Tag Archives: atlanta

The Swear – “Gold and Hymns and Hell”

The Swear
Gold and Hymns and Hell
Atlanta, GA
(Self-released)

“They may not be hymns, but this EP is aggressive punk gold”

The Swear has long since been a staple in the Atlanta area and with the release of Gold and Hymns and Hell, three self-produced maxi-singles, it’s easy to see why. The new sound is raw and aggressive – and recorded mostly live, tying the group even closer to its punk roots.

From the first crunch of the guitars on the opening track “Sex and the Drugs” to the catchy pop-punk Continue reading →

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range – “Daylight”

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range
Daylight
Atlanta, GA
(Self-released)

“Songs of the South”

Stepping away from an incredibly successful band to release original solo material is no simple task.  John Driskell Hopkins, a founding member of the Zac Brown Band, makes it look easy. On Daylight, he branched away from Nashville toward the hills of North Carolina to collaborate with the award-winning bluegrass band Balsam Range. Hopkins’ vocals complement the use of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and Dobro played by BR to produce a Southern sound that is truly alive.  Continue reading →

Darling Norman – Phantom “Ahh” EP

Darling Norman
Phantom “Ahh” EP
Atlanta, GA
(Self-Released)

“Frenetic, fiery New Wave, with a dash of Strokes & Stones”

“Parkour” is a song that is built and performed to bring the house down. A flamethrower of a track, it opens this Atlanta band’s EP with great flair. The record is an epic look into a great new Southern indie/New Wave band that plays and writes with uncanny experimental flair and expression. Utterly creative, this group rocks it out like a squadron of fighters with plenty of fuel to burn.

“Love is a Bolt” is a fiery, frenzied track of punk and indie roots, full of ferocity and passion, complete with heavy reverb-drenched, fuzzy guitar licks, dazzling percussive grooves and brooding bass. Conjuring up feelings of teenage rebellion, love and heartbreak, this song delivers the message of how love can not only be so exciting and compelling, but leave you helpless as well. The accents are riveting much like the sounds of The Strokes (from the first LP) and early Green Day. The vocals are charismatic and full of life.

“Serious” uses many layers of guitars, blending in smoothly and cohesively with beautiful percussion, leading into powerful verses and choruses. The bass line is clearly defined, and as a quartet, Darling Norman pulls off a catchy and delightful style much like golden-era Rolling Stones. One can here in the “ooh’s and ahh’s” and lead vocals Jagger-like impressions.

With only three songs to listen to on this tiny EP, one will not go away feeling unsatisfied. The production values are high, as each song is glossy and audibly anthemic. This is such a treat to listen to when you have just 15 minutes of free time.

Mixed by Richard Salino at Chase Park, Athens, GA
Additional Engineering by Greg Partridge

www.darlingnorman.com

All The Locals – Self Titled

All The Locals
All The Locals
Atlanta, GA
(Self-Released)

“Soul food for the funk-pop mind”

On their debut release, the Atlanta-based sextet harnesses gregarious gaits with smooth croons and grafts in fluid bass lines with juicy tom fills that’ll send flappers flying. Gospel rhythms team up with call and response vocals to generate a vivacious, highly danceable, yet endearing sound.

The blend of sincere lyrical content and lush musicianship has the band boasting an echo that captures the cool cadences of Michael McDonald meets Maps & Atlases. Such traits are particularly evident on the EP’s median track, “Shade of Blue,” with the chorus asking, “Can you feel as it walks all over you? / ’Cause when the sun comes up I’ll be a different shade of blue.”

The EP’s production chimes as crisp as a Caribbean sunset, with each cracking snare complementing even the softest whispered lyric.

Pulling from the major threads of funk and pop, the release also splices in shoots of rock and world music to create a dynamic blanket of soulful, feng shui jams.

