The Behrend Beacon I 8
New band on the rise:
Rosematter
Bv Rachel Thomas
contrihininfi writer
ivlsl)2s<‘' psll.edu
From the small town of York. Penn.
Rosematter is a band to watch out for on the
alternative music scene. They recently finished
recording their debut full length album, entitled
Shooter's donna Choke, for Lobster Records, a
label that has helped launch the careers of well
known bands such as Yellowcard and Over It.
Rosematter first caught the Lobster Records'
attention in the summer of 2006 while they
were louring in California. When asking the
band how they felt when they got signed they
replied. "Getting signed is a dream for any seri
ous hand. So of course we were all extremely
excited, but at the same time it all felt so surre
al Because this is what we have worked so hard
for and it is finally happening." The label's
owner turned up at one of Rosematter's shows
and the rest was history. They recorded their
debut album with producer Chris Badami. who
has worked with artists such as The Early
November and The Starting Line. The band
members were very excited to work with
Badami because of his experience, and they felt
it would be a good combination.
The band members include Katie Kolos on
lead vocals. Matt 80/ievieh on the lead guitar,
Lucas Corish on guitar and backup vocals. Alex
80/.ievich on bass and Jake Beierschmitt on
percussion
The hand has been together since around
2004. but the lineup has changed a great deal
since then. Kolos said that she has been singing
lor them Tor about 2 and a half years now . Matt
and Alex are tw ins and they knew Corish from
mutual friends. They knew Beierschmitt
through the local scene here in York, and are
currently searching for a new bassist. Kolos, the
lead singer is also the sister of Ellen Kolos, a
junior at Penn State Behrend.
With Kolos on vocals, they have a harmony
most bands lack. Their songs are both creative,
and catchy. According It) Absolutepunk.net.
"Rosematter Combines the pop saavy of Fall
Out Boy. the energy of No Doubt and the sin
cerity of Jimmy F.at World." Although they have
been compared to several other bands within
their same genre, they are striving to he set apart
and make a name on their own.
Towards the beginning of February
Rosematler play ed in Erie with some local tal-
cm and the Audition. In addition to playing with
the Audition, they have also played with bands
such ;ts Yellow card. Punchline. Boys Like
Girls. Paramore. Self Against City. An Angle.
The AKA's. The Lined Ones and others. The
hand said in regards to their favorite place to
play that. "There are a few venues in Florida
that we tune a great time at. but honestly we
love playing shows with friends. Our motto is
good music, good people equal good times.
Tour dates are currently consist of a summer
tour from July I to Aug. s to promote their new
album.
My all-time top seven
albums
By Ryan R Gallagher
7. Less Than Jake - Hello
Rockview
6. Elliott Smith - From a
Basement on the Hill
5. Weezer- Pinkerton
4. Death Cab for Cutie - You
Can Play These Songs With
Chords
3. Pink Floyd -
Here
« 2. Bruce Springsteen - Born to
Run
| 1. The Get Up Kids - Eudora
Weekl
Name the other half of this famous songwriting team: Johnny
Marr and ?
A. Kurt Cobain
B.
Mike Joyce
Wish You Were
musical trivia for the Behrend
Beacon
Answer to last week's question: I). Dizzy Gillespie
Top 20 saddest songs of all time
By Chris LaFuria
20. The Beatles “Yesterday” """
17. James Blunt “Goodbye My Lover”
16. Brad Paisley & Alison Kraus “Whiskey Lullabye”
15. REM “Everybody Hurts”
14. Neil Young “Needle and the Damage Done”
13. Ben Folds Five “Brick”
12. Bob Dylan “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”
11. Bruce Springsteen “The River”
10. Guns N Roses “Patience”
9. Jimmy Eat World “Hear You Me”
8. Elton John “Candle in the Wind”
7. Coldplay “Fix You”
6. Eric Clapton “Tears in Heaven”
5. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody”
4. Willie Nelson “Always on My Mind”
3. The Verve “The Drugs Don’t Work”
2. Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
1. Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah”
Upcoming album releases I
April 8
Colin Meloy - Colin Meloy Sings Live!
