Many bands and artists have been slowed down by COVID, but not the Moon City Masters. The New York pair (they’re twins, you know,) have continued to provide all of the feel good, classic-rock inspired jams you could ever want to carry you through tough times. Infused with their own brand of smiley, fluorescent bliss, a new release from MCM is always something to look forward to. This time, the dynamic duo blesses us with a cover of the classic Beatles tune “I’ve Got a Feeling.”
The recording is in tasteful homage to those four lads from Liverpool, while still being stylistically 100% Moon City Masters. Being able to put your own spin on a Beatles song without blaspheming it is a tough line to walk but the Moon City Masters have hit it out of the park with this one.
I sat down with our favorite identical dudes for a 60 second blitzkrieg-style interview to discuss the new offering and what's in store for the Moon City Masters in the future.
Watch the interview below and stream “I’ve Got a Feeling” today!
Rediscovery: A Musical Journey with LIGHTS
Summer 2010 - I was thirteen years old. At that point, I had already figured out that I wanted to be a writer. Not a music journalist, that would not come until four years later. However, my passion for music was growing more and more at that point.
I didn’t care for listening to music on the radio at the time, so my way of discovering new music was to go to a Borders bookstore, or Hot Topic and browse through CDs and whatever CD cover caught my eye, I would pick it up and buy it. That was how I discovered bands I still enjoy to this day like Alice In Chains, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and We The Kings.
One particular day, I was browsing through the CD selection of my local Borders and came across an album cover that caught my eye immediately: The Listening by LIGHTS. I loved the design of the cover and when I looked at the back to see what songs are on there, I thought the titles sounded interesting, so I picked it up.
That night, I sat in my bedroom with my little CD player and put the CD in. Immediately, the opening sounds of ‘Saviour’ drew me in instantly. LIGHTS’ voice also drew me in instantly and I began to fall in love with the album.
The next track, ‘Drive My Soul’, is what really had me hooked. It quickly became my favorite off the album and my angsty thirteen year old self thought that the “When you’re gone, will I lose control? You’re the only road I know” lyric was so deep and emotional.
I probably spent the next several weeks listening to the album consistently. Hell, I even played it in the car with my nana when we were on our way to my cousin’s high school graduation. I also fell in love with LIGHT’s music videos.
It never takes me long to get into an artist and after I got into LIGHTS, she became one of my go-to artists during that Summer. It was another moment where I felt grateful for Borders for introducing me to an amazing artist/band. I would say that I went back there to buy her next album, Siberia, after it came out, but Borders had already been closed by then. RIP. So I went to Target instead.
Fast forward to 2020, 22 almost 23 and a few weeks into the pandemic. I hadn’t kept up with LIGHTS since maybe my freshman or sophomore year of high school. Not because I wasn’t into her and her music, but I just didn’t keep up with new releases so they all went over my head.
I found her music when scrolling through my music library and I thought, “It’s been a while. Why not go back to my old middle school favorite?”
So I did, and I was reminded of how much I love her and her music. I also began listening to her more recent releases, Little Machines and Skin & Earth, and I was sitting there thinking, “Wow. How did these releases go over my head? How did I miss these releases?”
I also stayed up to listen to her newest album, How to Sleep When You’re on Fire. It took me back to thirteen old me laying in bed and listening to The Listening on my CD player and just vibing along.
Finding her again reminded me of how much I loved LIGHTS back then and how much I still enjoy her now in my 20’s and I think now, I’ll continue to stay on top of her and her new releases.
Thank you, Borders for having me discover her.
The Breakdown Episode 11: 3 Albums In One Day - Gojira, Tetrarch, + Ashes to Emperor
Welcome to another episode of The Breakdown, your weekly talk for everything in the Rock world. The amount of new music that is coming out in 2021 is amazing! Three huge albums came out in one day, so we figured we cover them and talk about our favorite tracks! Watch as we share our favorites from Tetrarch, Gojira, and Ashes to Emperor….
