Tag Archives: teens

music

Hot Chelle Rae- A review

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by Alex Rivera

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Hot Chelle Rae is an up-and-coming band who, by the looks of their video “I Like To Dance,” is a carbon-copy of everybody else. The video looks like Cobra Starship’s “Good Girls Gone Bad,” the song reminds me of something off of Metro Station’s CD, and the video in it’s entirety makes me think that it was produced by Lady Gaga. Even the lead singer has a slight resemblance to Gabe Saporta.

All the video is is a bunch of people jumping around in weird costumes and masks, a bunch of TVs, a girl that get’s in trouble for hosting the party at her job at an electronic store, oversized glow sticks, and barely any footage of the band except for the lead singer. This video basically has every aspect of every other video made by other bands, completely ripping off their styles and music.

The band also makes frequent use of the name of their album “Lovesick Electric” throughout the song and even in the effects, aka the big words “LOVESICK ELECTRIC’ popping out at you during every bridge of the song. It gets ridiculous after a while and you can tell that there is a complete and total lack of individuality throughout the entire song.

This band is completely unoriginal. The cover art reminds me of Boys Like Girls’ debut album, and to me it seems like yet another bunch of scene kids trying to make it big in the industry. However, being signed to a label and trying to be like another band rather than setting yourself apart from everyone else in the scene isn’t going to get you very far.

artists, cast members, music, youth media

Motion City Soundtrack is Back!

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by Alex Rivera

Four words: MOTION. CITY. IS. BACK. Their first single off of the new album “My Dinosaur Life” is “Disappear,” and upbeat and catchy song that’s fast-paced and will get you ready to dance. The chorus is completely sing-along worthy, the transitions are smooth and clear, and the song will undoubtedly be stuck in your head for days.

The video tells the story of a curious and explorative young boy that lives in the woods and who has an imaginary friend, as shown by a panda mask that he has and wears. One night, as he’s talking to his “friend,” he hears a noise outside, and when he looks out the window, he sees a disfigured faceless man that starts jerking around. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty creepy, and throughout the video he pops up EVERYWHERE. The boy and his family then leave their home and run through the woods trying to escape the horror of this freakishly disturbing, yet random, guy. During their escape, the boy loses his family, thus “disappearing” from their sight.

The director of the video made good use of panning back and forth from the action of the story to the band and its members, also efficiently using effects to highlight the use of guitar and especially the drum cymbals. The effects add to the intensity of the song and the overall feeling of the video.

“Disappear” is an amazing song and Motion City Soundtrack did an amazing job with it. I can’t wait to hear the rest of “My Dinosaur Life,” which is already gaining rave reviews as a whole. If you like “Disappear” then definitely check out the rest of “My Dinosaur Life,” which is in stores now. According to what everyone else is saying, you won’t be disappointed.

artists, cast members, music, youth media

Vampire Weekend “Contra” Review

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Vampire Weekend- “Contra”

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Alex Rivera

Vampire Weekend returns with their sophomore album, the highly-anticipated “Contra.” When the first single “Horchata” hit the Internet, people couldn’t stop talking about it, and when their second single “Cousins” was released a month ago, people still couldn’t stop talking about it. After listening to “Contra,” I agree that the album lived up to all of the hype.

The album starts with the band’s first single off of the record, “Horchata,” a catchy song that will leave you asking what exactly Horchata is while humming the chorus as you’re walking to your class. The second track, “White Sky,” is equally as catchy with the band’s great use of drumbeats throughout the entire song. “Holiday,” the third song, instantly reminded me of “A-Punk,” the first single off of the band’s first album. The intros of both songs sounded exactly the same, and while that’s usually a bad thing, the remainder of the song makes up for the redundancy in the beginning.

“California English” reminded me of some fast-paced tropical song, especially through the drumbeats yet again, which is one of the things that I love about this band. “Taxi Cab” is more of a slow-paced song with the infusion of piano and violin and the use of witty lyrics that perfectly downplay how upbeat the majority of the album is. “Run” picks up with the fast pace right where it left off and has an extremely percussion-heavy and catchy chorus.

“Cousins,” the second single, opens with guitar and extremely fast drums, but it makes the song that much better! The chorus is awesome, the “hidden” bass lines that are thrown in complement the overall sound, and it’s just a happy song. “Giving Up the Gun” keeps the fast pace going, especially with the faster guitar strumming, which makes your head nod with the beat a little bit. “Diplomat’s Son” still keeps things a little upbeat but not as much as the rest of the album. As always, the use of drums is evident and the lyrics are witty.  The final track “I Think UR A Contra” is the slowest on the whole album, but what better way to end a record that’s been 99.9 percent fast with snare and bass drums beating away every single song? This song has the beautiful use of the piano in it, which softens it up and lightens the mood.

Overall, “Contra” is an amazing CD. I loved every single song, and I can finally see what everyone was talking about. Vampire Weekend did an amazing job on this, and there’s no doubt in the world that “Contra” will revolutionize the indie scene as well as win the hearts of Vampire Weekend’s fans new and old