Show Review

A long time ago, Justin Powell was in a band called “Get Well Soon” that you would’ve found written up by yours truly on this site. Needless to say, this melodic pop stint was over before we knew it, and Powell’s melodic hardcore pop project A Thorn For Every Heart gained more and more of a fanbase. With a home on Kickball Records, Powell and company recently recorded their new album, which has been waited on for some time now.

In the sweltering pit of Chain Reaction, kids packed tight to the front, even closer than they had been standing for My American Heart, excitedly. I couldn’t say I was anything but curious to see the band, and as they played jams from their latest, “Things Aren’t So Beautiful Now,” I found myself getting more and more excited as the set progressed. Melodic, blasting pop totaled about 7 songs including 2 new songs which they have on their PureVolume page. Judging by the crowd’s reaction to the ATFEH set, I think it’s safe to say we will see big things from this band in 2006.

It took a few months for “Between The Heart And The Synapse,” the debut album from Boston’s The Receiving End Of Sirens, to sink in. It’s teeth are deep now, and time and time again I still continually find myself coming back to the wonderful album. Filled with tranquil, ambient electronics, the album boasts the triple vocal threat of Brendan Brown, Casey Crescenzo, and Alex Bars, and is filled with consistently catchy, driving beats, melodies, tempo-changes, and guitars.

I’ve always been impressed with TREOS’ live performance, but tonight I was completely blown away. As the three singers battled off songs back and forth, I was once again reminded of the raw talent the band encapsulates. Their sound is undeniably complex and thickly layered, but TREOS have no problems balancing it all—set highlights included the pulsating rhythms of “War Of All Against All”; my personal favorite was “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” the closer. Still, the eruption of the crowd during the infectious “Planning A Prison Break” revealed that, though their fans have a bit of trouble keeping up with every multipart vocal hook on the knotty jams from their album, people were still singing along when they knew the words.

review by Andrew Martin