Yes, yes I know I’m a bit late in the game. But here are my Top 10 Releases of 2011 (better late than never eh?)
10. Death Cab For Cutie - Codes And Keys
9. Hands On The Stereo - Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
8. Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
7. Heartwell - On Science, On Strings
6. Holy City Zoo - (EP)
5. Captive - Headtrap EP
4. Meet Pause - Cluster Cascade
3. Morning… - Breakfast Forever
2. Those Mockingbids - Fa Sol La
1. Pilots In Orbit - Did You Grow Up Too Fast
Track list
1. Dr. Nightmare (Intro)
2. Many Must Have It
3. The Eastern Lean
4. Bad Ocean Poems
5. Anywhere (Swell Version)
6. Just Us
7. MIDItropolis
8. Aquarium Living
9. Settlers
10. Battlefly VS. The Janitor
11. Red Room
12. Nosebleed
13. You Can Act Like A Man!
When our friends in Morning… announced that their full-length album will be titled Breakfast Forever, we couldn’t help but nod in agreement with how well the title works with the band. Since the album’s release in October of 2011, I’ve found it to be the only thing that remains static on my MP3 player.
What I can appreciate about Morning… is how their sound is constantly evolving and changing and one can even hear that on the songs that reside on the same release. For example, the band has some light sounding tunes on Breakfast Forever, such as the newly renovated, “Anywhere (Swell Version)” paired with tracks such as the upbeat and catchy “Eastern Lean,” “Aquarium Living,” and “Nosebleed.” The band toyed with putting some instrumental jams on the disc, which didn’t come as such a surprise to me. In fact, Breakfast Forever opens up with an instrumental piece titled “Dr. Nightmare.” Much like the album in its entirety, “Dr. Nightmare” is mellow but when the track explodes, it is one hell of a release.
The band revived two crowd favorites in particular, one of these numbers has never been released on an EP and the other one graced the track-listing of the band’s Dream It Out, Dream It Out. At most of Morning…’s shows there is always someone who request “Red Room.” After some time, the band finally recorded the dancey jam and released it. Along with the veteran track, the band’s infamous love song, “Anywhere” was revamped and now features a much sweeter feel, which does make it a swell version of the ballad. By far one of the diverse sounding cuts on Breakfast Forever is “You Can Act Like A Man,” which takes the band’s signature sound and throws a Modest Mouse spin on it. If you’re not craving a shot of whiskey by the end of this song then there is a problem.
For all intents and purposes, Breakfast Forever is a collection of songs that although different in nature, works for the band. I’m pretty excited to see what the guys of Morning… are going to come up with next and where their sound will go in the future.
Stream Breakfast Forever here.
You know what bothers me, 21+ shows. I understand that bars want to make money, and yes the consumption for alcohol is 21. But why not just charge a slightly higher door price? What happened to the local community that was for the kids who spend their weekends going from show to show finding the next cool band to show off to their friends. It’s sad to see the local music scene in the area turn into another money hungry group of venues and promoters. I used to spend my weekends at shows, but now with the abundance of 21+ shows and less all ages shows I’m finding myself staying in more. Bands require people to spread the word about their band. How can this happen if all they’re playing to is a drunk crowd who is likely to not remember the band’s name the next morning. Promoters expect bands to sell tickets, but what if they’re a relatively young band with a youthful following? What impression does that give the youngsters who jam out in their parents’ basement, perform at high school dances and have talent that can make seasoned musicians look like amateurs. What about them? With less all ages shows in the area talented bands with a young following aren’t being acknowledged. And you know what, it’s a shame.
VFWs have closed their doors, Elks Lodges cease to exist and basement shows are like a unicorn in the tall grass. It’s depressing to see the Jersey community take a turn for the worse. It seemed that there was going to be a comeback, apparently not. I will clap it up to the Tiny Giants group for working hard to restore the scene that was once thriving, but the decline in all ages shows isn’t helping the cause.
Roz here.
It may seem to some that The Dive is dead. No my dear friends, The Dive is not dead. We’re just resting, waiting for the moment to take the leap again. Right now both Ellie and myself are incredibly busy with other projects, now don’t get me wrong it isn’t like we don’t love The Dive, because we do- we just have a lot going on right now. Our little Ellie is growing up and finally graduating high school and getting ready for college. I’m busy working at another publication right now and then I’m starting school again in the spring. We’ve been going to a bunch of shows since Ellie turned 18, but because of all the factors mentioned above we’ve been busy.
So what does this all mean for The Dive? Well we’ve been on hiatus for a while now (if you haven’t noticed) but we’re looking to make a come back. When? We don’t know yet. It could be tomorrow or it could be two months from now. We’ve been talking about what we want to do with The Dive and where we want to go with it. When we come back there will be changes and we think you’ll like them.
Keep on supporting the local talent in your area, you know we are.
Until next time,
-Roz of The Dive.
NJ’s Those Mockingbirds have released their new EP Fa Sol La today, and it’s available for free on their website. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty awesome deal for me. Go check it out! They will also be playing at The Bowery Electric TONIGHT. You should go to it :]
Here’s the video for The Nico Blues’ “Sinking Or Standing” from their 8/20/11 show at Maxwells!
Okay so this is a bit late, but better late then never eh?
