State Lines Concert Review
Last Friday night, YGM schlepped out East on Long Island to go see one of our favorite punk bands, State Lines. After seeing lead singer Jonathan DiMitri play an acoustic set to open for Company of Thieves, we did some research and realized we had found one of our favorite punk albums ever in the band’s 2011 debut Hoffman Manor. The band released a self-titled EP in 2012, and their second full length record For the Boats came out this past April.
I’ve seen a lot of concerts in small venues before, but I’ve never been to anything as intimate as this. We arrived at the No Fun Club in Island Park just in time to see the first openers, Scout. We then watched Little World, The Young Rochelles, and No Good News play opening sets in that order. All the openers were incredibly impressive, keeping the crowd enthused with great punk rock sets.
State lines took the stage around midnight for a set that lasted close to an hour. They mixed hits from their first album with newer tracks from their second album. The fans were absolutely wild. While I’m no stranger to mosh pits and crowd surfing, it’s a totally different experience in a 100 person audience. Kids would lie on the crowd’s hands and lean over to sing into Jonathan’s mic from up above. The mic stand itself was knocked over more than once over the course of the night. The bassist, Johnny Wims, played a large portion of the show with an injury on his wrist that left his bass covered in blood.
Like I said, the intimacy was a really profound element of the show. Fans interacted with the band during the performance, shouting requests and cracking jokes. Many of the requests were honored, and the band threw in a few surprises like a cover of Weezer’s “El Scorcho.” Some highlight moments included hearing my personal favorite State Lines song, “House,” get played live, as well as the fun of closing the night on the sing-along choruses of “My Friends.”
“We’ll call wherever we are home/And we might die trying to cross state lines/But we’ll never regret it no we’ll never regret it”
Singer Jonathan DiMitri and guitarist Tom Werring were nice enough to talk to us after the show about the new album. They both cited “Garages” as one of their favorites off of the new record (it was incredibly awesome live) said they felt that For the Boats was an incredibly fun album to make. They felt the second album flowed more cohesively, and said they focused more on finding the right tone for each individual song rather than just an overall tone for the album.
Overall, the show was a fantastic experience. You can support State Lines on Facebook here and purchase their albums Hoffman Manor and For the Boats here and here respectively.
The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation: Album Review
“See people say the greatest generation has come and gone but they’re wrong… They haven’t seen what we’re capable of.”
Everyone, bear with me. This is an album I’ve been waiting months for, and one which I really care about. This is going to be a long article.
I’ve been hyping this album up on the site for a while now. Or better put, I’ve been echoing the hype this album has been receiving all over the Internet on the site for a while now. The last classic pop-punk album I remember waiting this anxiously for was Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown, which I was extraordinarily thrilled with. But not since Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy has an album lived up to the Internet-hype so excellently.
The Wonder Years – “The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves” Lyric Video
Every time I hear a new song from The Wonder Years’ upcoming fourth studio LP I can’t imagine how they could possibly write anything better, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t the best track they’ve released off the album so far. The Philly-based pop-punk band has really matured from their first effort, Get Stoked on It, where they wrote songs about ninjas, monsters, pirates, etc. I’ve already got my tickets to the release show in a few days and I can’t wait to hear these phenomenal songs live. Check out the lyric video below.
Man Overboard- “Where I Left You” Music Video
“Where I Left You” is Man Overboard’s second single from their upcoming album, this time coming with a music video. This single is definitely stronger than the first single (“White Lies”) for the album. It’s hard to deny hearing the Blink influences in the beginning, but that applies to pretty much every pop-punk song. Definitely a great release by the band and this should make Man Overboard fans even more excited for Heart Attack on May 28th. Look out for The Story So Far’s cameo at the end of the video.
The Wonder Years – “Dismantling Summer” & Upcoming Album News
Philly-based pop-punk band The Wonder Years released their second single off of their upcoming album The Greatest Generation, set to release May 14th. “Dismantling Summer” keeps all of the classic elements of their older material. Lead singer Dan “Soupy” Campbell has said that this upcoming record will be the band’s most personal yet. The Wonder Years are one of my absolute favorite bands, and I cannot wait for the album to come out in May.
The Wonder Years - "Dismantling Summer" |
Fall Out Boy ft. 2 Chainz – “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)” (Remix)
Not only did we get a Snoop Lion and Miley Cyrus collaboration today, but we also received a 2 Chainz and Fall Out Boy collab. 2 Chainz lends a verse on the remix to Fall Out Boy’s first single ”My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up).” The original track will reside on Fall Out Boy’s upcoming release, Save Rock N Roll, due out April 16. Stream 2 Chainz’s remix to the single below. Hit the jump to check out Fall Out Boy’s tour dates and to pre-order Fall Out Boy’s forthcoming album, Save Rock N Roll.
Fall Out Boy - Light Em Up (2 Chainz Remix)
The Strokes – “All The Time”
The Strokes released an experimental track last month entitled “One Way Trigger” for free download and now the band is back with the official first single from their forthcoming album, Comedown Machine. While I did enjoy the uplifting “One Way Trigger”, The Strokes lead single, “All The Time”, stays true to the rock bands roots and features a backing guitar rather than catchy synths. Comedown Machine is due out March 26th.
The Strokes - All The Time
Music Video: Muse- “Supremacy”
Muse premiered the official video to their song “Supremacy”, the fourth single off their new album The 2nd Law. Check out the video above and buy The 2nd Law on iTunes if you haven’t already.
Up & Coming: Old Best Friend
I first heard Old Best Friend a couple of days ago when I saw Mike Comite open up for Company of Thieves and Von Grey at Highline Ballroom. Comite is originally from Boston, and is now living in Brooklyn just writing and performing music. Old Best Friend performed an amazing and memorable set, to the point that he was the artist I was most excited to meet after the show. His music was so interesting to me because even at an acoustic show, I couldn’t figure out exactly what rock sub-genre it fits in. Comite opens his Keep In Touch EP with the words “I could’ve swore I killed a man last night…”; the song (“Things That Happen”) soon builds into an catchy organ-heavy rock track. “Fire” starts off very folksy, but then the electric guitar breaks in and ends the song with a punk-rock feel. “Most Of Me” is a beautiful lyrical ballad, and the 4th track honestly feels like indie-rock meets 1970′s classic rock. The last song “Lines I Lift” is catchy as all hell and might be my favorite track, but its too hard on 5 track EP with no weak songs. I highly urge everyone to check out this EP and if you like it, buy it to help support good music. Also help support Old Best Friend by liking their Facebook page.
The Strokes — One Way Trigger
The Strokes dropped a new single today entitled “One Way Trigger.” The pop synths along Julian Casablancas’s opening vocals make this track slightly unrecognizable from past Strokes’ releases. It is good to hear the band trying out a new sound. The Strokes will be releasing an album this year, so look out for more new music very soon. Stream the uplifting free track, “One Way Trigger”, below. Grab the download over on the NY rock band’s website.
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