American band of brothers Aranda are releasing their highly anticipated third album Not The Same later this month after three years of waiting. With heavy guitar and loud vocals throughout the entire album, it’s one for the hard rock fans. In addition, they have already made a name for themselves in that genre, touring with the likes of Three Days Grace and Seether in America this summer.  

Dameon Aranda has stated that, "these songs are about leaving your past behind and moving forward, and looking forward to great new things", a fitting message to introduce fans to a rebirth of Aranda. Although track eight ‘Comin’ Back For More’ and the closing track ‘Starting Over’ sum up that message best, ‘Stay’ echoes it with lyrics such as: “I’ve been walking a broken road / It’s the only one I think I know” and “I’ve been living on a compromise.”

The songs are hard rock, similar sounding to bands such as Avenged Sevenfold and Led Zeppelin. That being said, there is still a quality these songs have that makes them very catchy, particularly the title track ‘Not The Same’ and ‘Knock The Lights Out’, which has a strong beat.

Another theme throughout the album is hints of love, it’s mentioned in ‘Centre Of The Universe’ with lyrics such as “She sees the world as undefined and knows which rules to break”, although ‘Are You Listening?’, a surprising but beautiful wildcard acoustic track, is the most prominent example. That being said, it focuses more on heartbreak than love with the lyrics: “I’m alone even when I’m with you” and “Somehow this becomes nothing more than pretending.”

Overall, it’s a good, catchy rock album filled with loud but meaningful lyrics and killer guitars sure to please any rock fan, and lead to a great and welcome “rebirth” of the band.

Ransom Scenery is the Illinois duo with a taste for avant-garde music. On their latest album ear to ear, the duo takes experimentation to a chilling new level with nine tracks of dream rock that knows no frontiers. 

Straight off the bat, Ransom Scenery delves into their very own bizarro world with opening track ‘Spinning Slowly’ - a rhapsody of haunting drones and spacey synthesizers. Beneath the dark overtones there’s quite melodic vocal work at play, making the song oddly entrancing in its eeriness. Track two ‘Driplove’ introduces plucky, left field mandolins, while ‘My Golden Shield’ drowns in throbbing bass. Bouncing off the walls with fidgety rhythms in all directions, ‘Just Tour’ opens in snappy fashion before eventually relenting into a steady but nonetheless sinister stride. Breaking the album up with a wash of what can only be described as “disturbed tranquillity” is the instrumental track ‘Unconditional’. With layer upon layer of shadowy harmonies and stretched out electric guitars, Ransom Scenery creates a rich soundscape on ‘Unconditional’, one that’s surprisingly relaxing in the face of an otherwise manic album.

‘Holozoic’ takes us on a trip down a warped, dimly lit alleyway of trance experimentation. If this record were Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, ‘Holozoic’ would be the dark tunnel scene. (On second thoughts, the whole album is the dark tunnel scene.) Earthy vibes are thrown into the mix with marimbas and glockenspiels on next track ‘Gasm of the Heart (knuckle gloves)’, while ‘All My’ is a relatively simmered down eight minutes.

Arriving at ‘Pop Scripture’, Ransom Scenery closes the album with collisions of broken record vocal samples accompanied by cello born for a thriller movie.

ear to ear is as far from easy-listening as the North Pole is from the South. But there’s hidden depth in these dark, weird experimentations – you just have to give yourself the chance to find it.

ear to ear is available from Bandcamp.

Twenty One Pilots are known for their genius mix of ukulele, rapping, and heavy drums; an odd combination not doubt but one that just works for them. Blurryface is their second album and slightly heavier than the previous. This has already been shown through their first single ‘Fairly Local’ and latest track ‘Stressed Out’ which sums up the album well, showcasing the talent and incredible combination it seems only they could pull off with the slightly heavier feel. Either of these tracks would have been a great opening as the actual opening song ‘HeavyDirtySoul’ isn’t as powerful.

