The KC Showcase: The Styles

(Image Courtesy of bands Facebook Page)

There's quite a few local acts doing their rounds and generating some buzz all around getting spots in various local music events and a band that I've seen come up quite a few times in the various promotions and radio shows around the area that I've seen would be this little act The Styles who just recently put out their self titled debut Ep for free over on their website and since I keep seeing their name keep popping all around I decided to give them a listen and here's what I think.

This band for all intense purposes can best be described as a bit of a throwback to a more 90's post grunge kind of sound that's reminiscent of a Gin Blossoms, early Bush, or Screaming Trees with a vocalist that's reminiscent of Brenton Dean of Holy White Hounds fame and that's not too bad because in songs like, “Teleport,” and, “Get What I want,” this older more grungy but radio appropriate guitar sound they maintain along with a vocalist that kind of eludes a mildly arrogant rock star tone in his singing you get a band that showcases some solid guitar work who know how to craft a catchy tune with the vocals being the only real inconsistency on this EP.

I can't lie these guy's are really solid musicians but their vocalist while being pretty good at points also has moments where he sounds like 2005 called and wanted it's post grungy teenage angst back, and that's ever so evident in the track, “Away From Me,” which is a solid rocker of a tune but the delivery of the line, “Get away from me love,” just had me laughing up a storm and singing along incredibly mockingly and the last track, “Alive,” just kind of limps along with some really good guitar work but not much else.

For a first effort this Ep isn't bad I'd definitely recommend it for people who are more into a more radio rock sound that's very similar to that 90's Grunge scene and in all honesty, “Teleport,” structurally is a fucking bad ass tune and, “Get What I Want,” another serious highlights that showcase the best qualities of each member of this band.

Download EP for Free here: http://www.thestyleskc.com/

3/5

Best: Get What I want

Worst: Away From Me

The KC Showcase: Faintheart

(Image Courtesy of bands facebook)

Faintheart like many bands I cover here on Sam's Song of the Day are an alternative rock band from Kansas that are crafting some delightfully catchy indie rock tunes that have a very early 2000's emo tone to them who dropped their debut self titled EP not too long ago and recently after deciding to offer it up for free to help promote their upcoming gig at 96.5 The Buzz's Homegrown Buzz Local Music Showcase I figured I'd get around to covering this group I've not so low key been giving quite a few listens to over the past few weeks.

Like I stated Faintheart have a kind of early 00's Emo feel in their music and with their very fast tempo's in tracks like the exceptional, “Two Hearted,” give me memories of those old Victory Music Sampler CD's they use to give out in random magazines back in the day which isn't a bad thing because that sound is still pretty relevant as the teenagers that bought that stuff back then are now adults and if Buzzfeed is any suggestion still love to reminisce over those kinds of sounds.

“Two Hearted,” is a very bouncy little emo tinged kind of pop punk sounding number with a quick tempo and high pitched vocals that perfectly carry lyrics about how two hearts are better than one, which let's be real here who doesn't love when lines are that delightfully cheesy, which give the tune a very Cute is What We aim for feeling but with more heft and a vocalist that seems more in control of how to properly deliver a tune with out it being almost too poppy for it's own good and those same thoughts are also carried over to tracks like, “Common Sense,” with it's heavy use of synthesizers and a chorus that's incredibly in your face and demanding that you remember it.

Overall this EP is a good first impression that is filled with plenty of solid tunes that showcase a good range of sounds from these guy's with the only real gripes I have being that they don't have a complete sense of identity in place to give you this idea that what you're hearing is definitive to this band but even with that said tracks like, “Close Your Eyes,” and the exceptional and addictive, “Two Hearted,” are too good to really hold that against them and I'm sure as they continue to try and grow as a band they'll mature their sound and really start producing a bunch of winners but until then this fast paced 13 minutes of pop punk is a pretty good starting point.

Download for free here: http://noisetrade.com/wearefaintheart

3.5/5

Best: Two Hearted

Worst: You and I

Song of the Day 3/24/17

Jonestown-Scruffy and the Janitors

GOD FUCKING DAMN IT PEOPLE Scruffy and the mother fucking janitor have decided to come out of their cave of creative awesomeness and produce what has to be one of the most fucking awesomely simple fucking tunes I've heard in quite some time with the first cut from their upcomming album Modeling is hard “Jonestown.”

