New Music From The Crash Motive Streaming on MySpace

First, apologies to my normal readers for the Idol themed tangent this week. I'm past it now and giving you more normal posts. Thanks for indulging me.

Over the last week Newark, Delaware based band-that-more-people-need-to-know-about The Crash Motive released five new tracks that will comprise its new EP. The EP, entitled Just Because It Never Happened Don't Mean It Won't, is slated for a late summer release, and marks the second offering from the band in the last year.

The songs on Just Because It Never Happened Don't Mean It Won't (tangent: Yes, I am going to write out the full title every time, because I think it's fantastic.) are a continuation of the best material from their debut album Consequence. The Crash Motive are at their best when they're trying to fill an arena, and that huge rock sound is all over this new EP. They show off the slower, piano-based stuff a little bit as well, but even that's got a grander, more epic touch to it, drifting away from the mishmashed tracks of old. The biggest problem on Consequence was when TCM wasn't sure what they were doing on a given song, i.e. the tready "Home to Home". Everything on Just Because It Never Happened Don't Mean It Won't has a purpose, and it serves that purpose; nothing more, nothing less.

Opener "Walk All Over Me" starts things off with swagger, with a drum groove worthy of a fist pump and a chorus that mixes the attitude of Maroon 5 with the balls of early Green Day. "You Can't Know It All" lets frontman Derek Fuhrmann show off an awesome guitar line and another brilliant chorus. If TCM know how to do anything, it's how to write a chorus that'll get people screaming and jumping along (and maybe get an appearance on ESPN). "You Can't Know It All" has the potential to be a hell of a live track in the right circumstances. Easily the highlight of this EP.

"Heavy", oddly enough, brings in the piano and offers up the closest thing to a ballad that The Crash Motive will provide. Fuhrmann channels some Bryan Adams (in the best possible way), and the result is a solid power-pop track on par with anything else they've done. This may be the weakest thing on Just Because It Never Happened Don't Mean It Won't, but that's in no way a negative. "Don't Shut Your Eyes" is another slowed down track, with instrumentals in the same ballpark as Snow Patrol, and another notch in the uplifting alternative rock category. Closing out the EP is "The Sound Of Our Lies", which lyrically might be the best song The Crash Motive have ever written. They take the Maroon 5 falsetto formula and infuse it with some rock and roll, and make it far more palatable than the former ever have. I hope Adam Levine is taking notes.

Just Because It Never Happened Don't Mean It Won't is a big step forward for The Crash Motive. I can't wait to hear this in full CD quality instead of the craptastic MySpace streaming bitrate. TCM find their niche with this EP, and with any luck future albums will carry the same mix of swagger and emotion that they're showing off now.

Just Because It Never Happened Don't Mean It Won't is streaming on The Crash Motive's Myspace page right now, and will be released sometime this summer.

The Crash Motive on MySpace

==TJ==

VLM's New Year's Resolution: Blog More

Happy New Year Everybody! The title pretty much gives it all; my goal for 2008 is to give more to you, my loyal readers. Haven't figured out exactly what that means yet, but some of the things I'm thinking about doing include:

-Reviving the Second Spin and Discount Rack features
-Weekly commentary on the radio charts
-Show you what I'm listening to every entry (see below)
-Perhaps a LiveBlog of the Grammys?
-Looks at awesome bands that aren't quite mainstream yet but deserve to be (also see below)
-Possible revival of the Radio Show
-More random looks into what I'm listening to

And any other things that I come up with. Either way, you're getting more from me. Regarding that awesome bands that aren't mainstream yet, if you're in such a band or know of a band that fits this category, let me know! Friend the MySpace page (now with a Link on the Left), or leave a message here. Already looking at doing a piece on 10 MySpace Bands I think everyone should know, so if you have ideas get 'em to me.

As for the what I'm listening to every entry...well, it's pretty simple. In addition to the MP3s of the songs I blog about, I'm gonna start giving out MP3s of the song I'm listening to as I type this. (assuming its different from one of the songs I write about). I'm also plotting some cool stuff for the pending one-year anniversary of VLM, so keep reading, and I will be back in the very near future.

Currently Listening To: Foo Fighters - Wind Up [iTunes]

==TJ==

Does this make Radiohead and NIN the Tom Glavine and Mariano Rivera of Music?

Thanks to anyone who listened on Tuesday. It was sort of a disorganized show, seeings how I was training people in the midst of doing a show. A few mixups and glitches (sorry to anyone listening during the nasty feedback), and of course the ongoing technical issues were a pain, but hopefully by next week a large majority of that will be settled.

I also ended up sitting in on the Alex, Helen, and Amanda show after they had some trouble, and let's just say, if you aren't listening to their show...you should be. Even if you aren't a fan of Top 40 stuff, just listen in for the ridiculous antics. Alex, Helen, and Amanda are on Tuesdays from 7-9 at radio.arcadia.edu. I'm admittedly not a fan of all of their stuff, but just being in the studio with them is a trip in and of itself. MP3s of some stuff they play is below.