Album Review: Birdy's Young Heart
We all may remember Birdy from her cover of ‘Skinny Love’ by Bon Iver, but over the years since that release, she’s proven just how much of a fantastic musician she is. As well as a songwriter.
Outside of her 2011 self-titled album, which was filled with cover songs, she released her first official debut album, Fire Within. The album showed her potential as a songwriter and it was easy to see that the then 17 year old Birdy had a bright future ahead of her. She followed that release with Beautiful Lies three years later.
It’s been five years since Birdy released Beautiful Lies. Since the release, listeners were left with the same old question we all wonder when an artist releases something new, “So, when is the next album coming out?”
Finally, fast forward to 2020, Birdy released a new extended play - Piano Sketches, Which was absolutely beautiful and gave the glimmer of hope for another new album release from her, especially after four years.
In January, she released her first single off the album, Surrender. We also learned that the album was going to be titled,Young Heart. Just listening to that song once, it gave you an idea of what we could expect from what was to come. It felt as though that in the five years since the release, her voice just became more and more beautiful.
Now, the day of the album’s release, my expectations were met. Upon first listening to the album’s intro, ‘The Witching Hour’, I felt like I was going to be heading on some sort of mystical journey.
Throughout this 16 track album, each piece continued to get better and better. Birdy’s songwriting showed a lot of growth from her two previous albums and overall, I was right about feeling like I was going on a mystical journey.
The piano, the lyrics, Birdy’s voice - it was nothing short of magical. She certainly has not lost the charm she first introduced to us ten years ago when she first released her Skinny Love cover.
Though we waited five years for this album, it turned out to be worth it in the end.
Recommended Tracks: The Otherside, River Song, Deepest Lonely, Celestial Dancers, + New Moon.
The Bandos Are Back: The Last Bandoleros Live at 3rd & Lindsley
The Bandos are back, baby! Derek, Diego, Emilio, and Jerry, better known as The Last Bandoleros, along with accordionist Percy Cardona, played their first live show in over a year for a sold-out, limited capacity audience this past Thursday night at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve been a fan of these guys for a long time, since I discovered them completely by chance opening for Hunter Hayes in 2016. Funnily enough, they were also the last show I attended a little over a year ago, right before the pandemic hit.
Musician and friend of the band, Kree Harrison, and her band kicked this whole thing off with a few songs, and I’ll never be able to replicate or adequately describe the emotions I felt when all these musicians took to the stage and kicked off this show. It was like going to my first concert all over again. Do you remember the first time you ever heard live music? I was there for my younger brother’s first concert and for my best friend’s, and I’ll never forget the looks on their faces as the sounds of the stage washed over them. Feeling the kick drum deep in my chest, hearing the richness of the guitar, and Kree’s vocals absolutely flooding the crowd was a feeling unlike any other. It truly felt like it was my first time ever encountering live music, a feeling I never dreamed I’d get to experience again, and what an incredible feeling it was.
Having never seen TLB headline a show before, and this having been my first show where I could legally drink, it was one hell of a party! After Kree’s set, they came out and immediately jumped into ‘Lead the Way’, the opening track from their latest record, Live From Texas. What a way to start a show. High energy, tight harmonies, and loud as could be, they immediately set the bar high. Their set consisted of the perfect mix of older songs from their first record, newer releases from Live From Texas, and brand-new, never-before-heard tunes – whether you’ve never heard of these guys or you know all their songs by heart, there’s no way you could have been bored.
What stood out to me most of the Live From Texas stuff was the intro to ‘Let Me Love You’. I’ve been spinning Live From Texas regularly since it was released last April, so it’s safe to say I know this record backwards and forwards. The album version of ‘Let Me Love You’ has this fun little back and forth between Diego and the audience, and they replicated that during this show. Nothing delighted me more than getting to actually participate in that call-and-response in real life instead of just in my car. That audience involvement made the show that much more fun!
