Soundtrack to the Summer

Summer is, in my humble opinion, an amazing time to be a music fan. Most of your favorite bands are on at least tour and there are always a plethora of cds released too. This summer I have just three cds that I feel I need to tell everyone about.


First up is Alkaline Trio's Agony and Irony. I love this cd so much. I have never owned one of their recordings before, but I have heard my fair share and was a casual fan. I heard good things about this and just picked it up on a whim. Easily, the best $14 I've ever spent.


Ah, Cute Is What We Aim For. A band so many people have hated on since they came out with their first disc, The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch. I think they're one of those fun bands, but sound like sooo many others out now. I was not really looking forward to this one at all, but I saw the video for the first single, Practice Makes Perfect, and was quite taken. Sure the subject matter is the same (love lost, being young and all the baggage) but this time around it seems sincere and it's catchy, but not sugary.


lastly, Hit the Lights, a band that almost collapsed because of the departure of their singer last year. It sucked, but luckily guitarist Nick took over the vocals and saved the band. Ok, so it wasn't quite that dramatic, but Nick's voice quality is above and beyond Colin's and the songs are solid. Again, another on I have on repeat.

So those are my favorites this season, and the fall is looking pretty good too. I highly suggest picking up one of these three for the remaining days of summer and just jammin out with friends.

Pop Punk

Alright I'll admit it, I'm re-falling in love with pop punk. My first taste came courtesy of Punchline (not only talented, but genuinely nice guys. Say "hi" to them at their next show.) From there it went to Yellowcard, the Starting Line, New Found Glory, Something Corporate, etc.

As I grew older in some cases my tastes matured as well, but there are so many days I find myself listening to not only those bands, but newer pop-punkers such as All Time Low, Forever the Sickest Kids, and There for Tomorrow.

Sometimes I think I'm going to be one of those moms who hears what my kids are listening to and say, "Yeah, but it was better when Blink did it."

Vinyl Retail Comeback?

Apparently retailers are giving vinyl another shot, thanks to the recent re popularization of the medium.

CNN has the story.

I think it's pretty cool. I'm not a collector, but I have heard collectors said how hard it is to get records, so I think this is a positive for all involved.

Blink 182

For shits and giggles I threw Blink 182's Take Off Your Pants and Jacket into my stereo the other day. I hadn't listened to it in a long while and for some reason had a jones to listen to grown men sing about being teenagers. Anyway, after a couple listens I realized I don't hate Blink 182 as much as I thought I did. I think I grew out of their juvenile antics and incessant gross jokes and just gave up on them musically as well.

I realized in listening to them though, that for the one or two lame-ass songs about poop/sex/farts/etc. that they know how to write songs. The fact that I hate Tom Delonge's whiny voice does take a little away from his songwriting skills, but that explains why I hate Angels and Airwaves and couldn't care less about him. (Never mind the fact that he's also a serious head case now.) Mark Hoppus on the other hand, I still love the man. His voice is solid, he writes songs that are catchy and he's not nuts. And the fact that Travis stuck with him and go on to form +44 has to say something about the man's business practices.

Anyway, listening to Blink 182 as a 20-year-old is a vastly different experience than it was when I was 14- and 15-years-old.


The Rock Show (my favorite song on Take Off Your Pants and Jacket)

Tune Up

There's a pretty rad new program in the works. It's called "Tune Up"and it cleans up your iTunes library so you don't have that Track 7 or unknown artist info anymore. It also finds missing album art, which is cool, if that kind of thing matters to you.

It's not out yet, but you can sign-up for updates about when the Beta will be released to the public. Definitely worth checking out if you have slight OCD about your music collection.