The world didn’t end, well yet at least. I don’t know about you but 2012, I’m glad you’re over because I needed a change. However this has been a good year for many of my friends playing music and bands I really appreciate. For this post I’m gonna move away from a general review and just gush all my feels for these records that got me through 2012.

Disclaimer: There are a ton of records that probably could have easily made this list that I just haven’t heard but would really like to. Tweet at me your AOTY so I can give it a spin and see for myself.

For this list I’m only talking about full lengths. I’m doing EPs and Splits tomorrow. So let’s get started.

First though, I wanna talk about some honorable mentions. First up is Modern Baseball’s Sports. Great record by probably some of the most talented kids playing music in Philadelphia currently and great dudes but the record is very hit or miss with me. It’s a matter of taste that it did not make the top ten. Best dudes, fantastic record please check it out. Second up is The Chariot’s One Wing. I’ve seen this band play and if there is any doubt they don’t bring it all the time then please stop listening to music. I’ve only heard a third of this record and that third was perfect. Buy it, don’t think just buy it.

Okay let’s get this deal done.

Metalcore meets Mid-West Emo. It’s beautifully melodic and then it’s crushing, everything I could ever want from a record. Thank you InVogue Records for putting this out for me to enjoy.

My dudes, Giants at Large put their A-game into this full length debut. Polished, sincere, and full of fresh sounds and melodies. I’m in fucking love.

Easily my most anticipated album of the year. All their EPs have been one evolving step after another. For their full length while not another step forward, the record established their territory sonically. Also they fucking throw down like it’s December 21st 2012 every damn time they play.

So proud that Forever Came Calling are making it. Got a chance to work with these dudes a while back and they are just the nicest dudes. They deserve what they’ve been getting with a record this solid. I was jamming it all summer.

I missed this record when it came out but I got it a few weeks back and I just cannot stop spinning it. This is melodic hardcore that doesn’t slouch when it comes to hitting you hard and fast. A lot a of power and a lot of melody. Subject matter isn’t dumb shit either which is a huge plus.

Handguns was growing dull for me this year to the point I wasn’t sure I wanted to give this record a chance. But when my friend Max got a sneak peek at some of the songs he made sure that he relayed his thoughts to me immediately. This record is sure to please everyone and is quite possibly the best thing the band has ever written. It sets a theme of growth somewhat charting the life of the band and it’s members starting with asking where do I belong and answering with wherever I am happiest.

Secret Plot is without a doubt the band that introduced to me a more traditional emo/post-hardcore sound and made me love it. I just love everything about it I can’t be more blunt about this. Also the sound bite of Charlie Chaplin’s speech from the Great Dictator is fantastic.

Never before has a band matured so much and yet maintained their trademark sound so well as much as With the Punches. As I grew older more and more pop-punk records are beginning to become stale or do not interest me at all. I’m glad a band is keeping up with whether it be intentional or not I love this record for that reason Easily the Pop-Punk record of the year.

Yes, Enter Shikari at number two for me. Common Dreads was a fucking classic and this is a great follow up essentially tying with it’s predecessor for my affection. It’s such a solid commentary of politics, the human condition, and how we are connected to world around us it just makes my ears ooze man gravy.

You had to know this was coming after my review of the record, also the only good reason to put Enter Shikari at number 2. Everything I could say about this record has been spelled out in my review and I can’t really say much more other than, perfect record.

Well that was my top ten for 2012, thank you to all of you for making my year very good for my ears. I’ve already got my sights trained on great albums for next year with the upcoming releases of Gladiators full length (it’s incredible and I only heard the rough mixes) and For What it’s Worth.

I’ll see you all tomorrow with my top ten EPs/Splits of 2012.

Love,
Jacob P. Overholt

TL;DR Being as An Ocean, Giants At Large, Lions Lions, Forever Came Calling, No Bragging Rights, Handguns, Secret Plot to Destroy the Entire Universe, With the Punches, Enter Shikari, and This or the Apocalypse. In that order.

Tweet me your lists at @UG_Alliance or leave a reply in our comment box.

Remember that time I called these guys cock-teases? I officially resend that remark. Giants at Large have made good on the sonic promises they made with Cities and States, their split with Major league which was released this past winter. 

You wanna talk about good dudes, fine let’s talk. GAL might be some of the finest gentlemen I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in these past couple years working in Music. Hard working guys balancing passion and personal life very graciously and wrecking conceptions of what pop-punk currently is nation wide. They have an impressive resume from touring with Major League and the occasional rambunctious show with Transit. Business up front, with a party in the back and occasionally a party falling down the stairs. 

