Taking Back Sunday
“Live From Orensanz” (CD/DVD)
(Warner Bros)

Jokes aside, this is probably the saddest Taking Back Sunday release, if only for the fact that there’s plenty of lost potential that’s captured in this recording. Their final release with Facing New York’s Matt Fazzi and longtime bassist Matt Rubano, Taking Back Sunday recently traded the Matts for their seminal lineup, which includes Straylight Run’s John Nolan and Shaun Cooper. While those two represent a very angst-y version of the band the contributions of the Matts (and former guitarist/songwriter Fred Mascherino), helped propel the band to a sound that is both commercially viable and sonically interesting.

This is apparent on “Live From Orensanz,” a recording that finds Taking Back Sunday stripping their sound down to acoustic instruments, while also including keys and a string section. Songs like “New Again,” “Cute without the E” and “My Blue Heaven” are given a very different spit and polish. These redone versions, albeit different, sound much better than their album counterparts. And though Adam Lazzara has never been the strongest singer, the cracks in his voice and all the parts that still cling to his hardcore upbringing resonate well with this version of the band’s catalog.

As I stated earlier, “Live from Orensanz” is sad because the band was able to explore new ideas and seemed unafraid at making a straight up pop record. While I don’t doubt Nolan and Cooper’s upcoming contributions to the reformed “Tell All Your Friends” version of the band, I remain somewhat cautious. If the band broke up with the exit of Fazzi and Rubano, this is definitely an excellent swan song.

— Ryan Pangilinan

Get Up Kids
“Simple Science EP, Vol.1”
(Self)

After breaking up for a number of years, the Get Up Kids reentered the public consciousness nearly two years ago and started touring. Personally, I was under the impression that this nostalgia run would be more like The Pixies reunion, inasmuch as the band would be a touring force and they would continue to put out their own individual projects as they see fit. And why wouldn’t they? Bassist Rob Pope handles the four-string for Spoon, James Dewees is My Chemical Romance’s touring keyboard player and Matt Pryor came into his own with his solo album “Confidence Man.” Then, they proved me wrong by releasing “Simple Science.”

Originally conceptualized as a series of EPs (this was scrapped in lieu of a single LP), “Simple Science Vol.1” is a mix of “Guilt Show” and “On a Wire”-era Get Up Kids. The songs are brief, poppy and instrumentally complicated. Take, for example, the opening track, “Your Petty Pretty Things,” which melodically sounds like a GUK-pop song, but the fuzzy vocals and bass parts shows that the band is aiming for something new. The mid-tempo track, “Keith Case,” brings out something similar.

To be honest, the four track EP took some time to get used to, but I’m anticipating what the Get Up Kids v.2.0 have next.

— Ryan Pangilinan

Circa Survive
“Blue Sky Noise”
(Atlantic)



Circa Survive hasn’t really made a bad record, which is surprising given the fickle nature of the contemporary pop-punk scene. If anything, I would liken their ambitions to the Deftones: they strive to make really dense, meaningful records, all the while staying within the boundaries of a genre that doesn’t allow for much in the way of creativity.

Circa’s third album, “Blue Sky Noise,” (their first for major label Atlantic) is by all accounts a great record. Songs like “Get Out” and “Imaginary Enemy” are songs that are equal parts pop jams and esoteric songwriting, but at the same time, the record as a whole feels like the band is holding back. If we were using Star Wars as a comparable simile, the band’s last effort, “On Letting Go” would be like “Empire” whereas “Blue Sky” would be like “Jedi” – a mishmash of cool parts mixed with cute muppets to keep a certain childish appeal.

“Blue Sky Noise” is still better than most of the records coming out of this genre, but for Circa Survive, it’s definitely a compromise. It’s still miles ahead of singer Anthony Green’s solo work, but that probably has to do with how well the band coalesces as a unit and Green’s self editing ability in the studio.

— Ryan Pangilinan

Far
“At Night We Live”
(Vagrant)

About time, right? Part of the Sacramento trio with Will Haven and the Deftones, Far helped emancipate many an ignorant suburbanite from the nu-metal mire of the late 90’s. A scosche too heavy to be indie and much too restrained to be hard rock, their sound couldn’t be easily pinned down by conventional genre tags, but was still accessible to those yet to develop a respectable listening repertoire. What was easily identifiable, however, was the melodic catharsis of Jonah Matranga, whose vocals defined the idea of emotive. Breaking up in 1999, they went out on a great swansong, Water & Solutions. Fast-forward to 2008, where Far made a surprise return with a novelty cover of Ginuwine’s “Pony,” leaving many to speculate over a possible reunion. It’s now 2010. The reunion is here, along with a new album, At Night We Live. But have either proven worth the wait?