They played 4 brand-new, never-before-heard (at least by me!) songs, ‘Walkin’ & Talkin’’, ‘Somewhere in Texas’, ‘Mas Dinero’, and ‘That Kind of Cowboy’. Maybe I’m biased because I love this band, but I was blown away by every single one of these tunes. I got each of them on video, and I cannot stop replaying them. I’m going to single out ‘That Kind of Cowboy’ because of the 4 new songs, this one shocked me the most. I think it’s their most bold song yet, with less of a Tejano and more of a hard rock feel. I remember sitting in the audience just in awe of this one. That said, all of the new songs were incredible, and I’m crossing my fingers that all of these songs make it onto their next album (I’m also crossing my fingers that said record comes out soon!), because these songs are just as good, if not better (dare I say it?), than their oldest ones. All 4 of these songs deserve the studio treatment and to then be released, in my humble opinion!
Anyone who was at this show and knows me knows that I can’t get through this review without talking about the Tom Petty cover. I’d been secretly hoping they might slip one of those in – I’ve heard them do two (‘American Girl’ and ‘You Wreck Me’) on their weekly web series, Around a Neon Cactus, and on various pandemic live streams, but I had yet to hear one in person. They busted out their cover of ‘You Wreck Me’, and that might have been the highlight of my night. Even the band knows how much I love Tom Petty, and they crushed this cover. I will never be able to say enough good things about that.
Something I love most about these guys and about this show in particular is how they made me feel like I’m a part of the Bandos family. I know they had plenty of friends in the audience, but with each of them that I approached after the show, I was greeted with hugs and treated like I was a friend too, not just some fan. Kind artists are the best artists, and these guys go above and beyond every time.
I believe the difference between a good band and a great band is in the quality of their live show. It’s one thing to produce good sounds in the studio, and it’s another to produce them live – some bands do better than others. The Last Bandoleros are absolutely a great band. Hearing them live is like hearing an alternate version of the record – their live sound isn’t a carbon copy of the record, but it is every bit as good. I’m not the only one who thinks so either; this show was so good that the sold-out crowd gave them a standing ovation and convinced them to come back out for an encore. If they were expecting one, they certainly weren’t cocky about it – I ended up with a setlist and there wasn’t an encore written in like you’ll find on some setlists.
They played this show at 110% - everything was high energy, the harmonies were out of this world, they played incredibly, the fan favorites were on point, the newer stuff was on point, the brand-new songs were on point - you’d never know they hadn’t played for an audience in over a year, that’s how tight everything was. They are some of the most talented musicians I’ve ever seen and I’m already chomping at the bit to see them again. If you ever find yourself at one of their shows, they’re going to blow your mind.
Go check these guys out on social media at @lastbandoleros, check out their YouTube channel for all kinds of fun content, and stay tuned to their social media and website for updates on the return of Around a Neon Cactus and new tour dates!
Interview: Casandra Carson Split In Two
One year has passed since I last spoke with front women Casandra Carson of Paralandra and the newly formed The L.I.F.E Project.
When we first spoke last April of 2020, the world had gone into lockdown and her band, Paralandra, were put on concert hold; like everyone else. Her lead guitarist and father, Paul Carson, was also apart of the interview. We discussed the father/daughter combo band, history, their music, their break with COVID and more.
For this second interview, we caught up on how the year has changed, especially the G-14 classified newly announced The L.I.F.E Project with legendary Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand and their debut single, ‘The Nothingness’.
This debut single is HUGE. It is everything you love in a Stone Sour song with thunderous Lizzy Hale style vocals from Casandra to complete it. The single itself is already hitting top playlists on Spotify and Apple Music and is already on my rotating list as well.
Be on the lookout for their debut EP scheduled to be released this year.
Album Review: Tetrarch Aim To Be The New Pioneers of Nu Metal with Unstable
Tetrarch: te·trarch: ˈteträrk: the governor of one of four divisions of a country or province.
A fitting name for this four piece band from Atlanta, Georgia as they storm the metal scene with their sophomore album, Unstable.
