[TuneOTD] Steal The Scenery - MONSTER

Artist: Steal The Scenery

Genre: Dub/Pop/Rock

Location: San Diego, California. US

Label Type: Indie

Record Label: Emeral Grand Records

Website: http://www.stealthescenery.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/stealthescenery

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stealthescenery

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/stealthescenery/photos

From San Diego, California come Steal The Scenery with their new single, ‘Monster’. This is the first track from their sophomore album ‘The Art of Breaking Hearts’, the follow up to 2010’s debut album, ‘All Or Nothing’.

The single demonstrates the diverse array of musical tastes that have influenced the band and their musical style. You can pick-up the inspirations from a pop-punk background as well as sways from a more dance scene. The tune is certainly creative and catchy with separate input from all angles of the band complimenting the soft pop vocals of lead singer, Bobby Frausto. This is also in addition to a hard-hitting beat incorporating disco-dubstep splodges and switch-ups.

From a purely lyrical point of view, the Monster in this aspect is referred to as being that past relationship partner who is regarded as somewhat a manipulator at times, whilst also attaining that attributes of that loving, caring kind. The twist with this song is that it is written from the perspective of the monster, rather than the expected perspective of the analyser and ex-partner of the monster.  

Check ‘Monster’ out a lyrical video for the tune below:

Matthew Evans

[TuneOTD] Zebrahead - RICKY BOBBY

Artist: Zebrahead
Genre: Punk/Pop Punk/Rap
Location: La Habra, California, USA
Label Type: Major
Record Labels: Sony, SPV, Icon, EMI, MFZB Records
Website: http://www.zebrahead.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/zebrahead
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Zebrahead
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/zebrahead

This week marks a historic period of time, it sees the return of mother-fucking Zebrahead, bitch!

The fast pace, up-beat, new single, ‘Ricky Bobby’ delivers passion and energy in abundance. It gives you exactly what you expect from a ZH song, expert dual vocals from Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis bouncing off each other superbly, a wonderful exhibition of modern day punk rock!

The enthusiasm of the band is certainly not lacking either and the humble bunch are back to entertain their adoring fans, placing a huge emphasis on rockin’ out, having fun and partying.

The track begins in a blaze of glory with an electric intro. Furthermore the boys include characteristic aggressive rap vocals and brilliant harmonies. However, the highlights on this track are undoubtedly the lead riffs and Greg Bergdorf’s magnificent guitar solo.

The title of the song is influenced by a fictional character in the US film ‘Talladega Night: Ballad of Ricky Bobby’, and just like Ricky Bobby, this song certainly is a winner!

Ricky Bobby is the first single to be released off their upcoming album, ‘Get Nice’ which is due for release in late July/early August (depending on where you are in the world). The album is also ceremonial one for the boys as it’s their 10^th studio album! In addition, a video is currently being shot for the album title track, ‘Get Nice’, this should be available by late June/early July.

Matthew Evans

[ArtistOTD] The Relay Company

Artist: The Relay Company
Genre: Electronica/Pop/Rock

Location: San Jose, California, USA
Label Type: Unsigned

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheRelayCompany

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/therelaycompany

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therelaycompany

The Relay Co. were originally formed in 2006 under the name ‘The Day’ by brothers Adam and Stephen Mariucci who write and record all their songs. Lead guitarist Jonathan Fernandez and drummer “Skinny” Jake Pooser have since joined the band, but the drummer slot was previously been filled by Lachlan Franckx for the bands 1^st album, whilst Ryan Rosendin has also played guitar for the band in the past. TRC are a pop rock group with great vocals and lots of talent and over the years have performed with the likes of Gym Class Heroes, OK Go, and on 25^th March will be supporting Good Charlotte. They do all their own recordings and produce their own music videos independently whilst continuing to exhibit supreme effort and determination as they aim to pursue a successful career in the music industry. The band continually strive to incorporate fresh and new ideas into their sound as well as continuing to aspire in being a positive influence for the youth of today with their catchy guitar riffs solid drum playing. 

August 2009 saw the release of their self-titled debut album, consisting of just 8 tracks. The song ‘Run’ is one which begins as a soft song, but overtime becomes an upbeat Pop song, while ‘Little White Lie’ and ‘I’ve Been Screaming’ are also highlights of the record. The latter uses a lot of piano to create the melodies, while the vocals of lead singer, Adam Mariucci supply catchy lyrics to match the bouncy beats.

The album titled ‘X’ was the bands next release in December 2010. Of the 9 tracks, ‘Marco Polo’ and ‘Love Me Hate Me’ are the two which possess official videos whilst there is an unofficial video for ‘Remedy (La Da Da)’. However, ‘Out Of Time’ is highly regarded by some to be the best track on the record, integrating a great blend of heavy guitars and hard dance-like synth lines. This particular song demonstrates more than most, the likeness of the vocals to pop boy bands, in particular, N Sync.  

In February 2011, the band released a cover of the hit single by American pop star, Ke$ha titled ‘We R Who We R’. Their version stays pretty close to the original but through simply replicating the beat with live instruments they have done an incredible job and have turned a truly awful song into a bearable and even enjoyable one!

The band strike a very similar sound to that of Fall Out Boy, especially the sound created from their 2008 album ‘Folie à Deux’. There seems to be an increasingly large number of bands within this particular scene, and they’ll have to do a lot to stand out as a pop rock band. Nevertheless, TRC seem to be heading in the right direction but there’s still a lot of work to be done for one of the US’s up and coming pop rock bands! 

To give you a sample of TRC, here is the video for 'Marco Polo':

Matthew Evans