owl city - the saltwater room

pretty good love song by the amazing owl city! when i first heard this song, i wasn't really into "girly" music, but it really grew on me eventually when i started getting into softer stuff. like i said before, i'm a sucker for boy/girl duets. it's too bad he doesn't play it live anymore. there are two versions of this song; see if you can catch the differences!

listen to the old version of "saltwater room"

listen to the less old version of "saltwater room"

four year strong - heroes get remembered, legends never die

this is my favorite four year strong song, and it's the only song i've ever crowd surfed to. i can't believe how popular they got. the first time i saw them live, they played for a crowd of 400. now, they're on a major label and opening for some pretty big acts. so, for those of you who haven't heard "rise or die trying," here's a little something.

watch the official music video for "heroes get remembered, legends never die"

chunk! no, captain chunk! - we r who we r & woe, is me - we r who we r

two decently established screamo bands covering the same pop song?  how different can they sound? honestly, not that different.

chunk! no, captain chunk!'s version is much simpler and less electronic.  i think theirs is a little heavier too, but the band's original material is more on the pop punk side, and i would even go as far as saying that this is their heaviest song.

woe, is me's version has a lot going on. it's pretty heavy, but it wouldn't be that bad to play on a dance floor because they keep it pretty dancy.  also, this track seems more "thick" than chunk!'s version because they have like no empty spaces in this song; there's always something going one without rest.

personally, i like chunk!'s version better, but i'm probably biased because they've been one of my favorite bands for about 2 or 3 years now. i'll talk about them more in the future.

listen to chunk!'s "we r who we r" on soundcloud

listen to "punk goes pop volume 4" in its entirety on soundcloud

listen to woe, is me's "we r who we r"

listen to the deluxe resissue of "number[s]" in its entirety

watch the official music video for "we r who we r"

lol i just heard the original for the first time.

blink-182 - what's my age again?

you knew i'd put a blink song up eventually, and you can definitely expect me to put them up a lot on wednesdays. this is my favorite song by them because it's so short and sweet. the chorus' chords are so generic, catchy, and straightforward, so it's undeniably catchy.

i used to love this song so much that the chorus would play for 30 seconds on my phone every time i received a text. it was annoying to those around me, but i enjoyed every nanosecond of it.

watch the music video for "what's my age again?"

yellowcard - sleep in snow

you've probably heard of yellowcard, so that's why i chose them for this week's tuesday song (which is a song off of an album in that release week). as an honorable mention, i think you should check out for fear itself and their new ep.

also, i always find it hard to recommend one song off a new album, especially off of an album that i haven't listened to much yet. i did listen through this album a few times, but i highly recommend listening to this one all the way through first.

as i was saying, you've probably heard of yellowcard before. "ocean avenue" used to be on the radio, but they've been making music for much longer than that, and they've tried lots of different sounds. personally, i think that they sound like most other alternative pop punk bands with violin as an added gimmick. although "southern air" doesn't sound extremely from other bands, i feel that it has a much more mature sound than their previous releases. the violin parts sound much more significant and emotional than their other songs too. "sleep in snow" is probably my favorite off this new album because i like the guitar parts in that song more than the others. i think it's slightly heavier and groovier than the others too.

listen to "sleep in snow"

listen to "southern air" from the beginning to end like an album should be listened to

texas in july - hook, line, & sinner

texas in july promises to make heavy music without sacrificing melody. this is an old favorite, and i mostly like it because of the short intro; it's kinda weird. also, anybody who knows me personally is well aware that i love puns.

this is the ep version of the song. i think that the guitar tone sounds a little more noisy in this version. a more obvious difference is alex's vocals; he screams in a much deeper voice nowadays.

watch the music video for "hook, line, & sinner"

reflections - good push

these guys need to be signed asap. honestly, i really can't say anything that will make you think that reflections is different from other djent bands, so you'll just have to listen for yourself. "good push" is my favorite because i think its their most melodic song. i love the breakdown because they use a really ambient-sounding lead part over the nasty rhythms.

go download their album; it's only $5

listen to "good push" on bandcamp

listen to "the fantasy effect" in its entirety and download it for only $5!!!111one