MIXTAPE MONDAY: Steampunk and Just Straight Punk

steampunk & just straight punk
for all your october fancies //

+listen

the haunting by set it off // honey, this mirror isn't big enough for the two of us by my chemical romance // lullaby by the cure // the ballad of mona lisa by panic! at the disco // control by halsey // sarcasm by get scared // mama by my chemical romance // ava adore by the smashing pumpkins // eyelids by pvris

//Angelia//

REVIEW: Captain Kidd//Good Life EP - The Kidds Are Alright

4/5 Stars

Wave to watch: Smoke & Mirrors

Genre: Indie Pop
Goes great with: Foster the People, Passion Pit, Phoenix

With not only a packed touring schedule, but also an ever-growing fanbase, Captain Kidd have managed to compose a quartet of psychedelic, yet danceable, jams on the independently-released EP, Good Life. After an appearance at this year's Firefly Music Festival, which draws the likes of indie heavyweights (Cage the Elephant, The Killers) and Sir Paul McCartney himself, the Columbus by way of Cleveland five-piece are kicking their 20-something gears into motion by hypnotizing the college town that has been so integral in paving their past - and more current - successes.

After 2014's eponymous EP made waves around the Midwest, the band teased at new material with "Good Life", a single released earlier this year. It's the summer song that somehow ends up getting played at all times of the year, even when the neon lights have all burnt out. Phoenix-esque offbeat synths hum under carefree lyrics ("It's the good life/And it doesn't mean anything") and tapping drums.

These new songs are a little less eclectic of a bunch, but are even more raw and refined. The entrancing, tripping "Summer Dress" is a touch more seductive while purring, "nice to meet you/what's your sign".

The band via Facebook

"Dreamachine" is the softest, floating in the gossamer spaces around it. The breeziness is reminiscent of MGMT's more tender side, providing a backdrop for every 2 a.m. fast drive past busy sidewalks.

With its New York funk rock feel, "Smoke & Mirrors" carries the EP upon its concise, but mighty, shoulders. Behind more buzzing synths, trendy guitars impel the party to go on and the floor to bounce under the weight of dripping college kids.

The band may be saying, "let's take it slow", but with Good Life, they're cruising coolly down the Ohio freeways once again.

Good Life is now available for listen on Spotify, YouTube & SoundCloud

//Angelia//

REVIEW: Halsey//Badlands - God Damn Right, You Should Be Scared of Her

3.5/5 Stars

Waves to Watch: Castle, New Americana

Genre: Dreamy pop

Goes great with: Lorde, The xx, Marina and the Diamonds 

Right now, the likes of Lorde, Lana Del Rey and Melanie Martinez are ushering in a new model for the female pop star. And although Ashley Frangipane, aka Halsey, is just weeks shy of her 21st birthday, she has catapulted herself - with lyrical and vocal prowess in tow - to head lioness on her LP debut, Badlands (Capitol Records). Through dreamy ambiances and heavy beats, Badlands is a movie, an event, a feeling.

Halsey has a soothing voice, possessed by an uneven vibrato, most times haunting, like on the Lana-like "Drive". However, Badlands is less of a fatalist anthem than any of Del Rey's past releases (Ultraviolence, Born To Die..."), even when she's likening her and her lover to immortals running through the streets ("Young God").

Songs like "Hold Me Down" - laden with raging drums and noisy pops - and standout "Castle" cut the reins on her sweeping sweetness. On the latter, Halsey rambunctiously declares "Sick of all these people talking / Sick of all this noise" over industrial tripping chimes, which can be seen as either a middle finger to the suits who run her major label or a standalone feminist anthem.

Frangipane is already outspoken, not requiring any time to wade into her commentary. The album's finale, a retake on one of her EP's (Room 93) tracks, "Ghost", is mirrored by a video painting a glowing affair between two girls. It's not a trendy, oversexualized lesbian shot of scenes, but an opportunity for deeper interpretation, the singer has stated. In "Ghost"'s verses, Halsey is rambling, her syncopated singing on the verge of rapping. "Coming Down" is another nod to Room 93, this time with a desolate, religious cadence reflective of her first single and deluxe edition feature, "Hurricane".