April 15
Everclear - The Vegas Years
Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vols. 11l &
IV: Air & Earth
April 22
Blind Melon - For My Friends
Elvis Costello - Momofuku vinyl/down-
load only
Flight Of The Conchords - Flight Of The
Conchords
Goldfinger - Hello Destiny
April 29
The Roots - Rising Down
May 5
Iron Maiden - Somewhere Back In Time
May 11
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Jakob Dylan - Seeing Things
C. Morrissey
D. Bono
Best-of
t \
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Quote of the week:
‘Some of the media have been a
little bit bruised, thinking this was
;o try to beat the critics. I don’t
care about that. The point was,
review it after the fans have it.
What's wrong with that? This is
;he way they used to do it. Bands
didn't use to promote an album for
F our months before a record came
-Jack White of the Raconteurs’
on their new album Consolers of
he Lonelw
TNTRIBITED PHOTO
Recent album reviews in brief:
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
We were only ever as far gone as
- Adam Duritz
you can go."
Saturday Night’s and Sunday
Mornings is more than an appro
priate title for this “recovery”
album by the always-surprising
Counting Crows. The album is
split between two sides: Saturday
Nights and Sunday Mornings
(pretty obvious). While the first
half was produced to resemble a
grungier Saturday night vibe, and
a delicate Sunday morning feel
for the latter, one could make the
argument that some songs from
either side make a true representa
tion of both.
Beginning with "1492," the
opener for the album, it is appar
ent that the Crows are fired up
from the start. Sounding like a
Pearl Jam mosh-er with overall
better vocals theoretically, the
band, in its entirety, rocks harder
than they have in years. When the
song originally rolled through my
ears, without hesitation 1 felt
trapped on stage between the
screaming guitars and the famous
tone of Duritz's vocals and knew
that 1 was in for a trip. While one
could argue that it doesn’t sound
at all like the Crows, one could
also make the argument that they
have successfully branded them
selves as experts in their own
world, giving us infinite varia
tions in their sound that has been
around for about 15 years.
That being just one small taste
of their first album in about five
years, the next song that smacked
me in the face due to its brilliance
‘When I dream of
By Erik Holman
staff writer
clhso2 l )(P psu.edu
Chris Cornell - Billie Jean
Last week when I wrote a
review on Fall Out Boy covering
Michael Jackson's "Beat It." I ini
tially thought the MJ covers were
over for a while. However, this is
not the case as former
Soundgarden/Audioslave front
man, Chris Cornell, has remade
Jackson's #1 hit “Billie Jean."
What FOB and Cornell's covers
both have in common is they're
taken from Michael Jackson's
Grammy-winning “Thriller." in
which the album was celebrated
for its 25th Anniversary in 2007.
Considering this year may be the
26th, they both are about a year
late on the festivity. But Cornell
has done something different to
exceed the expectations of fans
who have known Cornel! to
scream out of his way on "Rusty
Cage”- turning the up-tempo
"Billie Jean" into a somber
acoustic number. On Jackson’s
original version. “Billie Jean" can
be interpreted as something to
dance to. One could hear this song
playing at a party or club and boo
gie. or attempt Jackson's signature
Moonwalk. as Jackson explains
his escapade with a lover-turned
stalker who claims he is "the one."
To set the record straight.
Cornell's version is NOTHING
like Jackson’s. He begins the tune
very calmly as he explains his
story of a woman he met on the
dance floor. “She told me her
name was Billie Jean, as she
caused a scene." croons Cornell.
As he gets closer to the chorus, the
song, including his voice, starts to
build up with thunderous momen
tum. Loud without sounding clut
tered. Cornell actually did a great
job turning a Michael Jackson
by Ryan P. Gallagher & Chris LaFuria
Michaelango". A classic repre
sentation of what the Crows strive
to be and ultimately succeed in.
this track has the potential to
enhance anyone's perspective on
music. Delicate guitars, classical
piano riffs trickling around the
keys and, once again. Durit/'s
vocals creeping deep into our
minds with real lyrics, telling real
life stories- this track could be my
favorite, but what do I know 1 at
this point? It always takes at least
a week of listening to an album to
grasp its true meaning, and to
classify the better songs over the
weaker. But with this masterpiece
it might take months and months
until one could say that there is no
better or worse song- this album
truly rocks in every way.
