June 28th, 2012 
Adrian Garza Artist: Late Night Habit
Album: Nostalgia
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Unsigned
It’s not hard to dig a summertime pop rock release. After all, it’s the perfect time to dive into those feelings of fun, love, relaxation, and happiness. The typical layout of these sorts of songs comes from acoustic guitar-laden melodies coupled with soaring vocals that are occasionally met with some soothing harmonization. This is the blueprint that Late Night Habit follows with their latest ep, Nostalgia.
Posted in Features, News, reviews 
Tags: adrian garza, album review, late night habit, Nostalgia, pop rock (genre), review, reviews, unsignd 
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May 29th, 2012 James Shotwell Pop rockers Divided By Friday are out to cement their place in the current music scene with the release of their official video for “Prove It.” The clip, which was released today, features the band doing their best rendition of the “band performs in rundown building” video style. Some may find it boring, but the catchiness of the single more than makes up for the lack of storyline. Check out the clip for yourself, after the jump.
Divided By Friday’s Prove It EP is available now through Hopeless Records.
Posted in News Tags: divided by friday, ep, hopeless records, pop rock (genre), Prove It No Comments »
May 15th, 2012 James Shotwell Site favorite Sparks The Rescue and Rocky Loves Emily will be heading out on the road this Summer with support from up and coming act Aristo. The tour, which is scheduled to start June 11 in PA, takes the pop rock acts around the Northeast and Midwest over the course of three weeks. You can view the complete routing below:
6/11 Altoona PA VFW Fort Apache
6/12 Jermyn Pa Eleanor Rigby’s
6/13 Allentown PA Crocodile Rock Cafe
6/14 Poughkeepsie NY The Loft
6/15 Hamden CT The Space
6/17 Providence RI Firehouse 13
6/18 TBA
6/19 Amityville NY Ollie’s Point
6/20 …
Posted in News Tags: 2012, pop rock (genre), Rocky Loves Emily, sparks the rescue, tour dates 1 Comment »
April 25th, 2012 Grace Duffy Artist: Eve 6
Album: Speak In Code
Genre: Pop/rock
Label: Fearless Records
Rather surprisingly for an album that’s marketed as being something triumphant, a peak reached after years of hard work and personal tribulations, Eve 6’s Speak In Code is a remarkably flimsy, insubstantial piece of work. It’s catchy, and poppy, and will no doubt have enormous nostalgic appeal to the band’s fan base, but it’s entirely empty. There’s very little in the way of depth or meaning throughout and it’s difficult to engage with an album so determined to be as vacuous and silly as possible. Without meaning to …
Posted in Features, reviews Tags: 2012, album review, eve 6, Fearless Records, pop rock (genre), review, reviews, Speak In Code, Victoria 3 Comments »
April 18th, 2012 James Shotwell Artist: Rocky Loves Emily
Album: Secrets Don’t Make Friends
Genre: Pop
Label: Tooth And Nail
If the biggest music related problem solved by the dawn of social media is the ability to discover and connect with new talent, the biggest issue it has created is helping those same artists hold your attention. Before we were all digitally intertwined, bands built relationships with fans through constant touring, fan mail, press, and most importantly, music. Now, music may pull new listeners in, but more often than not the music then takes a backseat to communication, branding, and pretty much everything related to …
April 1st, 2012 James Shotwell Artist: The All-American Rejects
Album: Kids in the Street
Genre: Rock
Label: Interscope, DGC
Tyson Ritter commented during an interview that this album sounds like The All-American rejects “finally got their shit together and wrote a record that was going to keep them around.” With respect, I disagree, because this album is a mess. Far from a mature and cohesive release that might do something for their longevity, it’s lazy, unsure of itself, and painfully uninspired. There are no illustrious calling cards begging us to keep paying attention – a lot of this does the exact opposite in fact, and …
March 31st, 2012 James Shotwell Pop rock trio The Paper Melody have announced they are breaking up.
