Review: D-Railed - The Fallen

D-Railed - The Fallen
2009, Code 55 Records

D-Railed is an Alternative Metal band from St. Louis, Missouri that's creating quite the buzz far beyond their local market. Deals with Code 5 Records and MTV Studios, as well as endorsements from Washburn Guitars, Spector Basses and Hartke Amps mark D-Railed as a band on the rise. D-Railed's most recent project is the three song single, Fallen.

The Fallen opens with the title track, a stark modern rocker fueled by a vicious bass and the splendid voice of Tim. The composition here is outstanding, from the bass calisthenics to the vocal harmonies and guitar work. Frontline looks after the effects on individuals of being in battle in vivid terms. The song calls out those in power for putting soldiers in situations that may alter them for the rest of their lives. Gone is a decent tune full of a lot of tension and some serious screaming that runs counter to Tim's lead vocals, but dynamically just doesn't quite stand up to the first two songs on the single.

D-Railed can rock, based on the short sample of songs we heard on The Fallen. Their sound blends Hard Rock and Metal with some of the more Emo tendencies that run through a lot of new "core" genres, establishing D-Railed as sort of a generational bridge between old and new styles. We'd like to hear more to see where D-Railed is headed, but this is a great start.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about D-Railed at www.myspace.com/drailedinstlouis. No purchase information for The Fallen could be located on the web. You can stream songs about D-Railed’s MySpace page. Message them there for information on how to acquire the album if you’re interested.

Review: Kevin Carlson - Museum

Kevin Carlson - Museum
2008, Kevin Carlson

Kevin Carlson is an Atlanta, Georgia based performer whose roots run deep in the singer/songwriter tradition. Folks like Dan Fogelberg, Joni Mitchell and Kenny Loggins heavily influenced Carlson, who has been playing and writing songs primarily on a 12-string acoustic guitar since the 1970s. Carlson has seen some real success in the last year, with five songs licensed for use on MTV, Oxygen and E! in October of 2008. All five songs are available on Carlson's debut CD, Museum. Carlson has also seen his songs chart on internet charts such as UBL.com, where he was the #1 pop artist for 8 weeks in early 2009. Writing primarily from his own life experiences, Carlson touches on love, loss and the generalities of life on Museum.

Bethany's Wood leads off the album, a remembrance of a place Carlson played as a child which was itself a remembrance. It's an ode to simpler times and mourns what is often lost with progress. The song is a gorgeous and wonderfully written soliloquy motivated by a sentimentality that is real. With the bar set so high, Carlson delivers in fine style with Miracle. Carlson is an adept story-teller in song, here delving into the lost relationship between a father and daughter as the father sits on death's doorstep. Healing isn't always physical, and the miracles given to us aren't always the ones we ask for. Miracles is a breathtaking demonstration of both facts. Carlson lightens the mood with Hold My Hand, a sweet love song about how the little things can lift us the most. This is probably one of the best and least cliché love songs I've heard in some time. It could be taken as a simple request or a proposal; either way, expect Hold My Hand to be a mix-tape and wedding staple.

Carlson gets in a cute song about his pet pooch called Little Dang Dog. It's a love song that any pet owner will understand. Museum is about being in love for all the wrong reasons and the effects it can have on a person. The story is well told and ends on an empty note, much like the relationship it memorializes. Other Way Around is about the struggle a musician or business person who travels faces between the love of the road and the love of family ("because my heart is where my home is, it's not the other way around"). Other Way Around is a tremendous piece of song craft. Remains Of Yesterday and December Days both seem to focus on the need to look forward. Remains is a general song, whereas December Days is much more personal and deals with the death of a loved one. December Days has the potential to be a real tear-jerker, particularly if the story therein touches upon a story from your own life. Museum closes out with AnnMarie, a touching ode to imperfection and love. AnnMarie displays perhaps better than any song I've heard how sometimes it is the imperfections in the ones we love that bring out best in us.

