I have been an Eisley fan since I heard “I Wasn’t Prepared” on the radio while I was in the car one day, many years ago. I am not a die-hard fan, but the DuPrees have some of the most undeniably beautiful voices I have ever heard. Interestingly, it was not because of Eisley that I heard about Christie DuPree, who had me thinking, “Wow, she really sounds like the girls from Eisley.” Needless to say, I was feeling foolish, but hooked! One thing that gives a little bit more of my heart to Merriment is that although the narrative and vocal styles are very similar, Merriment’s lyrics are a lot more straight forward and easier to relate to. We see this on Through the Rough with its 18 minutes of vague, but very personal and emotional lyrics sung honestly over gorgeous and simple melodies.  

“I Give Up” is a gorgeous introduction to Merriment’s overall sound. The vocal melody during the verses reminds me of a few songs from The Early November’s The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path. It’s very easy to relate to the sentiments in this song. We all have been in this situation at one point in time: “You can’t even bring yourself to say / that you don’t need me / though you think about me. / It’s been two years now / you still don’t love me / but some day you might. / Some day, yeah right”. I find it interesting that “I Give Up” is the first track on the EP, for reasons which I will expand upon later.

“Blessed Soul” has gorgeous and flowing vocals, reminding me of Eisley’s “Trolleywood”. This song goes from the somber and slightly bitter “I Give Up” and moves into the optimism characteristic of young love: “If you choose to let me love you / our love, our love would reach the sky. / No bounds, no bonds, no breaks, no trials. / Just you, just me, our love goes free”.

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I need to get something out of the way before I gush about how beautiful the sounds I just processed are.

When I recieved the press pack, I saw it included a file of lyrics for the seven inch. Upon opening it, I scrolled down a little and lo and behold was an exerpt from Night Gleam, a poem by Allen Ginsberg.

Congratulations, Montagna and your Mouth to Mouth, you’ve successfully won over my sensitivities before I’ve heard a single scrap of music you’ve produced.

My Ginsberg-loving nature aside, when listening to the title track of The Mouth to Mouth’s 7 inch Ultrapolyamorous, I realised this was not a song you listen to once or twice and decide upon your opinion solely from that. I find it intruiging that one song alone can be so diversified in genre and sound. One moment, it’s very much indie pop. The next, it’s basked in a glow of shoegaze ambience. The next, it’s thrust under the light of a psycho-electro Americana landscape.

It’s second track, “At Full Speed”, employs female vocal talent not unlike that of Isobel Campbell. This track is more easy going and accessible, akin to something Broken Social Scene may have wanted to come out with, but The Mouth to Mouth caught the worm and thought of it first. It still has that adorable character of mashing thirty songs into one, matching it quite perfectly with its predecessor.

Ultrapolyamorous, with it’s trippy alien noises and indecipherable vocals, makes for a thoroughly haunting listening experience. It’s individual, truly individual, which is a rarity among rarities. If this 7 inch is any inkling to Montagna and the The Mouth to Mouth’s new album, then fans and music lovers alike are in for quite the psychedelic ride.  

In the description on The End of America’s Bandcamp site, the opening line states that, “The End of America is not some grand political statement. Instead, it is an honest attempt between three friends to return music to its purest form.”

Their debut album, Steep Bay, opens with a song titled “Are You Lonely”. Its trembling melody is an abstract anxiety communicated via guitar. It insinuates the feeling of isolation which is, as we know, a very frightening feeling at first. The song is very frightened, it is very timid… it seems to prey upon the childlike uncertainty of the unknown and all the emotions it can trigger. This is a very strong connective element that the album carries throughout, though it fades as the tracks gradually grow with confidence.

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High expectations are often nasty little things. The pressure they possess is capable of messing so much with the minds of a band that as a result, in some cases we’re given a not so amazing release. As the vicious cycle continues, they have the ability to crumble your love of a band and hit you with a lengthy bout of disappointment. Nobody likes to be let down, and due to experience I generally ensure I don’t get carried away and have neutral expectations when it comes to upcoming releases. Things were a little different a few months back for the lead up to The Wonder Years’ Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing… with confidence, I’d never set my expectations so high.

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If there’s any popular trend in music, it’s that of the throwback. You’ve got The Kills channeling The Velvet Underground’s raucous sixties theme, Imelda May pulling influence from rockabilly greats such as Wanda Jackson and even Lady Gaga’s more-than-obvious mirroring of Bowie’s glory days.

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What I’ve loved about Circa Survive since the beginning of their incredible musical journey is that they continue to progress and change their sound without changing what makes them unique. But when Blue Sky Noise came out I was thinking that maybe they had changed a bit too much. Time will understandably influence any band’s sound. It took time, but Blue Sky Noise grew on me and now I love it. Still, I was both excited and nervous that The Appendage EP would take them even further from the sound of their early music.

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The Fighter is the story of boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his older brother Dicky (Christian Bale), during his troubled rise to fame.

Micky is a professional boxer, who comes from a working class Irish family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Micky is trained by his older brother Dicky, and is managed by his mother, Alice Ward (Melissa Leo).

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