This song fucking rules beyond levels of normal humanly comprehension in it's simple but semi depressing lyrics and constant uttering of the phrase, “I don't wanna wait so long,” you get this tune that's very unassumingly addictive in a way that's almost difficult for me to begin to even attempt to comprehend but I can guarantee that it'll crawl up in your mind and just take residence there and leave you singing the phrase, “I DON'T WANNA WAIT SO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!” over and over again.

These guy's aren't the most complex band in the land their just pure, simple, and awesome fucking rock and roll that's simple but effective and this song in some way is a bit of a more melodic kind of cleaned up sound that's a bit of a change when you compare it to their more bluesy hard rock direction that made up most of Anglo and it's single cuts like “Dirt Leg” or “Shake it Off” instead we have an almost radio friendly sound that's kind of showcases a more seasoned kind of mellowed out band and I'm all right with that especially when the songs are this sublimely good and if this song is bad ass to you which let's be real here of course it is you can actually help this band release that album Modeling is Hard by donating to both guarantee a preorder of what's sure to be a fucking spectacular piece of work and of course help support a band that's pretty fucking deserving of it.

You can donate here:

http://scruffyandthejanitors.com/

The KC Showcase: The Greeting Committee, "Meeting People is Easy"

(Image Courtesy of band's Facebook Page)

After 2 years of toiling and relentless touring Kansas City Breakthrough act The Greeting Committee are back with their newest 6 song collection in the form of Meeting People Is Easy a matured more focused set of killer tracks that really showcase a collective of individuals who are really doing their best to live up to the hype built around It's not all that bad and it's monstrous radio single, “Hands Down,” which I'd honestly hate to say as good as that song is I'm pretty sure if the jaded expressions on their faces when I saw them play it live on black Friday are any indication even they're sick of hearing that song over and over again, and in all honesty you kind of get the feeling of that tiredness of such a breakthrough single in this collection of songs because the only thing that could possibly come close to being yet another, “Hands Down,” didn't even make the record.

Instead what we have is a collection of tunes starting out with a very cool little instrumental piece that kind of is a very piano lead piece that's a little bit of a whirlwind of unusual voice samples, and a small orchestra tuned piano along with a host of what I'd almost assume are wind chimes or something I can't quite put my finger on but this feels like they really wanted to make a bad ass instrumental track like a lot of bands they listened to growing up and it does a good job of framing this work as an already more focused and well put together piece of work and that's before it even hits it's first real song.

After that interesting little introduction we're then greeted by the exceptional, “Naive,” which uses it's first 30 seconds to kind of have this almost 90's indie rock intro before then blasting into that signature dream pop guitar line that this band has really made a thing of and vocalist Addie Sartino busting in with a new found level of confidence and fullness that show's a huge improvement to the muted and lower end production that It's Not all that Bad had and you end up with a track that has a booming chorus and frenetic energy that's for lack of a better term REALLY FUCKING AWESOME and Brandon Yangmi really pulling a spectacular guitar performance. Overall this song is actually the fullest blend of every body really stepping up and showcasing that these kids are really trying to be something.

So with your head a banging they follow that track up with their signature closer in the form of, “She's A Gun,” which in all honesty it's about god damn time they recorded this because they've been refining and performing this song since I saw them at the Homegrown showcase back in 2015 and this recording is really showing that because it just oozes this feeling of being refined and perfected and of course Sartino's delivery of the line, “My Baby's Got a Gun,” is just so god damn infectiously catchy that you'll be singing it out of context all the time I swear this song feels like a mission statement of sorts to show everybody that these kids are more than cheesy teen romance tunes and that they are worth taking seriously as a real band.

