Brotherly Love Set in Drop D

Bromances aren't hard to find in a city known for it's "brotherly love."

And with close-knit bands like Circa Survive and August Burns Red citing the city as home, it's obvious that there is more to this town than just cheesesteaks and TastyKakes.

Apparently, there are lots of dudes walking around with guitars screaming about their feelings.

PREM!ERE is no exception. Comprised of CAPA High School peers and long-time friends Will Tham (guitar), Jimmy Nghieu (guitar), Gary Le (bass) and Brand Ho (drums). Fully formed in the fall of 2009 with my addition as lead vocalist, it wasn't long before we were relentlessly composing songs and practicing on a weekly basis. 

But as all good things, my time with the band came to an end a year later in 2010, leaving the remaining members to continue where they left off. In the subsequent years, they've secured vocalist Chris Lee and have been promoting themselves across the internet incessantly while booking shows at local venues such as The Legendary Dobbs and the Troc.

Recently I caught up with Jimmy and Chris to discuss cutting their first [self-produced] demo, opening for Hawthorne Heights and the collapse of the local scene:

 
Their first demo is being recorded in their practice space, which affords a lower production cost but comes with it's trials and tribulations.

"It takes Will like two weeks to do recording for just guitar parts [for one song]...It sucks that we don't have like an actual room for recording," Jim stated.

But that's the least of their worries. Booking shows seems to come pretty easily, except for the fact that a lot of their fans can't come.

"The people that like us are either too far away, or they're under twenty-one," Jimmy explains.

But there are good times to be had as well.

The boys revealed their most absurd moment backstage at a show and internet haters (we're looking at you Think Basic). Being an all Asian band, there have been some good and bad reactions. At a show a few months back, some random guy in another band approached them with, "Hey, look, a bunch of Asians! We're gonna do some karate!" Chris recalled.

Laughingly, Jimmy recounted, "We made some guy break another band's clipboard over his head. There were some other bands upstairs and they were doing mailing lists or something. So we were like 'fuck them.'"

And apparently, members of the local rock outfit Think Basic, spammed the PREM!ERE facebook wall with some racist bullshit. But of course, that's the card that gets pulled when the band in question sucks. PREM!ERE's musicianship and instrumentals alone put Think Basic's to shame.

It's like telling Hugh Heffner he's old.

He's still Hugh Heffner.

All in all, PREM!ERE are just a bunch of South Philly kids trying to make something out of nothing. They're on the right track so far and if you jump on the bandwagon now, you can be one of those fans that knew them way back when.

For more info on the band, check out their Facebook, Twitter and Reverb Nation, where you can download free tracks.

Now Playing: Back and Fourth (Demo) 

METRIC: Shutting Up And Carrying On

After hearing and seeing the video for Synthetica's lead single "Youth Without Youth", I was not excited for METRIC's fifth full-length album, Synthetica.

“Youth Without Youth” comes off as synthetic and an almost non-earnest attempt at “being indie.” Prog-rock guitar riffs and heavy synth blended with vocalist Emily Haines’ wispy vocals are just not my idea of a good lead single.

  

Album opener "Artificial Nocturne" is moody and ambivalent, teetering between uptempo melodies and a dark message. Lines like song opener “I’m as fucked up as they come” almost make you question what you can expect from Haines and co for their fifth full-length.

METRIC at the Trocadero Theatre, 2009
copywrite Jess Dooley

It isn’t until track 4, the charming “Breathing Underwater,” that I begin to regain my faith in this album. It reaches back to the Live It Out days, where the band were all delayed guitars, fast tempos and tight instrumentation and Haines’ strongest songwriting moments.

This is not to say I want METRIC to keep making the same album.

But if I had the chance to hear the second coming of Live It Out, an album that was the quintessential woman’s coming of age album from the indie/alternative scene, I’d jump at the chance.

I think the problem with Synthetica is that there is too much experimentation and not enough direction. The (over) production of Haines’ vocals (“Lost Kitten,” “The Void”) strips the airy sweet and raw sound associated with the band and the singer.

But there are a few tracks that salvage the record.



Emily Haines, 2009
copywrite Jess Dooley



“The Void,” “Nothing But Time” and “The Wanderlust” highlight the band's knack for making the indie pop that jumpstarted their career. The album’s title track “Synthetica” has an incredible instrumental and is just fun to listen to when Haines’ lyrics are dissected—it is the perfect underdog anthem (“I’ll never let them make a loser of my soul…I’ll keep the life that I’ve got”).

“Clone” is a nice departure from the faster songs on the album and has a cathartic, relaxing feel to it.

All in all, I’d say I can wait for METRIC’s next release. Synthetic seems like we came in the middle of an extended transitional period.

For more info on the band, check out their website, Twitter and Facebook pages.

--J

Chiodos: Reunited and Ready to Go?

The sextet will be playing Philadelphia again this Saturday, August 25th at the Trocadero Theatre! 

Chiodos fans across the globe rejoiced with the news that original frontman, Craig Owens, had been reunited with the sextet and brought original drummer, Derrick Frost, with him this past spring.

With Alternative Press releasing not only a 6-page cover story and a digital photo album of Davison, MI post-hardcore outfit, it seemed only right that VC should cover their resurgence as well.

I first learned of the band in 2006 when their Equal Vision label debut, All's Well That End's Well, was generating major nods from the likes of fans, critics and their contemporaries alike. And how could they not?

Chiodos--singer Owens, guitarists Jason Hale and Pat McManaman, bassist Matt Goddard, drummer Frost, and keyboardist Bradley Bell--were redefining post-hardcore singlehandedly.

Their sound was atmospheric and melodic, channeling genre-blurring predacessors At The Drive-In, From Autumn To Ashes and Saves the Day. Jason Hale's metal influences contrasted with the classical training of Frost but the result is a intricate combination of precise shredding and epic supporting electronic melodies.

And the rhythm section is just as tight, with Goddard and Frost backing everything. Theirs is a style that rounds out the other members around them, allowing moments where everyone can be heard, or be able to place a musical spotlight on either Hale, Bell or Owens, and yet have such a seamless musicianship with one another.

Nothing is over-simplified, just a space filler or out of place on this album.

Combining clean and growled vocals, Owens emerged as a vocal talent that few could rival. But his stage persona was what catapulted the band to superstardom. After seeing countless live performances, I know Owens is the kind of performer that begins to live the moment he takes foot on stage and the venue lights dim down.

With all bands however, Chiodos is without their difficult moments. Owens was a workaholic, drug-abusing perfectionist. His restlessness and manic moodswings, left the band feeling an overwhelming need to either stop playing together or have him leave.

And after touring on their sophomore effort, Bone Palace Ballet (2007), it came down to just that. And following Owens' inevitable exit, Frost departed as well for personal reasons.

For a brief time, frontman Brandon Bolmer helmed the group, rounded out with the addition of drummer Tanner Wayne. Chiodos' third release, Illuminaudio (2010), featured their musicianship. But Wayne and Bolmer were like sticking plaid patches on fairly sizeable hole in your favorite black jeans (why the fuck would you do that?). After a year of touring in support of the album, the California natives were also let go from the Michigan-based band.

With Owens' and Frost's reinitiation into the lineup, the inevitable shouts of "When's the album dropping?" began. All I can say is that I'm just ecstatic for the band. Even if their next album is horrendous--which is unlikely but a possibility just the same--I'll buy it and see their tour.

For more info on the rise and return of Chiodos, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, iTunes and their personal website.

Now Playing: The Undertaker's Thirst For Revenge Is Unquenchable | Bone Palace Ballet

--J