Review: Robbed By Giants - Worst of You, Best of Me

Georgia is famous for country stars, but recently the state has produced an indie band that has the ability to become larger than life. Robbed By Giants hails from Rome, Georgia, and they have just released their first album titled Worst of You, Best of Me.

The album features five tracks, fueled by the rawness of the acoustic guitar, and has a southern charm to it. Their stylings are slightly varied, but the band maintains an overall indie quality. While the band is new to the scene, their style of music seems familiar. The music is gritty, and the entire album was recorded in two days. The instrumentals are the real star of this album, Thomas Orr, vocals and guitar, does an excellent job of balancing his vocal abilities with guitar melodies.  Jordan Epperson, the percussionist is laid back with his style, he does not over play the drums, and he meshes the percussion perfectly with the vocals and guitar.

All of the tracks on this album are slightly varied. The first track “Satisfied” is a jumping track, complete with a horn section. The second track “London” is a textbook indie track, soft melodies, quiet vocals, and illustrative lyrics.  The following track “Part 1(Worst of You, Best of Me)” follows suit with the same quiet intensity as the previous track. This song is emotional, a true indie love song.  “Part 2 (Epps)” is an instrumental track, and showcases the band’s technical skills, featuring a reprise of the horn section that was used in the first track.  The final track “Anything” is another love song that is addressed to an unknown lover. The album deserved to have a few more tracks, because it feels like it drops off at the end. Some might find the album to be slightly boring because the last few tracks are all similar and have the same tone and slightly similar instrumentals.  However, the band’s musicality and Orr’s crooning vocals really set the stage for the indie album you didn’t know you wanted.

In conclusion, Worst of You, Best of Me is a tasteful, charming album that sounds as if it belongs in the soundtrack for Grey’s Anatomy. Robbed By Giants has the potential to make a name for themselves in the indie scene. (Konstantina Buhalis)

Favorite Tracks: London, Part 1 (Worst of You, Best of Me)

7.5/10

Stream and download Worst of You, Best of Me here!

For Fans Of:  Bon Iver, Dave Matthews Band, Ben Howard

The Weekly Tune-Up #2

Ouch That Hertz presents The Weekly Tune-Up! Once a week we carefully select music that we find absolutely necessary to add into your music library. And they’re all free to download by the artist! Of course, if you like what you hear, we encourage you to throw a donation their way!

This week we're giving you a wide variety from folk to jazz-hop. Check it all out below!

Jacky Bastek - "Wonderwoman" (Single) and " Cold Progression"  (Single)

A catchy and impressive fingerstyle singer/songwriter from Germany. If anything, you need to hear "Cold Progression"- a blues-y instrumental that will captivate your ears. "Wonderwoman" is one of her older works (with vocals). You'll find her voice to be quite soothing. 

http://jackybastek.bandcamp.com/track/wonderwoman

http://jackybastek.bandcamp.com/track/cold-progression

Jake Feeny - A Fit of Colours

Singer/Songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. A Fit of Colours is a breezy acoustic folk album mixed with an alternative-blues kind of style. You'll need this, trust me.

http://jakefeeney.bandcamp.com/album/a-fit-of-colours

Todd & Ryan Wright - "Snow"

A sweet, catchy holiday ballad written by a man and his daughter. Oh, yeah, you definitely need this. 

http://orangepopsongs.bandcamp.com/track/snow

Monster Rally & Jay Stone - Foreign Pedestrians

Rap/Hip-Hop set to surf-rock-esque beats. Mhhhmmmm.

http://monsterrally.bandcamp.com/album/foreign-pedestrians

Yeomans - Yeomans

Garage/surf-rock outfit from Toronto. Need I say more?

http://yeomans.bandcamp.com/album/yeomans-ep

Animal Flag - Animal Flag

Indie Rock that will have you wearing beanies and swaying like all the hip kids.

http://animalflag.bandcamp.com/album/animal-flag-ep

ProleteR - Rookie EP

Jazz-Hop/electro swing/abstract-ish... An eclectic mix that your ears need to hear.

http://proleter.bandcamp.com/album/rookie-ep

Review: Hands Like Houses - Reimagine EP

A band truly shows skill when they can reinterpret their music and rethink their very sound.  So, when post-hardcore band Hands Like Houses released an acoustic album, aptly titled Reimagine, I had to listen. Hands Like Houses created acoustic versions their favorite songs off of their album Unimagine (hence the title being Reimagine), and the listener couldn’t be more pleased with this creation. Indeed, each song is re-imagined. This is more than an acoustic album- it’s an entire reinterpretation of their music. It’s a gutsy move, but Hands Like Houses pulls through in showcasing their talent. 

‘Recollect’ (originally ‘Shapeshifters’) kicks of the album with an acoustic rendition of a very fast-paced and upbeat track. ‘Recollect’ retains the beat (via handclaps- holy shit!) but now features a more melodic and lulling sound than the original track. Vocalist Trent Woodley definitely shows off his vocal prowess in this track. 

‘Revive’ (originally ‘Introduced Species’) is a real gem on this album. There’s a whole new tune and meaning created in this song. It’s now calmer, soothing, and hauntingly beautiful. Engaging vocals from the whole band creates a sort of gorgeously eerie effect as it is paired with a brilliant display of guitar works and bongos. Fucking bongos, guys. You have to listen to this track to truly understand.

Next up is ‘Rediscover,’ their rendition of ‘No Parallels.’ This track is still retains its fast pace, but has a newly developed melodic sound. It will leave you swaying just as much as the original track, guaranteed. It’s just as upbeat and fun as the original, but you can more greatly appreciate harmonies that are generally lost in the distortion in the original track. Moreover, reimagining the overlaying guitar riff as whistling is an extremely brilliant move, and allows for lighter riffs to come through and be heard. 

‘Release’ is their revamped ‘A Tale Of Outer Suburbia’, in which an already haunting song becomes even more evocative in its newly reverberated form. The instrumentation perfectly accompanies the soft vocals. It’s a soft, calming track that can accompany autumn walks down lonely roads.

We end with ‘Reflect’ (originally Developments), another hauntingly beautiful song. Woodley displays a great variety in dynamics in this song. It’s gorgeous, and is alternating with the guitar riffs that fade in and out. It creates a perpetuated, eerie effect that raises hairs and also soothes. The muted drums were a perfect pick- no instrument is overpowering. Everything blends perfectly. Of all the songs, this one truly carries the “acoustic vibe” in softness and its light harmonies.   

Overall, Reimagine is a gorgeous album. It’s a perfect display of true craft and musicianship as a very post-hardcore-y (for lack of a better term) band turns very acoustic. You need raw talent to do what this band did. Reimagine is a perfect reinterpretation of their music instrumentally and vocally, without any change lyrically. Woodley described Reimagine as “…a parallel and a discovery of Unimagine”, and he couldn’t be more right about this album. Hands Like Houses embodies what it truly means to reimagine- in riffs, in sound, in performance and appearance. Go forth and buy this now; I wouldn’t be caught dead without this must-have release of 2014.

10/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWnEx1HQCss

http://riserecords.merchnow.com/search/?q=hands+like+houses

Katt Hass