Bright sounds with melancholy undertones is the best way I can describe Doubt. It’s a passion fueled highjacking of your ear drums start to finish with little surprises sprinkled everywhere. It’s got sort of an emo-pop twinkle with the lead in track Timebomb before throwing back the curtains to expose it’s Drive-Thru Records inspired power-pop-punk-rock bombardment that is 135 Syosset, Villian, Doubt, and Devils. The title track is by far the knock out of this record blending catchy melodies and breathtaking harmonies. 

You know what, I un-resend my cock teasing comment because these Long Island troubadours are like the fucking Wizard of Oz. They have all these glossy tracks that are fast and melodic as well as reserved and emotionally jerking such as Sleep Sound and Let Me Down. But let me tell you, they have this thing they do at the most unexpected time which I equate to literally riffing through an amp that has been set on fire during a thunderstorm. Just as you’re talking to this massive floating Emerald Wizard head that is most of the record, this other sound lurks just behind the curtain in the corner of the room. You’re really digging whats going with what you’re experiencing but you wanna know what’s going with this curtain. So you throw back the curtain to this tremendous guitar tone and the rest of the record is screaming at you, “Pay no attention to the tone behind the curtain!” But it’s too late you’re rock hard and seeking so much more of what has suddenly pelted you’re ears so seductively. At about 1:59 into 135 Syosset and :32 into Spaghetti you get this incredible raw guitar tone thats often imitated in many records but rarely actually successfully achieved and this is one of the few instances it’s occurrence is the latter. It pops up subtly throughout the record but only in sprinklings and isn’t really prevalent outside these two tracks. Nerdgasm over.

My only major gripe of this record is that the tracks kind of rush through their sonic landscapes but don’t actually explore them due to the shortness of the tracks. Normally this is fine method of operations for many straight ahead punk acts but that has never actually felt like what Giants at Large is all about. GAL clearly shows a strong talent in song writing and structuring. It often it feels like their song ideas want to be shared but feel like they’re bothering people so they say quick a abbreviated take on what they are about and then quickly exit their spotlight. Its not that this is a bad approach at all because what we’ve been given is golden but more than often feels fleeting, you’re in and out of the experience faster than Mitt Romney with on a political view. If anything should be taken from this point it is that the songs have a certain delicacy, it’s something you have to take in while you’re in the moment, to which I also have to  commend because it leads to a more rewarding listening experience. Basically what I really want to say is, “GIVE ME MORE YAH PUNKS!!”

Love,
Jacob P. Overholt 

You can pick up Doubt at giantsatlarge.bandcamp.com

What did you think of Doubt? Let me know your thoughts here. 

Tweet at me, I’ll tweet back I promise. @UG_Alliance

propertyofzack:

PropertyOfZack is happy to be streaming a new Giants At Large song called “Devils.” The band’s new album, Doubt, will be released on August 2nd. Stream the brand new song and check out the album artwork below by clicking “Read More.”

Read More

My dudes in Giants at Large landed themselves on PropertyOfZack today with a stream of their new song Devils from their upcoming release, Doubt. I am so ridiculously stoked right now.

-Jake

savesthebrian:

lauramurrayphotography:

Did some shooting today for some Giants at Large album artwork! This can serve as a “sneak peek”, if you will.

Can’t wait to release this!

I’m pretty stoked on this, gonna a great album

-Jake

lauramurrayphotography:

Some un-edited footage from touring with Giants at Large and No Good News that I’m not using for anything else… but should still be seen anyway, bahah.

Brian’s laughter….seriously the funniest thing

-Jake

(via giantsatlarge)

Split - verb, split, splitting, noun, adjective

1. to divide into distinct parts or portions
2. a record made up of two or more artists’ material

The idea of the split came about during the days of vinyl as a way to release small amounts of material with the same amount of value as an EP or album. The idea was embraced in the fact that two artists could release music in the same package. Vinyl and cassettes suited the idea quite well in that both mediums had two playable sides giving the record a natural divide. The split lost it’s popularity when CDs became the standard of the industry taking away from it’s uniqueness and easy distinction of artists. The split lived on in obscurity till vinyl began making it’s comeback as a collectible medium rather than a standard format for music. With the return of vinyl brought back the beautiful idea of the split record.

From an industry stand point the split is brilliant. You can put two bands in single package, you can promote one thing and expose two bands. Production is split, distribution is spilt so you are only paying half the price of your standard EP. You can sell one thing and well I think you get it. 

