Stories

Five Score and Seven Years Ago

By Ashley Emert

To look at a couple of the song titles on Relient K’s newest release, you might think that they’d slipped into the emo trend of music that many bands are adopting.

Titles like “Faking My Own Suicide” and “Deathbed” had me flipping through the CD booklet for any pictures that might show signs of tear-shaped black eyeliner. Thankfully enough, there was no eye makeup to be found.

It’s safe to say that their sound has definitely changed since they were donning their khaki pants for the “Sadie Hawkins Dance,” a song off of their second album.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

By Jennifer Ware

Consequence’s new album Don’t Quit Your Day Job is a solid accomplishment with creative lyrics and a good sound.

Those who aren’t even big fans of rap and hip-hop can still appreciate Consequence and will appreciate the intricacy of his words and the composition of his beats. Don’t Quit Your Day Job can make any listener want to bounce to the beat and smile.

Them vs. You vs. Me

By Bill Weedmark

This album is a good example of what happens when a band tries too hard to make a whole album sound like their last hit single.

After the huge success that “One Thing” enjoyed, the band insisted on their official Web site that they wouldn’t be “selling-out” and trying to make an entire album that would sound like “One Thing.” I don’t know what album they were talking about, because that’s exactly what they did.

The first single from Them vs. You vs. Me is different from anything these guys have ever done before, but I enjoyed it. It will get a lot of play in clubs and bars, and it has a very feel-good, danceable sound to it. It’s also the first track on the album, and it’s only downhill from there.

Light Grenades

By Kristen Shea

Light Grenades is the sixth album released by Incubus. It features 13 songs – some fresh, some creative, and some lacking in both respects. When you listen to the first song “Quicksand,” it sounds a little bit like some of Alice in Chains’ last songs. That mood quickly leaves and turns a bit more sensitive. This album fits somewhere in between S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and A Crow Left of the Murder. They have definitely matured as a group. They are still sticking with their original sound, while expanding on their creativity.

In a Rolling Stone interview, lead singer Brandon Boyd expressed that they wanted to release an album that showed what they have learned over the years, not to make No. 1 hits. It’s nice to see Incubus can continue to produce real, powerful music in a world dominated by sellout bands like Nickleback and Hinder.