New Artist Alert: Harmful if Swallowed

Hailing from the heart of Los Angeles, Harmful if Swallowed are a hard-hitting punk outfit who have shared the stage with the likes of Green Day and Weezer and will, later this month, be opening up for Unwritten Law. The power-pop quartet formed in 2006, and since then have been featured in numerous MTV shows and their latest offering, a 6-track EP titled 'Allergy', was produced by Grammy award winner Matt Hyde (No Doubt, Slayer).

The band claim to be taking on the music industry with all guns blazing, and the EP's title track certainly holds them to this. Allergy kicks off with a major-sounding, feel-good chugging electric guitar and lead vocals as the track builds steadily before kicking into the verse surrounded by the full-band. Still building with the hi-hats opening up slightly, the chorus settles nicely with a prescribed American rock/punk feel and a little more depth courtesy of the backing vocals. As a prelude to what I think is to be the second verse, we're treated to a short solo section from the lead guitar before building all over again and heading instead for a double chorus; the track feels short but coming in at just over three minutes it's a great length for radio and would certainly hold its own on the airwaves.

You can catch the video for Sabrina (Little Angel) below which packs a little more passion and grit than its predecessor with a feel in the vocal melodies and harmonies akin to Hinder and of course has the added visual element to support it.

Allergy is available for sale on iTunes alongside the band's back catalogue, and be sure to keep up with the guys on Facebook for up to the minute news.

Am I A Music Snob?!

I feel a little worried. A little weird, and slightly strange. I just don't seem to get it like everyone else apparentely totally is. Let me explain. Last night, I watched the Reading and Leeds highlights. This seems to be an annual thing, because I remember exhibiting the same feelings almost exactly one year ago when I saw the footage of the Arctic Monkeys and just remember thinking 'what the hell has happened to these guys?!'

The highlights that were aired last night was of bands that are obviously popular right now, but want I don't understand is, well exactly that; what is popular right now. Bands like The Drums; they just seem to be all about the image, of the band as a whole and of the musicians individually but, and this is just my opinion, the music sounds awful. Just like it was an after-thought; 'well we've got the image, now maybe we could try writing a song?'

Disappointment was also on the cards, for of the 'comeback' acts that were performing at the festivals (2 out of the 3 headliners infact) I was gutted at the overall performances. I used to love Guns n Roses but, and to be fair, Axl Rose has still got an alright-sounding voice, he could barely finish a single line without losing the last few syllables to general out-of-breathness. And obviously the rest of the line-up was made up of session players; the drummer seeming to be more of an R&B performer rather than a heavy metal tyrant. And of Blink 182, I was dumbfounded at the sheer state of Tom Delonge's voice; I mean, he never was the world's greatest singer, and I only heard 'I miss you', but his vocals were absolutely awful, just so broken and screechy and all over the place, generally out of key. Why did these bands feel the need to cash-in on a comeback? Why not quit while you're at the top of your game, leaving the lasting memories of your legacies of when you were at your best. If Bon Jovi came back in ten years time, as Jon Bon Jovi and session players, him out of breath and having put on weight, squeezing into a leather shirt and cowboy hat, I wouldn't go anywhere near it. In fact, I'd be gutted.

In short, I am worried I am becoming a music snob. I saw a great performance from Paramore, and have only heard good things of Mumford & Sons. I like to think I have a diverse taste in music; there are very few styles or even sub-genres that I dislike, but the point is, I know what I like, and it just doesn't seem to be what everyone else likes. I don't claim to be a fan of the purely avant-garde and obscure, and obviously the bands I do like have decent enough fanbases, but I don't know many of the artists that are in the charts because it's all the same regurgitated dance crap and I just can't stand the new-wave of 80s inspired synth bands and the image-mongrels cluttering up the festival circuits. Again, this is just my opinion (and, upon re-reading, a seemingly angry one at that!) and I don't want to offend fans of all the new stuff that's going on. At the end of the day at least they're out there making a living and I can only dream of one day following in their footsteps. I can only hope that, when I do, I make enough of an impact as bands such as Green Day, Bon Jovi, The Stones, etc; enabling me to span across generations, and through the changing tides, remaining strong and constant and still apparent when everything else around me is changing. One can only hope.

Dear Mr President

Don't quite know why I felt the need to do an anti-Bush post. It might not be your thing and that's cool, but individually these are all great songs with great messages.

