Over the last couple of months, No, This Is Patrick! has been gearing up to release their debut album, prefacing what is to come with three new singles.
First up is “Good Times.” The song’s intro is filled with memorable guitar riffs and intriguing drumming that will draw the listener in at the beginning. The vocals quickly grabbed my attention as soon as they came in, bringing catchy melodies and beautiful harmonies throughout the song’s first verse. The band’s prominent pop-punk and easycore influences are evident throughout, shown through the lively instrumentals and layers upon layers of vocals.
The second of these three singles is “Shedding Light.” It shares some similarities with the previous single, opening with some catchy lead guitars that stand out in the song’s mix and bringing many fantastic vocal hooks, especially in its chorus. While the verses are a bit softer, the huge chorus is where the instruments return in full force, accompanying those vocal performances. However, the song contrasts a bit sonically from “Good Times,” and from the specific subgenre of pop-punk in general. It incorporates influences of emo and post-hardcore, most notably in the bridge, which switches from the chorus’ more melodic approach to a breakdown. Overall, it is a very strong single that seems to break away from some of the traditional formulas of pop-punk.
“Empty” is the most recent single, and brings a huge burst of energy right from the start. It immediately feels like it would be a strong opener for the band’s upcoming release. The band’s pop-punk and easycore influences are once again on display through some impressive instrumentation, with chugging guitar and bass riffs and swift drum fills accompanying some unforgettable vocal melodies that reside in the choruses. The guitar solo highlighted in the bridge is another strong point of the song, preceding the final return of that chorus before the song comes to an end.
In Conclusion…
Each of these three singles showcases different aspects of the band’s music, and they all show a lot of promise for what else is coming next.
All three singles are available now. Listen to them here:
Keep Your Secrets has gained quite a lot of traction online by putting their own spin on some popular songs. Following up these covers, the band has begun to drop some original material, and are entering the fall of 2021 with their debut EP, “Let’s Face It, We’re Lost.”
“One More Swing” quickly displays the band’s pop-punk influences through memorable riffs and dynamic drums, which bring plenty of energy to the track, and the melodies in the chorus are just as catchy as the instrumentals that kick off the song and EP. “Stop: Rewind” contains the same elements, as well as one of the catchiest choruses found on the whole EP, and the easycore influences really get to shine through on this track. That genre is also incorporated into track three, “23.” While the vocals and instrumentals start off on a softer note, more instruments join in about a minute into the song, bringing back the elements of those two genres. From this point onwards in the track, the vocals really stand out and deliver an incredible performance.
Second to last is “Cleveland Is For Lovers,” which is led primarily by the vocals and acoustic guitar. The chorus is a major highlight of the track, as it brings a heartfelt vocal performance to the table. “Friendly Little Games” concludes this EP, and this track shows off the band’s sound extremely well, from the riffs and melodies in the intro and verses to the slightly heavier riffs in the post-choruses.
In Conclusion…
“Let’s Face It, We’re Lost” combines pieces of pop-punk, easycore, emo, and alternative rock to create a strong debut EP overall.
Recommended Tracks: One More Swing, Stop: Rewind
“Let’s Face It, We’re Lost” is available now. Listen to the EP here:
Since their inception in 2019, Only The Strong has dropped several singles and built up a hefty discography. All of these tracks have led up to the release of their much-anticipated debut EP, titled “Fractured.”
The EP starts with “Vacant,” a more midtempo track in comparison to the tracks that follow it up. Simple guitar and piano parts lead the beginning of the track, but the pre-chorus is where the vocals and more of the instrumentals become much more prominent in the mix, as the song prepares to launch into a catchy chorus with emotive vocals. The drums add a lot of energy to the second verse, and the vocals deliver very strong performances during that section and the bridge before the final chorus. “Burn” also brings a lot of memorability to the table, from the drumbeats and riffs starting it off to the melodies found all throughout. It shows off the talent that each member of the band has and offers up some very impressive performances.
Just like the previous track, “Sinking Ships” opens with irresistible guitar riffs. The vocals put on another very impressive performance all throughout the track, especially during the bridge. Speaking of which, that section incorporates some more aggressive vocals, highlighting the band’s heavier influences prior to the key change and final chorus. This track also has some interesting imagery in the lyrics, with lines like “So, save me, pull me out from underneath the shipwreck / I’m stranded in my head” and “‘Cause I’m a sinking ship and you are the life raft that’s pulling me right back” being strong examples of this.
“Picking The Pieces” contains some similar elements, from the fantastic vocals and hints of heaviness that are thrown in here and there throughout, and the memorable guitar riffs and major-key composition consistently bring the band’s pop-punk and easycore influences to the forefront. This is another track that stands out lyrically, as clever lines like “Just take a deep breath, count to three while you count me out” and “I’m getting tired of saying what I want to say, a liar is all you’ll ever be to me” perfectly explain the frustration towards toxic people. “Hollow Eyes” wraps the EP up, beginning with simple guitar licks and harmonies before the tempo swiftly speeds up, with energetic instrumentals driving the rest of the track. This one contains yet another stellar chorus, surrounded by the return of the harsher vocals and instrumentals in the second verse.
