Music Wire #3

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We’re almost through the first quarter of 2017. An hourglass expires faster than it did just a few years ago. Age makes the past fleeting. Time moved slowly, but as life advances time does too.

Memorable music has already built a narrative to remember this year by. January brought Uniform’s blistering sophomore LP Wake in Fright. I was fortunate to seem them in February at The Hideout.

Oliver Houston and Code Orange also released great records as well. Japandroids may end up owning this year when it’s all over. They had steller sold out performance at The Music Box this past Saturday.

I happened to catch Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and his new band The Uptown Controls open that show. Great song back stories with his songs. His new solo album We All Want the Same Things drops later this month.

Looking forward, Volumes seek to dominate this summer with Different Animals starting June 9th. Real Estate, Joey Bada$$, and others will also seek to dominate their respective scenes too.

Migos has already solidified a spot on many’s end of the year lists. There’s a long way until January so who knows what the rest of the year will bring.

 

On My Mind

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I’m biased for Volumes. There’s no reason to qualify anything because I follow this band without hesitation. August 18th, 2011, I saw them perform for the first time. As soon as the bouncing groove from “Intake” kicked in I was hooked.

They came along with djent when the genre was starting to solidify its legacy and changing music forever. They had two screaming frontmen who were like a rap duo. They played off each other and had different tenures in vocal tones.

At the time they had only had The Concept of Dreaming EP out but clearly their stage presence and song writing was advanced and unique enough to differentiate them from Meshuggah, Periphery, and etc.

I regarded Volumes immediately as a band to raise up for to festivals across the states and maybe internationally.

Fast forward six years, the band has released two full lengths and endured a major shake up. Myke Terry replaced Michael Barr and the band has shown significant changes stylistically.

“On Her Mind” moves the band from a rapper’s feel to literally featuring Pouya on verses. Usually these tactics within the scene come off gimmicky but with their well established grooves, particularly from the bass and drum beat, this combination works well.

Terry’s clean choruses continue to compliment the music, which was an element they permanently needed to establish a while ago. No Sleep started this process.

I don’t believe this will define Different Animals, dropping June 9th, but it’s a marker of where they’ve progressed.