Okay, so I don't normally do music blogs. This isn't called "Will and the Movies and Everything Else That He Feels He Has A Say In" after all. Why? Because (a) it's primarily about movies and (b) who would remember that URL? That's right. No one.
But I've been wanting to do this editorial for some time, and feel that, as an avid music lover as well as a movie lover, I owe it to my fellow man to introduce those who are less fortunate than I to these artists that have enriched my music world so heavily these last few years, and feel everyone needs to check these artists out in the very near future.
Biffy Clyro
Think Dave Grohl fronting Jethro Tull, getting rid of the flute player, and adding full choirs and orchestras to the mix...and cranking that shit to 11. You basically have Biffy Clyro.
Originating from Scottland, Biffy Clyro has released 5 albums, 23 singles, and one greatest hits album...and are now FINALLY getting some airtime in the States. Their album "Puzzle" was released in the US through Roadrunner Records (responsible for Nickelback, Slipknot, The Dresdan Dolls, etc) and sadly got no publicity, causing their new and slicker album "Only Revolutions" to be available in the UK and through digital download. But whether you're listening to the driving beats of the orhestra-and-choir heavy hitter "Living's A Problem 'Cause Everything Dies" or the Jackson Browne-like "Bubbles", it's hard to not give these guys their due. And when you hear their Ben Folds-infused rocker "Mountains", I dare you not to go looking for more.
Psychostick
Normally I wouldn't feature a comedy band in something like this, but there's something fresh about Psychostick. Ever wondered if comedy and heavy metal could fuse in harmony without Jack Black's dirty hands being apart of it? Look no further than Arizona-bred Psychostick.
Armed with both clever, witty, avante-garde humor and musical chops that would give Metallica a run for its money, Psychostick combines surrealistic humor and heavy metal passion to fuse music that you can headbang to while laughing at it. Whatever comes to mind, they will sing about it. The lead singer needs to take a shower...and sings about it in "Shower". Craving a taco? The song "Do You Want A Taco?" indulges you. Nothing in your refrigerator because of your lack of money? Psychostick feels your pain with "The Hunger Within". Psychostick has two albums out currently.
What's that? What to hear a band take themselves seriously while rocking your socks off? They do that too! Their side project Evacuate Chicago features 3 of the 5 members doing just that.
Deaf Pedestrians
Anyone who frequently watched "Beauty and the Geek" (all 8 of you) may have heard a little ditty called "Hail To The Geek", which was played on the show. You may not have known that it was Texas rockers Deaf Pedestrians who sang it.
Deaf Pedestrians have only 3 albums out currently, but have endured a complete metamorphosis in that short a time span. Their first two albums "Deaf Pedestrians" and "...And Other Distractions" were not very different. Literally. In fact, "...And Other Distractions" features 8 of the original 13 tracks from their eponymous first album. Cry foul? Go ahead. Many bands have done this in the past, and no one bitched then.
While the songs off these two albums were good, hard-rocking, and enjoyable (from the stalker boyfriend anthem "Jerry Girl" to the slick metal of "Listen Up"), it's their current album "We're All Gonna Die" that's the eye-opener. Leaving virtually all their old styles and hooks behind, Deaf Pedestrians grew up, ditching their bad-boy geekness for dark-humored cynicism fit for Starbucks drinkers if the Starbucks drinkers would stop listening to Death Cab For Cutie. Sure, it starts out hard enough with the driving bass-line of "Tick", but when it gets to the insect love ballad "Mrs. Mantis", the heartbreaking tale of numbness in "Dharma Morraine's Automatic Armor" and the what-the-fuck-are-they-trying-to-say-ness of "The Flight of the Boomer Lemmings", it's hard to think of these guys as the same band, much less compare them to any band you've ever heard before.
The Bollox
What happens when you give an Arizona punk band frontman a ticket to Ireland and tour of all the pubs? You get The Bollox, of course!
The brainchild of Authority Zero's Jason DeVore (if you haven't heard of Authority Zero, look them up too), The Bollox is best described simply as Celtic punk rock. Their eponymous debut album (that's right folks, only one album thus far) starts off with a jam session (entitled "Shenanigans") featuring a violin, acoustic guitar, accordion, and a spoon-player. That's right, I said spoon player. As soon as you think all punk cred has gone out the window, you get the intro to "The Brothers, The Bollox", a driving punk song about drinking, fighting, and breaking shit. What could be more Irish than that? Then you have "Mary Riley", a narrative song about a love-lorn man who will do anything to be with the woman he loves, is poignantly romantic...if you, of course can get passed the part where he murders seven men.
But the real jem is hardcore punk drinking song "Tura'Lu", which is infectious and driving to the point you can see Irish stock workers riverdancing with the Warped Tour crowd. If that's not unity, I don't know what is.
But once again, I am only one man, and this is my opinion.
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