Kevin Carlson has this ability to write deeply emotional and personal songs without slip-sliding into the Valley of Cliché or sounding like a false balladeer. Carlson shows a talent for turns of phrase and for memorializing people, events and places in song so well that each song breathes with their life's blood. His melodies and arrangements are ultimately pleasing, wrapping each story in a web of song that's irresistible. Carlson is a rare talent, and Museum is a gift. It's rare for a songwriter to have mastered melody, arrangement and lyrics as completely as Carlson has. Names that come to mind are Jason Plumb, Neil Young, Dan Fogelberg and Bruce Cockburn. Museum is a must have CD, a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc. Make sure you spend some time with Kevin Carlson soon.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kevin Carlson at http://www.kevincarlsonmusic.com/ or www.myspace.com/kevincarlsonmusic. You can purchase a copy of Museum at www.cdbaby.com/cd/kevincarlson or download a copy through iTunes.

Review: Pictures Of Then - And The Wicked Sea

Pictures Of Then - And The Wicked Sea
2009, Pictures Of Then, LLC

August 4, 2009 will be a big day in Minneapolis and for many fans of Pictures Of Then around the US. On that day, Pictures Of Then will release their highly anticipated sophomore album And The Wicked Sea. Pictures Of Then’s previous album, 2007’s Crushed By Lights saw the band finding placement on MTV’s The Real World and The Hills, and gaining such coveted festival spots as the Red Gorilla Music Fest, Midpoint Music Festival, NACA and the Crossroads Entertainment Conference. Pictures Of Then garnered airplay on 220 stations across the US and even toured as part of the MTV Choose or Lose Tour. With all of this behind them, Pictures Of Then look to take the next step with And The Wicked Sea.

And The Wicked Sea is mostly successful musical experience with some amazing moments. The Big Sell is a great bit of Brit Pop with a strong melodic sense, outstanding harmonies and some very interesting guitar work. This song is highly commercial without trying to sound commercial. Nowhere Is Somewhere is a piano-driven Pop tune that gets to the idea of what love is all about. 7th Street is one of those songs that if released 25 years ago would have bought each member of The Wicked Sea a mansion they couldn't dream up. The melody here is highly memorable and has great movement and rhythm all throughout the arrangement presented here. History Of Bones is my favorite track here; a philosophical look at how day-to-day details are often more significant than they might seem at the time. The song is wrapped up in big hooks and a Pop sensibility that indicate significant commercial potential. Wicked Sea is a funky mix Rock N Roll with lyric passages and Ooh-La-La harmonies and is a real pleasure to listen to. The album closes out with some Ambient Rock on Lands Uncharted, and epic story in song wrapped around an impressive piano part.

Pictures Of Then have managed to create a highly memorable CD in And The Wicked Sea; distinguishing themselves from the pop pack with original songwriting and real knack for big hooks and turns of phrase. This is the sort of album where a band really consolidates their sound and their fan base. With the right breaks, Pictures Of Then could be a household name. Check them out!

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Pictures Of Then at http://www.picturesofthen.com/ or www.myspace.com/picturesofthen. And The Wicked Sea will be released August 4, 2009. You can pre-order copies of the CD through Amazon.com. Expect the album to be available through multiple digital outlets as well.

Review: Never Shout Never - The Summer EP

Never Shout Never – The Summer EP
2009, Never Shout Never

Joplin, Missouri’s Christopher Drew is the creative force behind Never Shout Never, the latest in a long line of MTV-friendly post-punk pop bands to hit the national stage. With media features by outlets such as Alternative Press, Billboard Magazine, AMP Magazine as well as a 2008 performance on MTV’s TRL, Never Shout Never is nicely positioned for a big year. The Summer EP, recorded in early 2009, was recorded by Forrest Kline of HelloGoodbye and mixed by Jon Kaplan (Good Charlotte, LL Cool J, The Starting Line). The EP also features a cameo from Limbeck’s Patrick Carrie (I Just Laugh).

