WRUV Reviews

Motionless In White- “When Love Met Destruction”
released February 17,2009 on Fearless Records

Motionless In White is a band from Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania that seems like a cookie-cutter band at first until you listen to this CD. “Ghost In The Mirror” starts out with time signatures every ten seconds that build up into breakdowns. Really, a standard hardcore formula that you can’t go wrong with. Not too melodic or polished either. “The Seventh Circle” has a similar formula but with slightly more melody to it. The rest of songs have profanities but “Destroying Everything” is reminiscent of a basic metalcore formula. Overall, it’s an interesting album and nothing really stands out to me. I’m sure they’ll have (or have had) mainstream success but otherwise, I can’t see much to draw me to this album. If you’re big on post-hardcore or pseudo-metalcore, check this out.

FCC: 1,3,4,5
Recommended Tracks: 2,6

A Skylit Drive- “Adelphia”
released June 9,2009 on Fearless Records

A Skylit Drive are a six-piece post-hardcore band from Lodi, California. This is their first full-length album on Fearless Records. “Those Cannons Could Sink A Ship” combines harmony with murky but melodic hardcore guitars and drums. A bit jumbled and hard to get into. “Worlds End In Whispers Not Bangs” sounds like something that AFI would produce but it’s mainly an instrumental and has a bit of a pop feel to it as well, which is odd. It segues into “The Boy Without A Demon”, which is more of what I’m looking for. It has a few breakdowns and lots of pounding hardcore drums. Seems less-cluttered than their other songs. Overall, it’s hard for me to recommend this because of the fact that it feels jumbled in some areas. However, tracks 6 and 7 are tolerable enough for airplay. There are much better post-hardcore bands out there though (Thrice comes to mind).

FCC: 1
Recommended Tracks: 2, 6,7
RIYL: Alexisonfire, Blessthefall

start & stop cheerful geek-pop with male harmonies, clean-cut quirky lyrics, guitar-filled hooks and tamborines.  “brainy, off-kilter guiitar music”.

*recommended

tracks: 1 2 3 6 9 11

riyl: the jazz guys, Tapes’n'Tapes, Modest Mouse, Pavement, tullycraft

From north Carolina: dreamy twee-pop with an edge,shoegaze and brief walls of noise. punky-funky bass & drums. sweet, soft female vocals interplay with male vocals and harmonies.

(pronounced: poe-linn-eee-uhh, refers to an area of open water generally engulfed by sea ice)

*recommended

tracks:  1 2 3 4

riyl: the smittens, magnetic fields, my favorite, the softies

Amazing Brooklyn-based teen noise-dance punk band. 2nd release. high energy, mish-mash of instruments: loops, samples, drum machines, even glockenspiel. boy/girl vocals.

tracks: 2 3 4 5

riyl: yeah yeah yeahs, Ramones

**highly recommended!

Split ep from Chimney Sweep Records. 2 songs from each band. Both are lo-fi, minimal, jangly psych-garage-pop boy/girl duo’s. Eternal summers: simple, upbeat drums, quick guitar strums and harmonies, from Virginia but sound like they’re from Olympia, WA (K records). Reading Rainbow is more fuzzy & dreamy.

**highly recommended

tracks: 1 2 3 4

riyl: Dum Dum girls, Ganglians

2nd release from experimental pop band from Denmark. group male vocals, emotional lyrics, multi-instruments (brass, woodwinds)

and “organic percussion of hand-claps top the standard rock band setup”.

*recommended

tracks: 2 6 8 9

riyl: Akron/Family, do Make say Think, EfterKlang

Interesting collection of songs that “range from rough-hewn, dust-in-the-voice folk songs to dreamy ballads; from pedal-steel country to bare-bones rock” I like it - play any.

Former SCI (String Cheese Incident) keyboardist departs from the jam stylings of his past for this tighter, yet still funky exploration of his original works. As with his old band this probably works better live. Not overly impressive IMHO.

Band is based out of New York.  Psychedelic, shoegazy, post industrial rock.  Opened for Nine Inch Nails in April 08.  Heavy and noisey!

RIYL a shoegazy Interpol or New Order mixed with Stone Roses

FCC 4

Play Any except 4