Halsey has put such a strong compilation of lyrics about lost loves and martyrdom that it is nearly impossible to fathom that she is only a few years removed from her teenage dream years. She's edgy and challenging of the purity pushed onto young girls in "Haunting" ('Cause I came here so that you'd come for me). She's sexy without being a hypersexual doll, spinning on stage with glittering lights washing her out.

Fans of Halsey have embraced the young candy-colored singer with a certain kind of familiarity and sisterhood. They have made their own art forms out of what is perhaps the most sorrowful but elegant line on the album: "You were red / You liked me because I was blue / You touched me and I suddenly was a lilac sky / And you decided that purple just wasn't for you".

Badlands is colorful, yes, but it is also black and white. "Roman Holiday" flows almost as if Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn had fallen in love to a soundtrack splashed with poppier, sunnier synths. "Control" is a steampunk, grittier gray, while being a firm example of her adoption of poetic iambic pentameter and impeccable phrasing. A grandfather clock chimes behind her suppleness as she laments "I couldn't stand the person inside me / I turned all the mirrors around".

"New Americana" is gold, a  glittering Roaring Twenties ambiance saturated with 2015 references ("High on legal marijuana / Raised on Biggie and Nirvana"). The song is for 20-somethings with no seeming places to go, but Halsey has some - if not every - place to go.

On Badlands, there's room for something bigger. Within a few months, Halsey has the capacity to be the new queen, the new challenger of old ideas. Halsey is about to explode, coloring the landscape as a lilac sky.

Badlands is available now on Capitol Records. A 16-song deluxe version is also available.

//Angelia//

MIXTAPE MONDAY: Coloring Books

coloring books
songs with colors in the title //

+listen

that green gentleman by panic! at the disco // back to black by amy winehouse // red light indicates doors are secure by arctic monkeys // pink moon by nick drake // my blue heaven by taking back sunday // nights in white satin by the moody blues // crimson and clover by joan jett & the blackhearts // the (shipped) gold standard by fall out boy // goodbye yellow brick road by elton john

//Angelia//

MIXTAPE MONDAY: The Best of Warped '15

the best of warped '15
because warped isn't just pop punk and circle pits any more

+listen

white noise by pvris // sunday funday by new beat fund // the divine zero by pierce the veil // free love by mod sun // elliot by false puppet // pretense by knuckle puck // k.e.n.n.e.t.h.s by the kenneths // but you won't love a ghost by emarosa // gum by moose blood // track 5 by '68

//Angelia//

MIXTAPE MONDAY: 90's Kids Only

90's kids only
the decade's legendary alt hits


+listen


iris by the goo goo dolls //  sappy by nirvana // losing my religion by r.e.m. // girls & boys by blur // creep by radiohead // what's my age again? by blink-182 // 1979 by the smashing pumpkins // buddy holly by weezer // californication by red hot chili peppers // champagne supernova by oasis // when i come around by green day

//Angelia//

The Blues Were Nowhere to Be Found: Against Me! Deliver with a Message

Florida's punk rock outfit, Against Me!, has had anything but a regular story, particularly marked by singer guitarist Laura Jane Grace's transition to a female in 2012. With this came shifty eyes throughout the industry, along with doubts that the band could continue their ascent without faltering. Since then, the fourpiece has released Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble), a story of a transgender prostitute - obviously rooted in Grace's own emotions - and embarked on tours to support. On Sunday, Against Me!, with pals frnkiero andthe cellabration and Annie Girl and the Flight, rocked the always sweaty House of Blues in Cleveland to a crowd who were looking for maybe a little more than just a good show.

After about an hour long wait, San Francisco psychedelics Annie Girl and the Flight took the stage. Through a set of strongly placed weak moans by lead singer, "Annie Girl", and ethereal whines that entranced the audience as they zoomed around the room, the fourpiece seemed to be a band of misfits - with their guitarist being considerably older than the others - thrown into some sort of drug-induced dream (in nearly the best way possible of course). "Swans" and their finale, "Bodies", wreaked havoc on the sound system as the crowd swayed and bobbed, still probably anticipating the two following bands instead of paying complete attention to the current act. It seemed that Annie Girl and her rag tag flight might be more suitable for background noise than music that can command any room. 