So after much publicity and blogging, Radiohead's In Rainbows made its way onto the hard drives of fans all over the world today. I'm listening through it as I type this, and it's more or less what I expected. Weird, borderline trippy music with schizophrenic (and sometimes nonexistent) melodies that ultimately makes for OK ambient noise. A final rating to come later, but even though I'm not thrilled with it after one listen, I know I'm gonna end up playing through it a few more times. Most of what I've read about it so far seems pretty split; longtime fans seem to love the album, casual fans and others are rather indifferent. I'll let you know where I stand later.

In other stick-it-to-the-man news, Nine Inch Nails posted a message on their website in which Trent Reznor joyfully declares himself a free agent in the music world:

"Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed."

Before we all get ornery and get ready to mark the time of death of the record label as we know it, let's remember that Radiohead and NIN have never been known for being the darlings of the recording industry. Anyone else remember the conniption that the RIAA had prior to the release of Year Zero? When bands like Fall Out Boy or Kelly Clarkson go free agent, then I'll call it.

One more thing; Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba has been passing the time on his solo tour by blogging about his experiences on the road. Blog topics range from stories of fans he meets (good to know I'm not the only over-18 male who loves Dashboard) to lists of things he loves and hates at the moment (apparently Chris is a fan of Heroes and Battlestar Galactica). The blog is on his myspace page, and will probably go for the length of his solo tour. On another note, I ruckused The Shade of Poison Trees and made it through The Wire Tapes, the covers album I mentioned earlier. I didn't know too many of the originals, but Dashboard redoes tracks like "El Scorcho" and Regina Spektor's "Better" incredibly well. More in-depth reviews later, and definitely expect this stuff to be on the radio show next week.

That's all for now. Enjoy the MP3s, and I'll be back soon.

Timbaland - The Way I Are (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Break's Over (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Kanye West- Stronger (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Nine Inch Nails - Capital G
Dashboard Confessional - Better (Regina Spektor cover)

Buying music may be good karma, but Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor don't care so much...the choice is yours.

==TJ==

You Have Stolen My Heart...And My Sanity

So I'm on MySpace earlier tonight and I see a bulletin from Dashboard Confessional (or some underling at Vagrant assigned to run Chris Carabba's MySpace page) entitled "Hey Everyone!". Upon opening I find only the following image:





The same image is now the backdrop for Dashboard's official website, their MySpace page, and Vagrant Records' welcome page. Dashboard is prepping for its first solo tour in 5 years and a European tour with Maroon 5 later this year, and is (in theory) still riding the success of 2006's Dusk and Summer. The band has offered no insight as to the meaning of the image, leading fans to suggest three possibilities:

1) New logo for new solo tour (possible; bands do this from time to time to create excuses for more merchandise)
2) New album in the works (unlikely; news of recording new material would have surfaced before now)
3) Chris made some random drawing and is doing the 21st century equivalent of putting it on the fridge to show off to people. (also likely)

Whatever the meaning is, Dashboard had better unveil it quick. I'm spending all my time hunting for clues about Cloverfield, I don't have time to try to unlock what this pic is supposed to get me excited for.

Dashboard Confessional - So Long, So Long

Buying music leads to good karma.

Dashboard on MySpace
Dashboard Confessional Official Website
Vagrant Records
Dashboard on iTunes

==TJ==

EDIT 08.16: Dashboard's official website confirms that on October 2nd Dashboard's new album, The Shade of Poison Trees will be released. In keeping with the upcoming solo tour, most of the album will be just frontman Chris Carabba on acoustic guitar. A low-quality live video of likely first single "Thick As Thieves" is on the MySpace page. AbsolutePunk has the official press release here.

October 2nd is also the release date for Bruce Springsteen's Magic, his most recent effort with the E Street Band, and Exile on Mainstream, the new album from the reformed Matchbox 20. It's official; October will be a glorious month.

Success in Store for Zerochance

I meant to post this entry about a week and a half ago, but things kept getting in the way and I'm only getting around to it now.

It's pretty rare that I put much stock in a band that friends me on MySpace. In my view its two easy for any group of people to come together claiming to be a band when all they do is scream three-chord nonsense into a microphone or whatever. However, Zerochance happened to find itself one of the rare exceptions.

Zerochance is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Erick Belitto who basically woke up one morning and decided to chase his dream (with a little help from John Mayer and Guster). Comparing Zerochance's music to that of groups like Train or Dashboard Confessional really doesn't do it justice, because it does have a style all its own, with Erick's southern twinge and heart-on-a-sleeve conviction that would make even Chris Carabba's heartstrings tug. At this point his first album Better Days for Broken Hearts is only available on his website and on iTunes, but believe me when I tell you that this album is truly worth hearing. The songs range from the bouncy "Burn My Radio" to the poignant in "Four Letter Words" and "First Born". If you go to his MySpace page you can hear two tracks from his forthcoming Accessory to Success, due out in June.



I'm going to post an mp3 of "Van Nuys", my favorite song on the album, but PLEASE check out his MySpace page and go check out the rest of the album. Trust me on this one. I can't predict if Zerochance is gonna be huge, but if Nickelback can sell 5 million albums, there's no reason Zerochance doesn't deserve the same shot.

Zerochance [MySpace]
Better Days for Broken Hearts on iTunes
Zerochance - Van Nuys

==TJ==