Los Angeles-based Particle Wave is a 4-man band with the ability to make you smile. Their third studio album, titled Grand Unifier, is scheduled for release on 25th March, 2014. Much of this 11- track album is California sunshine meets British 60’s beat groups. Psychedelia and surf rock is carried by gorgeous, gorgeous guitars; the result is timeless.
Tag: alternative rock
Amelia Scalies – Blossoming with a Message
If someone is 14 years old and promoting herself as a singer songwriter, she needs to have the maturity to back it up. Fortunately, Amelia Scalies does and her melodies and lyrics are impressive. It’s always hard to describe a younger creative person without sounding patronizing, which is something she doesn’t deserve.
Amelia, who hails from Philadelphia, released her debut album, titled I Should’ve Known on July 18th, 2013. It contains twelve tracks, eleven of which are her original compositions. The remaining track is her cover version of Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. This is pop music with a harder edge lyrically and ventures into musical influences that channel her individual style well. Her themes include the sting of love going wrong and the sometimes painful ebb and flow of friendships, so important during adolescence. However, it would be unfair to dismiss these lyrics as mere teenage angst; they’re more truthful than that. Given that her compositions carry a lot of emotional weight, it’s not surprising, then, that the one cover she has chosen is My Chemical Romance’s classic.
Oh, she does like writing songs when she’s pissed off! Opening track, Bottom of the Ocean is an angry slice of thrash pop verging on pop punk. Small Talk Friends, my favourite track, is in similar vein. In this song, she threatens to hit back at the bitchiness aimed at her in the school hall and hit back hard. I wouldn’t like to cross her when she’s roused! More Than Words is another thrash pop blast of anger and she’s not in a forgiving mood. The title track, I Should’ve Known, reminds me of Ladykillers, the Britpop hit from Lush.
There is country tinged pop here too, with sweet country guitar, a genre that really suits her voice and her song writing too, on tracks, Phoenix, Rose Blossom, Macey Brown (Green-Eyed Girl) and What I Should’ve Said. Rose Blossom shows that she is capable of writing about the joy of falling in love and not just about being hurt and angry. What I Should’ve Said contains heart-breaking lyrics about a loved one slipping away and regret over not telling her she was loved.
Don’t Let Them Win addresses the topic of bullying, urging victims to stay strong and not to let themselves be overwhelmed. Amelia wrote this when just 10 years old.
Amelia’s voice isn’t outstanding in any way, but she uses it well and it will mature, no doubt, as she grows older and as she continues to perform live. Perhaps more importantly, she is a good role model for young girls going through problems, sending out a message that in preserving strength and dignity, you can win in the end.
https://soundcloud.com/tony-scalies/sets/i-shouldve-known
The Savage Beauty of Stoney
Mark Stoney, aka Stoney, is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter whose escalating career has made waves, both in Britain and America. His first full length album, The Scene & The Unseen, gained column inches in major British newspapers and airplay on BBC Radio. Stoney has played at such iconic festivals as Glastonbury, Leeds/Reading and Austin’s SXSW and toured with big names such as the Arctic Monkeys, Athlete and Laura Marling. Some of his previous songs have even appeared in UK and US films and TV programmes. So does his latest release, More Than Animals (January 14th, 2014) live up to expectations? Thankfully, yes.
Stoney plays almost all instruments on More Than Animals and produces too. He has been likened to many artists and genres, but his style is not easily distilled. What shines through is an ear for a rollicking good rhythm, crisp vocals and some of the most expressive, inventive lyrics I’ve ever come across.
He certainly straddles the Atlantic, having originally come from a London suburb, moved to Sheffield, that hotbed of original talent, and finally relocated to Austin, Texas. Whatever he’s soaked up on the way, More Than Animals emerges as his original take.
Some songs have an epic, theatrical quality, with soaring choruses that, for me, rekindled 1980s sounds, as on Sweet Release and The Score, the latter a worthy nod to online casino Gary Numan. There’s even a hint of musical theatre in terms of melody, albeit with a rock sensibility. But Stoney can be softly delicate too, on the slower, sparser acoustic tracks such as We Belonged, Albatross and Wanderlust. Bittersweet melancholy is part of his DNA.
Devil On My Back is a prime example of his talent for a driving rhythm, this one enhanced by dark lyrics narrating a spiral into despair. Also destined to bring out the beast in you is Round Here, a quiet bit of bluesy slide guitar kicking into hillbilly aggression. Cock of the Walk’s rhythm carries a rant against conforming to mediocrity. Stoney has been compared to David Bowie and The Kinks and that isn’t wide of the mark. However, House of Mirrors reminded me of Steve Marriott channelling his Artful Dodger persona.
Stoney delivers crisp, precise vocals, which is fortunate because his lyrics are so damned good. Often expressing the dark corners of his soul and love’s cruel twists, his arresting imagery is equally adept when loving or when aggressive. And he does express love so beautifully. Listen to Albatross and weep, but We Belonged, if you’ve ever lost someone, will bring you to your knees. A radio-friendly ballad with catchy melody and acoustic guitar, its accompanying video has childhood sweethearts, a wedding, a funeral and a tree motif. Just for my personal taste, I would have preferred the video to be less literal.
The title, More Than Animals refers to a line in Bedpost, about an encounter that shouldn’t have happened, wherein the question is posed, “will you even mark the notch into your bedpost?”, the conclusion being “we’re no more than animals”.
Despite its dark take on life, this is a surprisingly healing set of songs, with a melancholic truth that’s sometimes astonishing.