The next two tracks, “Someone Else,” and, “Dancing to Nothing at All,” are what I'd say are the experimental cuts that look to practice a more slower paced and in the case of, “Dancing,” an almost jazzy like experiment of using things like Saxophone to really expand this band's sound to something more than a bunch of early 2000s inspired modern indie rock and then it all wraps up very nicely with, “BBC,” which isn't the most stand out cut you'll ever hear but it's a nice down paced rocker of a track that serves as a great closer by being kind of to the point and just kind of ending at a pretty good but abrupt point to help cap off  an EP that's done everything and anything it can to distance these guy's from the label of those kids that did that cute teenybopper tune about being young and in love by not including a single ballad on here which I'm all for because while I'll give, “Elise,” the credit of being a very personal song that really does give off some really special vibes it's also for me at least plagued with the vibe that I'm about to have this song pounded into my fucking head.

Yeah I'll say it these guy's have really proven to me personally with this EP that they're worth all the success they've accomplished in such a short time and I whole heatedly feel that they've put out a collection of songs that are 100% good if not excellent and for only being 3 months in to 2017 it almost feels like nothing can really top it so yeah go out and buy a copy if you can because these guy's really have proved themselves here and for the first time I kind of feel this album is really worth starting an actual scoring system for so as the first official EP/Album review of 2017 things are off to a pretty high start.

5/5

Best: Naive and She's A Gun

Worst: I'd be hard pressed to say anything is of any low quality but if I had to....BBC

Sam's Show Recap 3/12-3/17/17

You know I decide to tell myself, “Hey you're broke as fuck and could stand to take a few shows off,” so I did and then what happens this week I decide to just go to something like 3 shows in one week because yeah fuck it why not and GOD FUCKING DAMN did this week deliver so here's an abridged account of some of the bands I saw over the past few day's with some very terribly taken photos and links to all their Facebook Pages in the titles because that's easier than posting a bunch of audio clips.

So the first two shows I saw were at the lovely Record bar which in all honesty may be one of my favorite concert venues in this damn city with a wonderful atmosphere, a good staff, and some great booking choices this place is just phenomenal.

The first show I saw was on the 12th and it was a bit of a SXSW launch show for some bands and I manged to catch the first 3 before deciding I had to leave because of work obligations and at this show I saw:

Good Morning Bedlam

These guy's were interesting a Blue Grass harmony focused bundle of energy that made some very catchy little tunes and upon re-listening really do have some great harmonies. I couldn't really say too much because it's been a couple of day's and my mind is pretty fried but I do remember talking to some of these guy's and finding them to be some nice people along with some really good voices I'd recommend them to anyone who's a fan of a more country or blue grass sound.

Westerners

I've written about these guy's before and had a great time seeing them even though they had the unfortunate task of being followed by two mind blowingly great sets so I've had a hard time articulating just how god damn good these guy's are and this show they just kind of continued that trend of being a surprisingly bad ass fucking live show.

They provide a real energy and tone that just kind of are like a scene in a movie of the coolest rock band on the planet playing and their chemistry and onstage banter is pretty on point with them providing a very natural vibe to an effortlessly great performance that's been pretty consistent when compared to the first time I saw them so yeah this bands a bit of a hidden gem and still pleasantly great.

The UK's 

It's been a minute since I've seen these guy's and covered them here on Sam's Song of the Day and since the last time I saw them and a couple of line up changes they've some how managed to actually really grow pretty substantially with a new drummer that was a fucking machine just pounding away and while they didn't have a bass player they managed to still deliver on the various quality cuts that Bad Seed as an album presents and in some cases are playing significantly tighter on all fronts than what's actually recorded with this show maybe being the most on point I've seen them play and there's a song they've been testing around called Other Team that was just a brutally exceptional tune and them doing a 3 part harmony with the drummer really was quite bad ass and I can only hope they record it soon because I'd really like people to hear just how good it really is.

 A couple of day's later I continued my yearly tradition of seeing an exceptional show on national PI day by seeing what may be in contention for the single best god damn show I've seen this year when I saw B R O T H E R, The Griswolds and DREAMERS.

BROTHER

What's funny is I saw these guy's almost exactly one year ago from this show because I saw them play on St. Patrick's day and  I can't lie in one year they have just grown exponentially and this show was just a crazy fucking example of that growth because this set was just the tightest and best I've seen this band play ever. 

