vocals. They ooze with all the angst that comes along with being a teenager, with feeling trapped, and finding a way to succeed in a world that brings even the brightest stars down.

What really makes their music so great is their ability to capture what every person feels at some point in their lives in their lyrics. They have the lyrics to four of their songs on their Facebook page. Check them out!

Also, be sure to follow them on Twitter and check them out on Youtube and Bandcamp.