The album is overly outstand
ing in so many ways that it would
bore you, the reader, for me to
analyze every single song.
Simple solution: pick the album
up immediately if you haven’t
already. Duritz gives us his best
through his words and his keys,
while guitarist Dave Bryson con
tinues to make the famous strings
of his guitar heard throughout the
album. 1 was never an enormous
Crows fan, however, I never dis
liked the group. This album has
made me do more than realize the
musical superiority of this aging
band and makes me gracious that
pop/rock (if you want to call it
that) music isn’t entirely dead.
Grade: A - Gallagher
BUM KEYS
AI*MK*aUKASK
Guitarist/lead vocalist Dan
Auerbach and drummer Patrick
Carney have proven to the world
Recent song reviews
CONTRIUBTED PHOTO
Friday, April 4, 2008
song into something very unique.
If no one knew any better (perhaps
one who was born after 2005). one
might think it's Cornell's song.
Who knew a catchy tune could be
remade into something so
"bluesy"? I give props to Cornell,
but Jackson's version is still the
greatest
Usher f/ Young Jeezy - Love in
this Club
Screaming ladies and envious
gentlemen, for those who were
waiting for Usher's four-year hia
tus to end. allow this piece to tell
you he's "baaaaack". Picking up
successfully where he left off. he
keeps fans on their toes by “leak
ing" a single for his upcoming
album "Make Love in this Club."
Produced by Polow da Don.
Usher's next confession is on a
track he claims he's doing "for the
ladies." Over the echoing synthe
sized beat, he states he wants to
"make love in the club" with a
stunning lady he had just met
w'hile engaging on the dance floor.
Usher then sings "if the girl he's
seeing has friends, they could chill
with his friends."
On the whole. Usher spits his
game throughout the track as
Young Jee/.v raps how he'll satisfy
his lover. "I'll be like your medi
cine. you'll take every dose of
me/Il’s goin' down on Aisle 3. I'll
bag you like some groceries."
growls Jeezy. Usher subsequently
professes he could make magic
with his acquaintance right in the
middle of the floor as he pledges.
“I don't care who's watching." As
passionate and "romantic" as this
song may sound, one could only
hope the girl Usher was assem
bling affection w ith. isn't someone
else's girlfriend or mate.
Otherwise, there might be a
"Confession Part III" in the mak
ing. It's still a hot club beat never
theless.
that it only takes two to make a hit
record. Their fifth album Attack
and Release, hit stores this past
week with the same garage
rock/psychedelic fusion that has
carried them since their debut.
This time around, the duo has
teamed up with producer/musi
cian Brian Burton, alias Danger
Mouse (Gnarls Barkley. Gorilla/)
to record their album. Danger
Mouse was scheduled to team up
with the late Ike Turner, but. after
Turner's death last year, the three
joined to produce The Black Keys
most bluesey/low-fi arrangement
to date.
In recent history, many inexpe
rienced. color-blind fans drew
comparisons to The While
Stripes. As this may seem some
what accurate. The Black Keys
have more of a raw. straight
badass, heavily distorted guitar
and, with Attack and Release, add
killer choir-esque back-up vocals,
xylophone and tremolo that
strong-arms guitarists from the
past.
The Akron duo teams up with
fellow Ohioan Jessica Lea
Mayfield, who has recently
played with alternative bluegrass
phenoms The Avett Brothers, in
"Things Ain't Like They Used to
Be,” a song about an older lover.
With The Black Keys, many
music fans will appreciate their
garage-band sound and their
dynamite guitars. With this band,
curiosity is excuse enough to go
out and purchase this album. As
Auerbach says about his own
band “Pat and 1 just click. We
walk in to a groove quite easily.
It's kind of hard to describe."
In the band’s website bio.
Auerbach claims that Attack and
Release is his favorite album to
date. "I'm more pleased with the
sound of this record than any
we've ever made," he says.
"Rather than mask things in, like,
a low-fi fog. we can make things
sound big and f***ed up at the
same time."
Grade: A- - LaFuria