Listening to At Night We Live, it’s difficult to tell if this is even the same band (outside of Jonah’s vocals). Unlike most comeback records, this is not a matter of accumulating rust from the hiatus. Nor is it that the group have matured or progressed with new material that old fans are to stubborn to accept. The simple fact is that Far appear to no longer have “it”; that special quality which made their music endure through the years: raw urgency. At Night We Live has replaced such with a slicker-than-slick fabrication of generic alt-rock that isn’t too far removed from Hoobastank or whatever irrelevant shit U2 is shoveling nowadays. Individual songs? I wish I could remember one of them distinctly, besides “Fight Song #16,233,241” (worst song title of all-time?), which rides an ill-fitting bounce that reminds one how bands who are not punk rock should abstain from trying to play punk rock.

Big choruses. Big guitars. Big production. Big farce. This one is DOA. Take a pass and go dig out Tin Cans With Strings To You or Water & Solutions.

(Oh. And the new Deftones album? Off the chain.)

— Dave Woods

I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business
“The World We Know”
(Self)

(*****/5)

For the longest time, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ace Enders. I thought that there was a lot of hype and weight thrown towards the way for a band as tepid as The Early November. When they released their acoustic EP, my opinions changed for the better, but when Enders’ side project, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business came out, I was a fan.

Unlike his peers, Enders hasn’t dumbed down any of his songs and constantly challenges his audience, which is why I was pretty impressed by the final, three disc, Early November record.

While his last foray as a solo artist, “When We Hit the Ground,” resulted in a very pop-rock, almost radio-friendly, album, Enders has gone back to stripping his music down with the second release from his I Can Make a Mess moniker, “The World We Know.”

The gentle atmosphere and melodies in songs like “Baby Steps” and “Light Voices, Long Rides” are a welcomed return to the songwriting that most people know Enders for. This album is more of the way in that acoustic Early November EP and less like a Third Eye Blind record.

Easily digestible and, overall, a sold album, “The World We Know,” is an introspective piece of art and is a much more genuine stab at showing the angst and joys of adulthood than most Warped Tour bands trying to pass off as honest

— Ryan Pangilinan

New Found Glory/Dashboard Confessional
“Swiss Army Bromance” Split
(Epitaph)

(****/5)

I should probably dislike this, but the little kid in me can’t stop smiling whenever I hear these songs. I don’t know if it’s because my musical growth stunted in the early 2000s (is there any other reason why I’m going to see Cursive in a week?) or it’s because there’s still something mildly attractive about bands like New Found Glory and Dashboard.

For a tour that never got off the ground, NFG and Dashboard covered each other’s songs and the result is this split 7” that was released recently.

New Found Glory take a stab at Chris Carrabba’s early tunes “Swiss Army Romance” and “Saints and Sailors,” and are given the ol’ pop-punk/hardcore polish. I never realized how interchangeable (and this is not meant in a dismissive way) Jordan Pundik and Carrabba are vocally, but I suppose if there was a switch in singers for those bands, I doubt it would have a negative effect.

For his part, Chris Carrabba gives NFG’s “Better Off Dead” and “All About Her” an electro pop feel. It’s interesting, but given the widespread popularity of my arch-nemesis, Owl City, it comes off slightly dated.

This is still one of the better split releases that I’ve heard in a minute and it’s pretty enjoyable if you’re able to get off a cloud of pretention and enjoy some easy-on-the-ears pop songs for 15 minutes.

— Ryan Pangilinan

Alkaline Trio
“This Addiction”
(Epitaph)

(***/5)

It’s an Alkaline Trio record. That’s pretty much it. The songs aren’t as great as anything from their first three records or singles, but it’s Alkaline Trio, so they get a pass.

Since 2001’s “From Here to Infirmary,” the bulk of the band’s songs have waded into generic waters and insanely stupid lyrics. The thing I’ve found most surprising is that I’ve probably liked their solo efforts and side projects more than the actual Alkaline Trio records themselves.

Matt Skiba tends to write sounds in the same basic chord progression, so if you can figure out how to play “Stupid Kid,” then congratulations, you can be in Alkaline Trio, too.

Despite my general misgivings and old punx attitude about this band, their songs are still pretty catchy and I’ll continue to go to their shows because a) they’re a great live band and b) they usually play a ton of old songs (they know where their bread and butter is).

—- Ryan Pangilinan