The Summer EP opens with Happy, a bright and cheery acoustic pop song. Drew has a distinctive voice with a strong and clear falsetto sound. The song itself is very catchy. I Just Laugh is a catchy brand of folk/geek/pop that will keep intruding into your head. On The Bright Side is highly quirky and highly infectious. This is one of those songs you just have to sing/hum/whistle/tap along to. You won’t be able to help yourself. Losing It is the best composition on the album; a wonderful pining love song that will be familiar to anyone who’s lived through adolescence. You’ll also want to check out the other two tracks, Hummingbird and Simple Enough.

Never Shout Never is the sort of different that will get significant attention, similar to how the Counting Crows first caught on when they came on the national scene. Vocalist Christopher Drew has the advantage of sounding like almost no one in pop, although comparisons could be made to John Ondrasik and Adam Duritz. The Summer EP will do great things for Never Shout Never. Expect to start hearing that name a lot more in the not-too-distant future.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Never Shout Never at www.myspace.com/nevershoutnever. You can purchase a copy of The Summer EP at Amazon.com. Never Shout Never will be part of mtvU’s Sunblock Festival Tour along with Boys Like Girls and Gym Class Heroes this summer, as well as playing on the SmartPunk stage on the Vans Warped Tour from July 20 – August 9, 2009.

Review: Mikey Wax - Change Again

Mikey Wax – Change Again
2008, Last Great Song Publishing

Mikey Wax put out his first album at the age of thirteen, landing an instrumental composition on New York Radio Station 101.9, then a jazz/instrumental outlet. The Long Island native is classically trained in piano and self-taught on guitar. He spent his college years in Nashville soaking up the local music scene, but his true motivation came weeks after graduating from Vanderbuilt University. A letter written by his deceased grandfather nearly 20 years before was given to him. The wisdom and love in his grandfather’s words inspired the song With You Goes, and also inspired Mikey Wax to follow his dream to make music. Wax’ 2nd CD, Change Again, was released in 2008. It charted on the iTunes plus charts in the US, Canada, Australia and UK, reaching as high as #46 in the US. The album has also helped land Wax licensing deals with MTV, E! and ESPN.

Wax has an interesting vocal sound that is half way between John Mayer and The Plain White T’s’ Tom Higgenson. The songs on Change Again are primarily of the non-threatening, artfully written pop variety with a tendency toward big, soaring choruses. The album kicks off with Slow Motion; something of a generic yet aurally pleasing pop tune with the requisite big chorus. Songs like With You Goes, Hourglass (Love Will Find A Way and Love Light (Triad) also fit this generic yet sonically soaring style. I don’t want to call it bubblegum because it’s most definitely not, but there’s some of that same fluffy, feel good quality to the music. It’s when you get to a song like Twisted Fate when you realize that you’re dealing with an artist with a little more than just an ear for a good hook. Twisted Fate is the story of a prophet who foresaw a great tragedy yet never told a soul, and the guilt and grief carried by that individual. It is an incredibly smart and poignant bit of writing; a bit deeper than your typical pop song (perhaps too much so for real impact at radio, but it’s a fine song). The other definitive highlight on Change Again is Last Great Song; an aptly titled tune as it is a special song and it was the last one on the disc that really held my attention.

Mikey Wax is an interesting study on Change Again. There are really two different types of material here; the classic, hook laden pop song with big chorus and harmonies, or the singer-songwriter material that is popped-up but still very strongly rooted in that other tradition. The pop material works strongly for Wax on the commercial side, creating a sound that is instantly accessible for outlets like radio, while allowing Wax to cater to his more thought-provoking side in the singer/songwriter material. Not everything works here, but when Wax is on he is definitely worth making time for. Change Again is a strong album with a few weak moments; A definite keeper.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Mikey Wax at http://www.mikeywax.com/ or www.myspace.com/mikeywax. You can purchase a copy of Change Again at www.cdbaby.com/cd/mikeywax, or you can download the album through iTunes.