Since it’s return we have seen some beautiful pairings, Thursday/Envy, La Dispute/Touché Amore, Balance and Composure/Tigers Jaw, Handguns/Forever Came Calling, Man Overboard/Transit, and now Major League/Giants at Large.

Let’s get right into it then shall we?

Cities - Major League

Major League kicks the party off on this split, unless you get the vinyl which I’m hoping will be released soon….

Their first track entitled Baltimore is pretty much standard ML doing full a blown assault on your audible senses. It’s catchy foot on the gas pop-punk, like pure cocaine mixed in that banned Four Loko you’ve been saving for that special “I don’t want to remember tonight” occasion. It’s got guest pipes from the Handguns lyrical delivery system Taylor Eby dropping some knowledge on yah then putting out some serious gnar on the background vocals for Nick Trask. There’s even a nice breakdown to wrap it up and to get your Hatebreed on to.

The one thing you should take away from this song, Nick Trask drives with his eyes closed. No this is not a metaphor for going through life without really paying attention to where you are going, I actually believe he drives with his eyes closed. So if you come across their blood red van on the highways of America I recommend that you stay a few lanes and car lengths away.

All jokes aside let’s talk about the real gem of their half of the split their second track, Philadelphia is. Lyrically it’s the kind of song you play for your girlfriend to set her uterus on fire, musically this song is much, much more. This song gets every vein of musical nerd boner throbbing, its just so wonderfully intricate and beautiful. Remind me to blow Brian Joyce and Matt Chila next time I see them as their collective performance on this song is to be applauded. Quality chord progressions, leads that sneak in and out throughout the chorus. The riffs are mesmerizing and I get lost in the song, they weave across notes like a wide receiver on the gridiron. Never straying from the melody the guitars remain driving almost to the point that the song is over and you’ve barely heard the rest of it. That’s not a bad thing it just means that the song has an incredible musical value to it which I find hard to locate among their contemporaries. This song has dynamics and excellent production value, in that someone actually spent time developing a tone for the instruments and all that jazz, as you’ll come to find I’m sucker for that shit. Can we just talk about the last 50 seconds of this song for a second, okay? Word, let’s hop to it then.

This last section of the song shows something that even fewer bands can demonstrate in a song, the ability to write just music. I know that’s confusing but let me explain real quick. There are no vocals for the last 50 seconds of the track, it’s just the instrumentalists. Typically I see a lot of bands simply writing music to put vocals to, and there is nothing wrong with that as I am very into lyrical content but the fact remains that many songs are written for lyrics. Do you see what I am getting at? A lot of bands say, and don’t play. Major League is playing here and in a big way, practically stripping away the pop label and just throwing down, dirty punk style. The guitars kick into a beautiful crunch, the drums stay relatively straight ahead rock steady it’s not a break down, this band is fucking jamming and I don’t think enough people can write like this anymore. It’s almost grungy, and yet so perfect.

So aside from their half being the most loudly mixed thing I have ever heard, literally its a least 30% louder than any other track on my iPhone, this is quality coke, I mean music. Sticks to the status quo of the band but expands the boundaries to a still comfortable distance for themselves. Okay enough about Major League let’s talk about the real stars of this split, yeah I said it. 

States - Giants at Large

Ladies and Gentleman and Ladies, I give you Giants at Large, the world’s biggest cock teases… 4:32? The fuck dudes? I have pisses longer than that. My Orgasms are longer. Why am I so pissed about this run time? Well simply for the fact that there’s a reason that both of their tracks start with “New”. This is not the same band that put out The best has yet to come, like a year ago or so. This band has grown a lot since then going from five members to four members, doing several tours and seeing much of the country. This half of the split has so much more “feel” than Major League’s.

There’s not much I can say about the music other than it’s fucking excellent. It’s well constructed verse, chorus structure. The songs are big and envelope you sonically and put you right in the middle of their collective minds. The first time I saw these dudes all I could think about was why aren’t they signed to Drive-thru and then I remembered that Drive Thru is dead as shit. With this split I think Drive-Thru should revive itself just to sign them that’s how good it is. New York is quick and dirty like sex with a frat guy which coincidently is the sort of subject matter of the song, the stupidity of college, non-tour life, and living a mundane life. It’s pretty beautiful to a guy stuck on the verge of hating nearly everything on this damn campus he’s stuck on. 

The second song reminds me a lot of old Armor for Sleep and coincidently has the same emotional content of it. The thing is that GAL sounds at home in both fast pop-punk to emotional charged rock. I could be retarded but that’s just how I feel it on this song. It’s got a lot of really great things going on here and this is where Giants really show their growth. Strong melody and dynamic shifts in intensity, it’s a beautiful song. It’s such a strong statement of being on the edge of sanity with the world and soldiering on. The boys have really delivered on this release. Stand aside Major League, I think Giants at Large have made their mark and plan on expanding it.