I first discovered Tetrarch from their single release for this album, ‘I’m Not Right’, and I was immediately thrown into a DeLorean and felt as if I was a middle school teenager again, blasting this as loud as I could.
It was such a euphoric, nostalgia of Nu metal that I loved as a teen that carried into the following singles to come and I completely embraced it like a best friend I haven’t seen in a decade.
In this new album release, songs such as ‘Unstable’ & ‘ Pushed Down ‘ embrace the Korn/Disturbed 2000’s sound while still keeping their own identity. When finishing the album with its last track, ‘Trust Me‘, I returned back to 2021 and wanted to get back in that DeLorean.
It is said history repeats itself, and Tetrarch aim to be the new pioneers of Nu Metal.
Review: Starbenders 'Cover Me'
Layered with intricate guitar, a profound bassline, and steady percussion, ‘Cover Me’ by Starbenders reeled me in immediately. Plugged in or acoustic, this song is ELECTRIC! The chorus hits like a Stevie Nicks twirl and my heart overflows with joy. Between its storyline of building and testing the strength of love and Kimi’s passionate vocals, I “feel ~this song~ in my bones”.
Starbenders is a 4-piece band from Atlanta, Georgia, blending “androgynous rock n roll power with catchy pop melodies”. Check out their full length album, Love Potions out now.
The Breakdown Episode 10: Top Cover Songs
Welcome to another episode of The Breakdown, your weekly talk for everything in the rock world.
E10: Cover ( Top Cover Songs)
A lot of bands start as a cover band, like Steel Panther, and then became their own huge hit! You even start playing music covering your favorite artists! It’s easy just to do a direct cover of a song, but it’s hard to reimagine that song and play it completely different. These are our favorite covers that were completely changed from the original and are bangers.
Interview with Florida Hard Rock Band, The Dev
Florida hard rock group, The Dev, took to the road for their first ever tour as a band, hitting 5 states including their own: Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama & Florida. For any normal band, back to back dates would be an exhausting task and sometimes shows on stage on the later dates of the tour; this was not the case for The Dev.
I came out for a special pre show interview in Alabama at their Shagnasty’s show ( yes that is the venues name) and all the fun stories of tour life came out of the box. We also discussed their latest hit single “Shameless Life” that just passed over 500K views on Youtube.
Shagnasty’s was the second to last stop on their tour, with a hometown Florida show following the next day, and as I mentioned before, for most artists this would be physically exhausting by later dates. The Dev, however took to the stage as if they had a fresh, baby night sleep.
With a set time of around 30-40 mins they shredded their hit singles “Queen Of The Damned”, “Shameless Life”, ”Broken Lies” and afew other unreleased bangers for fans to indulge in.
As an extra fun bonus, they had me on stage as a guest guitarist playing two of their hit singles “ Queen Of The Damned” and “Shameless Life”.
The chemistry they have on stage as a band is such a raw, passionate energy that feeds towards their fans and unlike other artists who may not sound as good as they do in studio, The Dev are even larger onstage.
The Dev has kicked off 2021 with a huge bang, and without a doubt be making more noise this whole year.
Titans of Siren Release "Confession"
At the risk of sounding simplistic or unrefined; “Confession” Kicks. Ass.
Titans of Siren (Matt LaMarca, Kirk Gower) release their first track since November today, and listeners can rest assured, it is well worth the wait.
With evident punk and grunge influences, “Confession” absolutely brings every bit of thrash you could want in a single. There are hints of Bleach-era Nirvana-esque sound interspersed with a contemporary and progressive riffy flare that makes the track truly unique. It’s a little heavier than its predecessor “How to Not Leave Town”, but preserves the clever lyricism present therein.
This, combined with the driving, sludge-y groove established by the duo, makes for a truly stellar recording. The thrashy percussion provided by drummer Matt LaMarca is delightfully crunchy when combined with the deep groovy fuzz of the guitar tracks laid down by Gower. It’s thick. It’s aggressive. It’s nasty. It’s absolute head banging music.