So August 20th of 2011 LE [thank you Reed Adler and Evan Campbell for coming up with this] and I went on an adventure! Well kinda. The two of us met up around 6:30pm or so and walked to the bus stop to make our way down to Hoboken to see four bands, who are near and dear to us, perform at Maxwells. It was almost like deja vu seeing how we were there the week prior as well. We got on the Lightrail, got off at 9th street and began trekking ourselves over to the venue. We got there a bit late but we still didn’t miss any of the bands.
Adapted opened up the night with some tunes from their upcoming EP, which should be out sometime soon [or at least that’s what we’re hoping for]. Mixing the old with the new, the quintet threw in fan favorite “Blackened Walls” into their set. Speaking of new, Adpated was also selling the single off of their upcoming release, and with the purchase of said single, you’d receive a dollar off of the EP. The relatively young alternative, post-rock with a classically modern twist band closed their set out with a chilling number titled “Winter,” that was chill producing. With their sultry, funky sound Adapted is certainly a contender in the vast music scene here in NJ. Check out Adapted on Reverbnation!
Keeping the funk going, Pilots In Orbit were the next band to grace the stage with their ambient, indie pop. The quartet from Union NJ, captivated the crowd with their energetic, yet mellow stage presence. Sal Montalvo’s vocals compared to the rest of the band’s energy provided a tranquilizing contrast, which brought the band’s sound full circle. The energy pouring off of bassist, Andy Rivera could be felt throughout the venue. During their set, Pilots In Orbit preformed a brand new track with a tentative title in place. These five guys have been recording and hopefully we’ll get some tunage by them soon. But if you’re impatient like I am, you can always download their demo over on bandcamp.
New music was in abundance that night! The Nico Blues wooed the audience with some little ditties off of their upcoming release, which has been leaving me in antici……….pation since the show. Stand out tracks in their set had were “Melodic Death Jam,” “Sinking Or Standing,” and “I Could Be Your Pet.” The alternative Tiny Giants closed out their set with “Unprofessional,” off of their debut album Blame The Boredom, Blame The Basements, which you can download for free off of the band’s website. The quartet have really made a splash in both NYC, NJ and the surrounding area. From being featured in The Deli, to having their video for “Living Proof” air on MTVu there’s no stopping The Nico Blues.
It was roughly after 11pm when Morning… took their place on the stage. The five piece busted out some new material off of their new album,Breakfast Forever, another highly anticipated release. And this time, I’ll save you the corny Rocky Horror reference, though it would be appropriate seeing how their drummer, George Serr, dressed in drag [and really does make a lovely lady]. Morning… kicked started their set on an instrumental note, leading into “Aquarium Living” off of the upcoming album. Other tunes that the band performed off of Breakfast Forever were “Many Must Have It,” “Battlefly VS. The Janitor,” “Nosebleed” “The Eastern Lean,” “Bad Ocean Poems,” “The Red Room” [which was featured on one of the band’s early demos], and a re-recorded version of “Anywhere,” which was released on the band’s debut EP, Dream It Out, Dream It Out. Mixing old with the new, Morning… also played “Business,” “Fight Off Your Demons,” “Move Your Head” and “Even Odd Smiles Are In This Season.” In their well over an hour set, the crowd was singing, dancing and just sending overall good vibes out, it was truly a wonderful experience that I wish could’ve lasted forever. But alas, like all good things their set had to come to an end. Morning… “planned’ two encores, but was taken a back when fans requested one final song. After a huddle, the five guys decided on “MIDItropolis,” also off of Breakfast Forever. Need a quick fix before Breakfast Forever comes out? Download their demo here!
Check out some photos from the show, which are ordered by performance. [All photos by The Dive’s own Roz Smith]
Check out the show’s flyer made by none other than The Dive’s Ellie!
I’ve been saying this for a while, New Brunswick’s music scene keeps getting sicker and sicker. This is the case with Captive. Their latest five track EP Headtrap is bringing post rock/punk back with a bang. The release starts off with Senescence, that features hypnotizing guitar riffs, explosive drum beats all over vocals that sent me straight back into the 90’s and the early 00’s. The following cut is a mostly instrumental piece titled Event Horizon that begins with slower, darker melodies only to be picked up and tossed around until the vocals come in at the end. The third song on Headtrap, is the title track of the release. One thing I can make note of about Captive, no matter how slow/soft a song starts it won’t stay that way for long. The duo gives the listener just enough time relax until they pick up the pace once more. The final two tracks on Headtrap, It Shouldn’t Be That Red and Loss Cycle seem to be fueled with more anger than the others cuts. The album leaves the listener with a rush of energy that should be taken out at the next show in the form of extreme wreckage.
You can stream Headtrap here!
The night of Aug. 11 proved to be a good one. I had the pleasure of seeing Those Mockingbirds, who were part of the Pier Sessions in Hoboken, on Aug. 11. The quintet played some new songs off of their highly anticipated release, Fa Sol La, which will be out Sept. 13. Their high energy, hook filled sets never cease to amaze me. As far as stand out songs of the evening “Don’t Stray,” “Coast To Coast,” which is the band’s single off the upcoming release, and of course fan favorite, “Honest? Honest” really ended the night on a high note. Those Mockingbirds also performed a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” which shows of how the band’s vocals can blend together to form wonderful harmonies. 