Mixed and Mastered by John Briglevich

Recorded at Sonica Studios

www.allthelocalsmusic.com

Spotlight on The FountNHead

GENRE: Hip-Hop & Rock Fusion
HOMETOWN: Atlanta, GA
ARTISTIC APPROACH: To fuse metal guitars with live hip-hop.
www.thefountnhead.com

Starting out as Gorillaz-style drawings in a comic strip even before learning their instruments, The FountNHead came to life via common hip-hop and rock influences. “I feel like when cultures combine, that’s when evolution occurs,” relates main rapper and singer Jewels. “Our goal is to create, and create freely.”  Continue reading →

Cicada Rhythm

Demo

Atlanta, GA

(Self-Released)

 

“Modern folk built on a deep foundation”

 

By name, modern American folk music sounds counterintuitive. Our musicians and storytellers have played this music for centuries and the sounds, stories, and voices often only define years long forgotten. With their record Demo, however, Cicada Rhythm proves that folk music is a living, breathing, pliable creation. In other words, this duo asserts that folk is best revered by building high from this deep foundation, by adding more while using less.

Using only upright bass, acoustic guitar, and the dual male/female vocals of Andrea DeMarcus and David Kirslis, Demo is a sparse, hushed EP rife with strong narratives. “Wait ’Til Mornin’” opens the EP as a waltz where DeMarcus sings of a relationship gone wrong over the low moan of her bass and Kirslis’ lightly picked guitar. “Mouse Song” is lighter, with its rollicking guitar lines, but it’s “Do Not Destroy” which shines the most. Here, DeMarcus now draws a bow on her bass and Kirslis finds a rich, full guitar line and vocal to lead. He sings of a modern world swallowing the past, leaving nothing of our history behind. Cicada Rhythm proves this narrative doesn’t reflect their music – they have created modern folk music while destroying nothing.

Produced by Cicada Rhythm

Mixed by David Kirslis

Mastered by Dave Roth at Landfill Studios

www.cicadarhythm.org

 

Drivin’ n’ Cryin’

“Southern boys pay tribute to their roots with first of four EPs”

Songs From The Laundromat

Atlanta, GA

(Redeye)

Songs From The Laundromat is the first of four EPs that Kevn Kinney and company have promised over a year’s time through Redeye. It has been designated as the rock EP, and rightly so. The 25-year old band replaced Mac Carter with a hot young guitarist, Sadler Vaden, former singer and guitarist for the South Carolina band Leslie, and the entire group’s sound turned up the heat. Three strong rock songs, a super short punk rant, and a beautiful Southern rocker give Songs a certain feel, place, and time that a full-length just couldn’t pull off.

Continue reading →

The Howling Tongues

A Southern Rock & Roll Revivalist Movement

Bred from a state whose dive bars are haunted by decades of movement-starting genres, Atlanta-based The Howling Tongues have been born into the ingenious – yet highly stigmatized – world of Southern music, and they’re not exactly psyched.

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Don de Leaumont

“Folk songs contrived from dreams and played with sincerity”

An Old Leg Sign

Atlanta, GA

(Self-released)

Don de Leaumont oozes sincerity. Those who know him as a journalist know his passion for brutal honesty and those who know him from his folk songs know him as a down-to-earth songwriter, unconcerned with grandiose dreams of wiping his butt with hundred dollar bills. Instead, he imagines a life twisted by loneliness and impacted by poverty. The first track on An Old Leg Sign dives into the idea that a wall built around an affluent community in Atlanta may function to keep its owners’ arrogance in as opposed to the street-level citizens out. Don admits his songs stay surface level, but describes them as very dear to him with themes ranging from a contrived tale of a cowboy loving a Federale who brings him everything he needs – except the jailhouse key – to a song inspired by the great, if not sarcastic, mind of Benjamin Franklin advising all to share that which comes from deep within, in “Fart Proudly.”

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The Deadfields

“Sunny, pop-infused country that relies on honesty”

Dance In The Sun

Atlanta, GA

(Self-released)

Georgia natives The Deadfields are a band of musicians determined to create music that exists without pretense. Dance In The Sun is the band’s debut release and is a folksy, country-tinged album, an album that fits perfectly within contemporary music’s current folk revival. The record is energetic with strong chord progressions and sunny, if somewhat formulaic, compositions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU7I5ExuQfM&feature=player_embedded

Continue reading →