Pink/Dear Mr President


Bon Jovi/Have A Nice Day


Green Day/American Idiot


Sheryl Crow/God Bless This Mess

Green Day live @ Wembley Stadium/Jovi rant

Last night I went along to watch Green Day at the prestigious Wembley Stadium, with support from Frank Turner who was cool, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts whose outfit left a lot to be desired but her vocals were good for her age...wasn't so keen on the outdated music though.

Green Day however, are a band I probably wouldn't have got into had it not been for my partner who is as big-a fan of them as I am of Bon Jovi. I've got to be honest and say that it's far too easy for people to dislike Green Day; they just seem to be one of those bands that people knock without any real reason but until you've seen the kind of show they put on at Wembley, say nothing! I think a few mouths would be promptly shut and a lot more converted; it was a huge concert, a massive spectacle and almost 3 hours (long set!) of a lot of fun and good time rock n roll. I can only hope Bon Jovi are planning a date or two in 2011...I guess we'll see.

In other news (I promise to stop moaning about it after this) I'm so so disappointed Bon Jovi played my favourite song Something To Believe In last night at the o2. I asked for weeks before the show on Twitter and Bonjovi.com over and over again to have it played on the 13th, but I guess it's just the luck of the draw what gets read and listened to. I wonder if it had anything to do with Dave's absence, but Jeff Kazee would have had new songs from The Circle to learn anyway. Anyway that's the last I'll say on the matter, I'm just gutted not to have heard it, especially after having seen video's on Blame It On The Love where people with great seats right behind the stage are just sat down and seemingly not bothered at all. I hate it when people are only there for the greatest hits yet have the best seats in the house. Ok, no more moaning now. I promise. Have a good week!

Green Day...on Broadway!

PHOTO CREDIT: EVA MUELLER

As you may or not know, Green Day have had their back catalogue turned into a Broadway Musical entitled American Idiot. I'm sure this will come against stern criticisms but I think it's definitely a very cool and modern step for Theatre. With David Bryan's great shows The Toxic Avenger and Memphis, musical theatre is being given a bit of a revamp and it's great to include some great Rock n Roll tunes in there; theatre isn't just about 'show-tunes' and cabaret anymore.

You can hear and purchase the American Idiot Original Cast Recordings here; it sounds just like Green Day with more vocal harmonies! For info on the show itself and a littel story behind the scenes, click here. I'd be interested to see how the die-hard Green Day fans take it, I'm not sure how I'd feel about a Bon Jovi musical...

Jace Everett/Green Day

Just wanted to share a new artist I've discovered this week. If you are a fan of True Blood (USA/UK) then you might remember the ultra cool theme music to the show. Well the artist is Nashville sensation Jace Everett and he sounds fantastic. It's a real dark and dingy rock/blues kinda thing, think Nashville after dark, and just what you'd expect to be fronting an American show about sexy vampires. But musically it's wicked and I was very pleased to discover some other tracks of his!

In other music news, I went to Birmingham to see Green Day this week. I don't own any of their albums personally, although found myself up against the barrier as Billie Joe stormed onto the stage and, for the preceeding two and a half hours, was crushed and mashed and squashed along with thousands of others but actually really enjoyed it. They played a good handful of songs I could at least singalong to the choruses of and put on a great, fun rock show. Tonight, Bon Jovi are performing live on the UK's X Factor (ITV, 8pm) for which I am very excited and the new album is out tomorrow! I'm sure I'll have a review up soon :)

Everything new about Bon Jovi right now!

Well it has been an INCREDIBLY exciting week for me and everything going on in Bon Jovi land. It all started with a special live event at Bon Jovi which featured some scenes from their documentary When We Were Beautiful. And then, a live stream, again online, as they announced the start of their new tour from the parking lot of the new Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey before performing a secret gig. And THEN as part of that tour, the band announced their ONLY European dates; a 5-night residency at the o2 Arena in June in London (see picture above)!

The new album, The Circle, is out here before anywhere else, on Monday 2nd November, but I learned ALSO tonight that the band will be performing their new single We Weren't Born To Follow on the X Factor next weekend! On Tuesday 3rd November, they'll be recording a live session for BBC Radio 2 and the book to partner the documentary is out this day too.

It is one very special time to be such a huge Bon Jovi fan right now, and I have tickets for their final show at the o2 on the 13th June 2010!

In other news: Uni is going great and I'm keeping on top of the work well, I had a full on intensive training weekend ahead of becoming a mentor for school kids in the Isle of Whight, and am going to see Green Day in Birmingham on Wednesday next week!

Hope you're all well in bloggy land :)