As Annie Girl and the Flight left the stage, the room began to buzz and sweat for who came next, as it seemed that some fans were only there to see Frank Iero (ex-My Chemical Romance), a tattooed emo icon of course. The band's crew was quick with their set-up and the Cellabration took the stage to Iero's voice whining about evil and mundaneness (along with screams from isolated groups of adolescent girls). As the frontman walked onstage with his hood up and coffee in hand, the guitars wailed into their 2014 debut Stomachaches' (Staples Records) opener, "All I Want Nothing". It is evident that he spent most of his music career not as a flashy singer of a prolific, theatrical band like his ex-bandmate Gerard Way, but as the heart, as his passionate grit never faltered throughout his entire set. The front of house booth was constantly adjusting sound levels to produce the most flawless of the three bands' delivery. 

Fan favorites, "Weighted" and "Joyriding" - the latter lacking the blood that doused its accompanying video - led the crowd to rush to the stage and jump as if they were watching the headliner. Iero said few words, and let the sobs and roaring of his and guitarist Evan Nestor's instruments do the talking, namely in his ode and true story about his wife ("She's the Prettiest Girl at the Party, and She Can Prove It with a Solid Hook"). And thus, as the last of the drum hits of "Joyriding" rang out to the back of the club, the aforementioned groups of girls left the pit, as they nudged each other and grinned, briskly remembering that they had just seen THE Frank Iero.

Now, the crowd bustled as Against Me! prepared to take the stage. Some begged the question of which songs off of their six studio albums they would bring out tonight. Others discussed Grace's prized Rickenbacker six-string, which now sat pristine on its stand. But as soon as the four took the stage to "Unconditional Love", everyone now did the same: scream. Dressed in all black, Against Me! played as if nothing had ever changed the band, but at this point, it is fair to say that nothing ever did. Even the boys in the collared shirts danced next to the girls in spiked denim vests and pink mohawks as they yelled back "They just see a faggot" - a word that, if yelled in any other setting, would be spit upon - as Grace strummed through "Transgender Dysphoria Blues". 

The song has become an anthem for transgender youth, a handful of who stood in the crowd, and Laura Jane Grace a transgender icon. To be one of the only members of any rock band to confront gender dysphoria and transition, especially in a scene that was once homophobic, is still a difficult thing to do. Grace is a commanding beauty, even as her long, reddish hair covered her twinkling eyes for most of the set. During a break, she triumphantly reminded the crowd of the Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriages nationwide that had been announced just two days before. The crowd cheered, naturally. 

The strongest of songs, which made the crowd continue their night-long moshing and the security to bob their heads, was "Thrash Unreal", the poppier song of 2006's New Wave. Even through her veil of hair, Grace smiled the whole time, exchanging silent banter with James Bowman, who has been the guitarist since 2001, and newcomer Inge Johansson. She is happy and shows it. 

"Thrash Unreal" was quickly followed with two more crowd favorites, "Black Me Out" and "True Trans Rebel Soul", before the fourpiece exits the stage to breathe in the moment as the crowd chanted "One more song! One more song!". Grace suits up with an acoustic to cover The Replacements' "Androgynous", which she had recently performed as part of Miley Cyrus's Hippie Foundation Backyard Sessions along with Joan Jett. And as Against Me! all hovered around Atom Willard's drum kit for the final few notes, gratitude for the music and the message rang even louder than any amp could ever supply. 

Laura Jane Grace and the rest of Against Me! are still one of punk's most punctuated statements, and as the sweaty pit thinned out and the last drinks were served, the inescapable feeling that comes with the most earnest music still was in everyone's bones.

//Angelia//

If you are struggling with your gender identity or aren't sure if you are transgender or not, feel free to reach out to the Transgender National Hotline: (877)-565-8860