The band broke news of their split earlier today on their official Facebook. In a statement to fans, the band wrote:
Dearest Fans,
To our supporters from Day 1 all the way up to present, We want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We have had many great shows and experiences over the past few years and it’s all thanks to you guys!
But with deep sadness, we regretfully announce that this is the end of our Story.
We are very sorry to …
Posted in News Tags: 2012, announcement, breakup, letter, message, pop rock (genre), rest in peace, split, the paper melody No Comments »
February 19th, 2012 James Shotwell Artist: The Audition
Album: Chapter II
Genre: Pop Rock
After parting ways with Victory Records in July 2010, the future for Chicago pop-rockers The Audition was unknown; so much so that some fans were led to believe the band had called it a day. However now in February 2012, the band have returned albeit a slight line-up change; Joe Lussa has re-joined on bass and Jimmy Lopez has replaced the departed Seth Johnson on guitar. Nevertheless Chapter II sees a band that is refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Posted in Features, reviews Tags: 2012, album review, chapter 2, chapter II, ep review, pop rock (genre), reviews, sean reid, The Audition No Comments »
January 23rd, 2012 James Shotwell Ohio’s Hit The Lights are still over a week from releasing Invicta, but fans hunger for new sounds can stream the entire new album today!
Beginning today, Hit The Lights have partnered with Alternative Press Magazine to stream their entire Razor & Tie Records debut. The album, which we reviewed over the weekend, features the group’s most mature, full realized sound to date. Click here to stream Invicta.
Hit The Lights are currently on the Strength In Numbers (SIN) tour with D.R.U.G.S. Click here for tour dates.
Posted in News Tags: 2012, album stream, hit the lights, invicta, pop rock (genre), razor and tie No Comments »
December 20th, 2011 James Shotwell Every Avenue have confirmed rumors that they will begin 2012 with a headlining tour supported by We Are The In Crowd, Plug In Stereo, and Simple As Surgery.
The announcement we made yesterday evening, along with confirmation of the tour’s full itinerary. You can view the tour dates below:
02/14 – Cleveland, OH
02/15 – Pittsburgh, PA
02/16 – New York, NY
02/17 – Springfield, VA
02/18 – Worcester, MA
02/19 – Philadelphia, PA
02/22 – St. Louis, MO
02/23 – Lawrence, KS
02/24 – Denver, CO
December 18th, 2011 James Shotwell Artist: Letterday
Album: Ready EP
Genre: Pop Rock
Since their inception in 2001, Boston’s Letterday have refined, reworked, and re-imagined the possibilities of quote/unquote “pop rock.” Their latest, Ready, finds the group cracking the hit song code once and for all with five songs of life and love that are not to be missed.
Kicking things off with “Don’t Go,” the return of Letterday wastes no time showcasing their more evolved, atmospherically pleasing take on pop-centric rock. It is clear early on, as well as throughout the record that Letterday has grown exponentially since their three-song demo impacted a …
Posted in Features, reviews, Unsigned Tags: album review, boston, ep, letter day, letterday, letterday ep review, new england, pop rock (genre), reader, ready ep, ready ep review, unsigned 2 Comments »
December 16th, 2011 James Shotwell Hey Monday vocalist Cassadee Pope has reached out to fans with an update regarding the status of her band, as well as her upcoming solo tour.
In a status written earlier this afternoon on her official Facebook, Pope posted:
Just to clear a few things up.
Hey everyone! Cassadee here. I know since I announced my solo acoustic tour, there has been a lot of rumors and confusion swirling around. I wanted to let you all know that Hey Monday is not “broken up.” We are, however, taking a break and pursuing things on our own. In my case, …
Posted in News Tags: acoustic, break, break up, breaking up., Cassadee Pope, decaydance, hey monday, hiatus, message to fans, pop rock (genre), solo, split, tour, tour dates No Comments »