What makes this duo work across all genres and forms is the powerful and extremely honest lyrics. The stand out tracks for this are ‘Lane Boy’ a metaphor about crossing genres and forms and refusing to stay in the ‘lanes’ that others expect or pressure them to, ‘The Judge’ that sends an honest message through a metaphor rather than a message getting lost in metaphors and ‘We Don’t believe What’s On TV’ which is a political song with a ukulele led track another combination that is a popular choice for them. Although their song ‘Message Man’ sums up their lyrics best by simply stating: “It’s poetry.”

They sum up their signature sound best themselves in ‘Not Today’ by saying “this song is a contradiction because it sounds so happy but the words are so down.” They have the perfect balance between emotional and impactful lyrics and happy beats.

Although their lyrics are more political and about life and the problems people face throughout life, there are still some cute love songs in the mix too. Most noticeably ‘Tear In My Heart’ a beautiful ukulele based love song, which still flows well in the album despite being very romantic.

This closing track is ‘Goner’ a sad piano lead song that is the slowest on the album bring it to a close well. The last lyric is ‘I just wanna be known by you’, and expect these guys to be known by everyone soon. They have talent in bucket loads and such a unique and refreshing take on an often repetitive industry. 

Blurryface is available from amazon and iTunes.

Photos: Dom Marceleno

Little x’s For Eyes are here tonight to launch their second album, Everywhere Else. Skelocrats’ Paddy Hanna opens the evening with an acoustic set but the room only really fills up in advance of Little x’s set.

The main venue of Whelan’s is filled to near capacity and the mood is genial as we wait for Little x’s For Eyes to come on stage. They emerge one by one to whistles and cheers from the audience and ease into ‘Disko Bay’, the languid closing track from the new album. Most of the crowd are already familiar with the new material and are moving from the moment Bennie Reilly’s guitar begins to chime.

The album itself is reminiscent of The Cure at their creative peak but with a lighter, more upbeat outlook; Robert Smith on happy pills. The Cure influence is more pronounced live with the two guitars laying melodies over the driving rhythms. But Little x’s cut through expectations of where the music is going to go, with the band exploding into a tight groove in unison.

The six members of the group play with a unity of purpose. They project an easy-going, natural charm and appear effortless in their play. The atmosphere they create fills the room and makes it dance. At several points during the set, Little x’s give the impression of jamming, but are clearly just highly rehearsed and enjoying playing together.

The band line up on stage with the four vocalists (and guest vocalist, Lucy) to the front of stage and the rhythm section of Ed Costello and Harry Bookless propelling them along from behind. Bass player Harry has a particular style of play that brings New Order’s Peter Hook to mind. When his strap breaks mid-song, he drops to his knees balancing the bass on his legs, looking like he’s playing in an Iron Maiden tribute band. The crowd cheer him on through an instrumental section and Bennie, Davey and Lucy join him on the floor; Lucy shredding along on air-guitar.

Everywhere Else is a big step forward from debut album S.A.D. Even so, the older material played this evening sits comfortably with the mass of new tunes. ‘In Glue’ stands out among them and the reception from the heaving mass of bodies on the dance floor indicates that it will continue to be part of the set for some time.

Little x’s unashamedly describe themselves as pop, and rightly so. It would be unfair to undercut the sheer pop flair on show here tonight. To call them indie-pop or any such subgenre would sell the band short. They have that rare quality, particularly in a live environment, that will appeal to your mum as much as your hippest friends. This group would win over all but the most cynical.

The show ends with latest single ‘Logical Love’. Harry jumps into the crowd and dances with the fans while playing, a massive smile on his face. As the song ends the band are visibly moved by the occasion and take a moment to savour it. Bennie and Davey share a kiss and the lights go up.

Little x’s For Eyes display absolute mastery of their craft onstage and there can be no doubt that playing live music is what they want to do and what they were made to do. Festival season is upon us and they will be appearing at a few. If you are going to any of them this summer then bump Little x’s For Eyes up to your must-see list. They will make your day.