In Conclusion…
With eloquent lyrics, phenomenal performances, and unforgettable composition, “Fractured” is a well-crafted EP from Only The Strong that was certainly worth the wait.
Recommended Tracks: Burn, Picking Up The Pieces
“Fractured” is available now. Listen to the EP here:
Back in 2020, Guardrail released their excellent EP “Yikes.” To follow it up, the band have surprised fans with a brand new single, titled “Social Meteor.”
The song opens up with memorable riffs quickly that show the pop-punk & easycore influences found within the band’s music. Alongside the fast-paced drums and bass, the guitars bring copious amounts of energy to the track. The vocals deliver a captivating performance once they come in, and the harmonies only add onto that. That chorus brings instrumentals as catchy as the melodies, and those instrumentals prepare for the bridge, which cycles back and forth between melodic vocals with more beautiful harmonies and shouted vocals that convey the frustration displayed in the song’s lyrics. Lyrically, the song discusses how people rely on popularity and fame on social media for validation and satisfaction, and great examples of this are lines like “Once the validation fades, type up another escapade / Is this outer space or cyberspace?” and “Congratulations on all your success, you’re Mr. Popularity / I never knew you had so many friends / Illusions of prosperity.”
In Conclusion…
With “Social Meteor,” Guardrail have returned with a remarkable track that sparks an important conversation through clever lyrics and appealing composition.
“Social Meteor” is available now. Listen to the track here:
You recently released your new single “Picking Up The Pieces” – first of all, what is that track about and how does the title correlate with the lyrical theme?
Mason (vocals): In a nutshell, it’s about leaving abusive or toxic relationships. I reached a point in my life where I realized there was a lot of people I deeply cared about who did not feel the same way. How they were treating me was way worse than I realized until I took a step back and was like, “This is not okay, they can’t do this kind of stuff.” I had two options – I felt like I could either just kick, punch, scream and be upset they’re not going to care, because they didn’t care already, or I could just say whatever I want to say and be like, “This is how I feel, this is why I’m done with this,” and just walk away and take back the parts of me that I let them take. So, “Picking Up The Pieces” relates to that feeling after any traumatic experience or any painful relationship, whether it be a romantic relationship, a family relationship, a friendship, or anything like that. After that, you have to kind of take stock and rebuild, and that’s how it relates to what the song’s about.
How would you describe the writing process for this track? Was it similar or different in comparison to writing your previous few singles?
Mason: It was similar. So, I used to be an acoustic musician, and I would sing and rap because I was trying to be Twenty One Pilots and it just wasn’t the move. I would write these songs on acoustic and when I started Only The Strong, I showed them my acoustic songs and we made them full band songs. Over time we had band members leave and had new ones join, and when Kyle (guitarist) joined, we rewrote all the guitar, which meant we ended up rewriting all the lyrics. The only song that wasn’t written acoustically was “Wake Up Call” and that was because Kyle showed up to practice one day, messed around and wrote a riff. He recorded it, went home the next day, and sent me a two-minute cut of a rough draft for a song. Usually, one of us will be writing something on acoustic guitar, write vocals to it, and then write it on electric guitar and change how the vocal rhythm works. I find it’s really easy to write on acoustic guitar because when you’re trying to write on electric guitar, there’s not as much rhythm because you get rhythm from bass and drums. With acoustic guitar, your strumming is how the rhythm is, versus electric guitar, where it kind of gets lost in the distortion.
How would you compare this single to the others in regards to the music and your overall sound? Would you say any of your influences have changed over the past couple of years since releasing your debut single?