The sheer chaotic force of “Confession” permeates the air around a listener, immediately placing you in the “right now”. It’s heavy without being over processed, and free from the obsessive nit picking that is present in so much top 40 music. The raw human electricity from the two is transmitted directly to the listener without passing through the fine mesh sieve that removes so much of the delightful imperfections that go into creating a signature sound. This is not to say that “Confession” is unrefined.
In fact, it sounds damn good, finding a comfortable middle ground between what seems to be the two common recording and mixing techniques in the industry, “spotless, immaculate, perfectly processed” and “recorded in a tin can inside a microwave.” It just sounds organic. It sounds real. It sounds like a basement show and a hell of a good time.
Accompanying the release of “Confession” is a music video that’s nearly as fun to watch as it must’ve been to record. This chaotic catharsis is beginning to become a defining theme for Titans of Siren, and their performance alludes to what type of fierce energy we can expect from live performances once they resume.
Stream “Confession” now, and watch the music video.
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South of Eden Talks Hitting the Stage Again and the State of Rock N Roll [INTERVIEW + PHOTOS]
Columbus Rock band, South of Eden, hit the road for the first time this year this past weekend. We sat down with Ehab, Justin, Tommy, and Nick before their show in Newport, Kentucky to talk about performing, recording new music, being featured on Rolling Stone, losing Eddie Van Halen, answering the age old question - is Rock dead, and more…
While you’re listening, don’t forget to vote for South of Eden for the Driven To Perform Alice Cooper x Evanescence contest HERE.
PHOTOS
CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
Iron Point Pays Tribute to Aerosmith with Cover and Music Video for ‘Pink’
It’s hard to cover one of the greatest rock bands of all time, but when it’s done right, it can be so good. Iron Point did exactly that with their cover of Aerosmith’s ‘Pink’.
As soon I hit play, I was impressed. I really enjoyed the intro, there is so much guitar going on, way more than the original. With Aerosmith’s version, the harmonica is the main focus in the intro so it was refreshing to hear something a little different. This gave the song a strong start and it only got better from there. The whole song actually sounds pretty similar to Aerosmith’s, but it’s just different enough to give it more of a modern feel.
The band’s vocals are so fitting for this song and they were done perfectly. Steven Tyler has such an insane vocal range, still to this day it blows my mind, it’s so hard for the average person to sing his songs. With ‘Pink’, the chorus especially, the vocals are kind of all over the place and it’s easy to find yourself lost in the music. Not this case, though. The chorus, and the whole song in general sounded so effortless.
What I love even more than their cover is the music video. Just like Aerosmith’s video, the camera is stationary so that one person approaches the camera, has their own little moment, and then it moves onto someone else. It’s the perfect tribute because they were able to put their own spin on it by taking the main concept from Aerosmith’s video and applying it to their band. It’s a really simple concept but makes it so fun to watch. It was also a great way to showcase the band members’ personalities.
As a die hard Aerosmith fan, I give this my stamp of approval. I rarely listen to any covers of their songs, but this one was awesome and the more I listen to it, the more I love it. I really appreciated the song choice, ‘Pink’ is such a fantastic Aerosmith tune and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone cover it. It’s always their greatest hits that are covered but this one is so unique and different sounding than all of their songs, it’s a fabulous choice. Not to mention ‘Pink’ is definitely a fan favorite in the Aerosmith catalogue.
Be sure to check out Iron Point’s cover of ‘Pink’ on their soundcloudand watch the music video
Marc Ribler Debuts Music Video For His Latest Single, ‘Shattered’
Marc Ribler might not be a name you immediately recognize, but you will definitely know some of the artists he’s worked with. Not only is he the music director for Steven Van Zandt, but he’s also played with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Carole King, just to name a few. Earlier this year, Marc released a new single, ‘Shattered’, and just recently premiered the music video.
This single is part of his upcoming solo album The Whole World Awaits You, which will be released in June.