Also release the full length you’ve got up your sleeves so I can finally deal with this music chub I’ve been toting around for the past two weeks.

If you have not picked up this record, do so immediately you will not be disappointed, or wait for the vinyl like me.

http://citiesandstatessplit.bandcamp.com/

Love,

Jacob P. Overholt

giantsatlarge:

    We’ve been talking about doing this split with Major League for a long time. I think the idea was brought up last April when we were touring together, and I’m so excited it’s happening! For us, I think our songs on the split are a good bridge between our first EP and the full length that were still recording. We wanted a song that was fast and fun for the split, and New York is that song. When we wrote it we know this song wasn’t for the full length. New Mexico is a b-side from the full length. It was originally gonna be on it, and then we wrote another song last minute that took it’s place.

    Brian Joyce of Major League came up with the name Cities & States, their songs are cities, our songs are states. We decided to go with the names New York and New Mexico because they’re two states that are on the complete opposite sides of the country, kind of like these songs, completely opposite from one another. I feel like New York is a song that is in our comfort zone, a pop punk song, the state our band is based out of, that we know very well. New Mexico is us trying something a little different.

    I hope everyone enjoys the songs! The split goes on sale tomorrow, please pick it up. I am super proud of these songs and Major Leagues songs are really really good too. We’ll be releasing the first batch of tour dates very soon, see you all soon!

UPDATE! We’re releasing it at midnight tonight!

Commence Countdown. 

Remember that post about new music coming out? Here’s a teaser for the Giants at Large/Major League split which is coming out next tuesday!

Get the reblog train rolling

Love,
Jacob P. Overholt 

It’s a new year and that means an entire new year of new music. Here’s what you should look for this year.

Imora - Happily Never After - Release: Available now

Purchase on iTunes

Carousel Kings - A Slice of Heaven - Release: March 13th

“Well they can expect some older songs remixed and remastered as well as 5 brand new songs. The only way I can describe the newer songs is pop punk polarized. The poppy parts are poppier, and the heavy parts are heavier. haha. Also mention our signing to CI and what not, we gotta hype that.” - Brad Herr, Guitarist

Giants at Large and Major League - Cities and States - Release: February 1st

“You should expect awesomeness. Our side is a little different then what we’ve written in the past but still has the ‘Major League’ feel and Giants at Large wrote some of the best stuff I’ve ever heard, in my opinion. All around this split is a solid record.” Nick Trask, Vocalist

Giants at Large - Doubt - Release: Spring

“This CD’s more mature than our other releases. It reflects how we’ve grown as a band. The EP was recorded like 2 weeks into being a band, this one’s after over a year and a few tours, so we really grew together through everything.” - Brian Thomann, Bassist

Sudden Ascent - Untitled EP - Release TBA

Free the Empire - Untitled - Release: March-April

“We’re recording at Atrium Audio (in Lancaster), it’s a little more ‘poppy’ than what we have done before. It’s gonna be digitally released with limited pressings and it’s gonna have tits on the cover, I mean it won’t.” -Josh Nichols, Vocalist

One Year Later - The Sound of a Broken World - Release: March 13th

The band has announced that they have signed with CI Records.

A Seamless Getaway - Untitled EP - Release: Spring/Summer

“We are recording it now but it sounds fantastic” - Ben Shelly, Bassist

Shotgun No Blitz - Untitled - Release TBA

Knee Deep and Sinking - Something Seasonal - Release TBA

“I wouldn’t say it’s a concept album but each song has a theme tied back into one of the four seasons.” - Charles Bernard, Vocalist

The Show and Tells - Bird Pants: the Musical - Release: Late February 

“The album will consist of 11 tracks and will be sold digitally on Bandcamp and physical copies will be sold at shows.” - Dalton Rhone, Guitarist

Seek to Thrill - Forget Me Not - Release: February 4th

Release show info

Vegas Under Lights - EP - Release: Summer

“We’re going in march/April to record a brand new 6 song ep that we will offer in digital and hard copy . It’s 6 new songs no repeats from our debut 3 song.” - Josh Krizan, Guitarist

Make sure to keep an eye out for these guys at your local venues and records stores. This year is promising.

Also we liked to personally congratulate Carousel Kings and One Year Later on getting signed to CI Records. You deserve this dudes.

Love,
Jacob P. Overholt