Mason: Our first song that we put out… I remember being so proud of it. My band mates always hate me saying this, but I hate this song now, because it’s not what we are and what we sound like. It is the odd song out and it feels like we put it out because we needed a song out, not because it was a representation of our sound. At the time, it was, but over the years, we’ve definitely changed a ton. I feel like when we put out ‘Wake Up Call,” it had an easycore, pop-punk and emo vibe, “Sinking Ships” had that easycore and pop-punk vibe, but then we had Kyle’s harder bridge where he screams. I was like, “This fits us.” I love pop-punk and metal. That’s my thing, I listen to mostly those genres. I really enjoy rap, I really enjoy alternative music, but pop-punk and metal are the genres I always come back to. Before, I would be listening to State Champs, Neck Deep, and Crown The Empire, and now I’m getting super into Hot Mulligan, The Home Team, Dayseeker and Spiritbox. My influences have changed so much over the years. Kane (drums) was like “Blink-182 is the best” when we first started playing, but that’s because he just loves Travis Barker. We’ve shown each other songs over the years and his influences have changed. It’s cool because I really like the heavier side of pop-punk, Kane really likes the brighter side of pop-punk – that Blink-182 kind of style – and Kyle doesn’t listen to pop-punk. Kyle is a born and bred metal guitarist. We’re actually in a metal band together. He came over when we parted ways with our lead guitarist. It was not a good fit, and I was going to be kicking him out, but he just left. So, I called Kyle and was like, “we need a guitarist, can you come play?” and he was like “yeah, sure.” Kyle is a metal guitarist, through and through – he just loves to shred and is an amazing guitarist. When he first came in, he’d be writing these crazy solos with three-part harmonies. I’m like “hey, that’s cool, but it sounds so metal. I’m okay with that, but the rhythm guitar is not doing what you’re doing.” So, over the years, he’s listened to more and more pop-punk. Every once in awhile he’ll be like, “Have you heard of this band?” and I haven’t and am like, “How are you showing me pop-punk? I’ve shown you every pop-punk song you know!” So, yeah, we’ve definitely changed a lot over the years. I’m super excited to get our EP out because I feel like it will be the most accurate representation of who we are. “You Vs. Me” was not a good setting for who we are. I just feel like this EP that we’re putting out really encapsulates what we do and what we go for.
“Picking Up The Pieces” gives listeners a first glance at your new material. What made you guys choose that particular track, out of all your newer songs, to be the first one released? Is it representative of the EP you’ve been working on?
Mason: Yes, in a way. The funny thing is, “Picking Up The Pieces” is the first release of the EP in the sense that we are now telling people we have an EP that we’re putting out, but it’s now the second song on the EP because “Sinking Ships” was meant to be the first song on the EP and it just didn’t happen that way. We released “Sinking Ships” because we were trying to get it out for Valentine’s Day in 2020 and we had a show with Set It Off, Capstan, and Luna Coast on February 15th. It went great, but a month later, everything went to hell and COVID happened. All we needed to do was run into the studio for two weeks and get it done, but COVID really just threw a wrench in everything. “Sinking Ships” is still going to be on the EP, but “Picking Up The Pieces” is the song that we’re saying is the first song off our EP, even though “Sinking Ships” will be on it. I feel like those two songs set a really good precedent because “Picking Up The Pieces” is our most pop-punk song, and “Sinking Ships” is easycore, emo, and pop-punk. The rest of the songs on the EP are very much down those lanes, so I feel like it’s a very good way to set the stage.
What can you reveal about this release, and what can people expect from the new material?
Mason: I can say we have a new song coming soon. I was uploading the song last night to our distributor. It’s coming very soon. Our original plan was to put a song out every month, and then we just had a snag that stopped us from doing that this month, but that just gives you an idea of how soon the next song will be coming. The new material is very “us” but it’s also very different. We have a song on there that’s my favorite one on there. I love it so much, I’ve shown it to a couple people, and they’re like “This is so good! I did not expect that!” At the same time, if you heard it, you’d be like, “that’s Only The Strong – that makes sense!” It was the second to last song we wrote for the EP, and I feel like everything came together so well. We sat down, I wrote an opening riff, Kyle changed the chords and strumming pattern, the verse came together in an hour, the chorus just flowed through all of us… the whole thing just came out. We played it back afterwards, and I was like, “I have nothing I want to change. I love this. This is exactly what the song was meant to be.” We have another song where, every time I hear it, I think about how fun it would be to see live and how fun it would be to play live. On our new EP, there are going to be songs that people will think are different, but also not, at the same time. There are some heavier parts and some lighter parts, I finally get to do vocal runs in some of the songs and that excites me. That’s kind of what people can expect.
What are you currently working on and what does Only The Strong have planned for the remainder of 2021?
Mason: We’re currently working on getting these songs out. We have some new songs that we’re working on as well. We started our band in 2019, and we have four songs out now, which – on average – is about a song and a third a year, which is way too little. We’ve had a lot of member changes and a lot of other issues come up, but now, we’ve got things locked down to a science. For now, we’re working on new songs, trying to figure out when we can play shows again. Our hope is to get another EP ready for release by the end of winter, so the end of the year or early next year at the latest. Music videos – we have so many songs where we want to do music videos, but we also can’t because of restrictions and COVID. We’re kind of limited with what we can do and trying to figure that out. Quarantine music videos are something we’ve been looking into. I think we’re considering doing some sort of performance video for one of our upcoming releases. We have two songs on the EP where I’m like, “I know what should go here. That’s the music video we have to do!” and anything else feels like it wouldn’t be as impactful. We’re also considering doing a stream video and then the official music video later, which I think might be what we end up doing.
Dissonants Magazine 