Right off the bat, this is a fun song. It’s got an upbeat tempo, that early classic rock sound, and listening to it just makes you feel good. Then when you start to listen to the lyrics, you realize the song is about a heartbreak. Listening to the song actually reminded me a lot of Tom Petty so if you're a fan of him, or like classic rock in general, you will love this song.
The music video does a great job showcasing what the song is about. When you watch the video, you will immediately notice the use of light and dark. When the focus is on Marc playing with his band, they’re in a bright, well lit room. When the video focuses more on the story line, the lighting is significantly darker. Not only is this great for contrast, but it also goes back to my point earlier. It’s a fun and uplifting song, but it is about something sad, a heartbreak. What I loved most about the music video were all of the small, subtle details that aligned with the lyrics of the song. That made it very enjoyable to watch.
With the release of ‘Shattered’ was another song, ‘Hand Me Down’. This one has a completely different sound to it, more Santana-like. This is the song you wanna listen to when you’re relaxing on the beach somewhere tropical, perhaps Mexico. That’s exactly what I felt when listening. It’s a cool song and it’s so different from the rock music that is released today.
I really enjoyed both of these songs along with the music video for ‘Shattered’, and I will definitely be checking out the album when it comes out in June!
‘Shattered’ and ‘Hand Me Down’ can be streamed here and be sure to check out the video below.
Lilith Czar's Created From Filth And Dust: The Road to Creation
Lilith Czar - formerly known as Juliet Simms - has released her new album Created From Filth And Dust: a journey of reinvention, standing in your power, and claiming your rightful place as King.
Her name is an homage to the legend of the first woman Lilith who was a powerful force to be reckoned with that did not surrender to any man and was cast away to hell because of it.
Lilith Czar has been very open about her struggles as a woman in the music industry, which she refers to as “a man's world” in the first single from this album, ‘King.’ She began her musical career at a very young age and has been fighting through the deep rooted misogyny ever since. This album presents you with her personal story where she takes her power back and comes into her most authentic self while making sure her voice is heard loud and clear.
The album starts off with an intro poem that tells the story of Lilith. The end runs perfectly into the next song with a loud raspy scream from Lilith Czar making her grand entrance.
The beginning of this album is very in your face rock n roll with a deep and powerful message that she conveys through her intense vocals. She sings about making her own way through the world because she is the only person that she has to answer to. This is a big f-you to anyone that has tried to use their false sense of authority to silence her. You can tell that this is an album she’s wanted to make for a long time.
We’ve established that she is standing in her power and is not going anywhere. Now we’re tackling her past self in this section of the album with tracks like ‘100 Little Deaths’ and ‘Lola’; a sign off to her inner child in order to heal and move forward.
Of course I can’t glaze over the insanely powerful cover of ‘Edge of Seventeen’ by the queen herself, and huge inspiration to Lilith, Stevie Nicks. Lilith admitted these were big shoes to fill but she explained that this song helped shape her life and made an imprint that was just too great to not include it. She was right to do so, it fits in perfectly.
The last few tracks dig deeper into the inner workings of her mind. On the track ‘In My Head’ she sings “sometimes I’d rather be dead than living in my head.” and personally, that is something very relatable.
The last track on the album ‘Diamonds to Dust’ is a stripped down song where she addresses a part of herself that she is still healing. She wants a better version to emerge from the pain that running away from things has caused her.
This album is a perfectly told story of who Lilith Czar has left behind and who she has become. It leaves the listener feeling empowered but also makes you think. It makes you aware of the things you need to heal from and the things you need to let go of. No matter who you are or where you come from there is at least one song on this album that will resonate deeply with you and possibly jumpstart your very own journey towards a better version of yourself, free of past constraints.
Lilith Czar said in an interview with Rock Sound, “That’s the wonderful thing about music, once it’s out there it’s for the listener to own as well.” Ever since I heard her say that I just knew this was going to be the album; my album. And it can be yours too.