They completely had the crowd sold on them and managed to really hold their own and I really got a sense that they really are starting to get a sound to them that's more than just a Kansas City 1975 and I can only hope they put out a record soon because they really are proving why I've followed them for a year now.

DREAMERS

This band knows and anyone who has followed this blog that I fucking adore this band and This Album Does Not Exist is an exceptional record and this show was for all intense purposes just pure fucking unadulterated magic in it's purest form and while I didn't get a set list or get to say too much to all of them they delivered in a way that left me speechless and just wanting more. This band is just a captivating and energetic show that worked over the packed crowd quite well and had me jumping like a little school girl at points as I sang along with every song and felt the same surge of pure joy as they ended their set with Wolves which after almost 2 years now still hits me as hard as it ever has.

Can this band just headline a tour already and do that album front to back that'd be so fucking cool.

The Griswolds

So I haven't seen this band since they opened Buzz Beachball in 2015 and my fucking god did they go places since then right from the start this band had the whole venue hooked and at the end every one and their mother was just completely blown away at a band that in only a few years has just managed to become one of the best god damn show's you'll ever see.

They have a Glass Animals vibe in how they know how to craft incredibly groovy tunes that make bodies move and they craft some infectiously catchy and easy to sing along chorus' that at points all they needed to do was hold the microphone at the crowd and have everyone in attendance sing the songs for them and that stage was hardly able to contain them because they were all sorts of either interacting with the front row the whole time taking phones and giving people hella dope snapchat stories or just jumping into the crowd all together which was fucking awesome.

This band was special and this show was just pure magic from beginning to end from all the bands involved and even now day's later typing this up I'm still just baffled by the quality of what was done this night.

3 day's later after getting my mind thoroughly blown at this record bar show to celebrate St Patrick's day I figured I'd go to a free show up here in Power and Light to see Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Atlas Genius, and Night Riots. Also I have to make note that this show unusually went completely on schedule and was over and done with before 11 pm which was actually pretty nice if not kind of odd to see a show go so smooth so I'd have to say good job to all the people who worked this night and sadly this year I didn't get a single set list which was a bummer but hey you win some you lose some but onto the set reviews.

Night Riots

These guy's were really a solid set with a lot of energy that got the crowd really pumped and ready for the nights festivities and in about 30 minutes they really made me think a lot better about them then I did going in and hearing a small snipped of some Kendrick Lamar along with them doing all sorts of cool things with some drums and the whole band basically running a train on a drum set this show was amusing and most certainly will have me on the look out the next time they come to town.

(not pictured them running a train on a drum set but close enough)

Atlas Genius

I'd been following this band for a few years now and finally getting to see them I was very happy their set was filled with some super tightly grooved tunes that went on for a while and managed to really impress especially their interesting but bad ass choice to cover Dead or Alive's, “You Spin me round,” which was fucking awesome and their rendition of Tears for Fears, “Everybody wants to Rule the World,” was pretty fucking dope to but for me the real highlight of their set was the ever so REM tinged If So which is still as great now as it was the first time I heard it a couple of years ago. These guy's were fucking dope and they've really just kind of managed to carve out a real niche for themselves.

Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness

SO I thought the Griswolds had a crowd at the palm of their hands so did Mr. McMahon here who put on a show that for lack of a better way to describe it felt like 2005 didn't stop because almost everyone around me was jumping, singing, and completely losing their shit as this guy brought 90 solid minutes of piano based awesome and an energy that was just infectious with plenty of his new songs holding up very nicely live and the only real callbacks to years past being a fucking spectacular rendition of Dark Blue and Woke up in a Car along with an interestingly stripped back cover of Empire of the Sun's Walking in a Dream this guy has been doing this since 98 and it feels like he hasn't missed a beat.

This show was fucking great but in all honesty 3 shows in a week is pretty tiring and while I liked all the sets I saw by this point I think I got all I could really handle so forgive the fact that this article is kind of sloppy and rushed because this was a lot to take in and write up about for you guy's.

OH and because I never do this here's a few pics of me with Night Riots and Atlus Genius

Obviously I'm so good at this whole taking pictures with people thing aren't I?