'One-Eighty By Summer' Stream

I always have a band or two that comes out of nowhere and ends up providing one of the better songs on these compilations. This time around that band is Shapes & Colors. I was completely unfamiliar with them as an artist and received a random email from their booking agent about how the guys would like to participate on 'A Tribute to Taking Back Sunday.' I listened to their fairly limited catalog, liked what I heard and thought that I'd give them a chance. Turns out, it was one of the best decisions I could have made. They knocked out an absolutely  glorious version of Taking Back Sunday's song, 'One-Eighty By Summer.' If only every email I got from an up-start band wound up being as extraordinarily pleasant as this. It only gets better, though. Shapes & Colors was also kind enough to send me some new material that they've been working on. It blew me away. You would think that I would be prepared for some top-notch tunes considering the work they did for me, but honestly, I think the TBS cover was just the start of what could very possibly be a long lasting and lucrative career in the industry.  

Already Heard Streams cover of 'Call Me In The Morning'

A Tribute to Taking Back Sunday just got a little bit more lovin'. The UK e-zine Already Heard is streaming Paper States' cover of Taking Back Sunday's song, "Call Me In The Morning." Out of all of the tracks on the album, this is probably the one that got me to hit repeat more often than any other. I just can't get enough of Ryan Stack's vocals. They have a raw emotion mixed with an expertise and a talent that, in my opinion, few others have. It's probably a good thing I dig them too, you know, since they did sort of record two tracks for the album.

UTG Streams Count to Four's Cover of 'This Photograph is Proof (I Know You Know)'

Under The Gun Review is currently streaming Count To Four's cover of 'This Photograph is Proof (I Know You Know)!' I have to say that their song was probably the one that caught me most off guard. I hadn't heard a Count to Four cover song before so I was sort of going into the process blind, but when I finally got that final mix it allayed all my fears. Now I can only hope that they sincerely enjoyed themselves enough to where they'll be down for future iterations of the series. 

 

New Noise Magazine Streams Pyro, Ohio's Cover of Cute Without The 'E'

New Noise Magazine gave Pyro, Ohio some love by streaming their cover of "Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)." I like their rendition of what is probably my favorite TBS track, but once the track hits 2:40 that like becomes love. Seriously, this just confirms Pyro, Ohio's place in my top three favorite Post-Hardcore bands. They're right there along side Dance Gavin Dance and Everyone Dies In Utah. Some sweet company to keep if you ask me.

A Tribute to Taking Back Sunday is available for preorder.  

The Scene, Vol. 5 - Art

A Tribute to Taking Back Sunday is a bit of a different project in that it will include an additional 21 track disc with up-and-coming indie artists and some of their original material. In a perfect world all 21 artists would be contributing Taking Back Sunday covers. Unfortunately, that kind of endeavor would bankrupt me. Royalties and studio time are just too costly for that kind of Herculean effort. Still, I want to do Taking Back Sunday proud and let them know the exact number and scope of the bands that they’ve influenced. The additional material may not be a slew of cover tracks, but they are songs comprised by close to a hundred different individuals who have all grown up with Taking Back Sunday and who have had their style influenced in one way or another by TBS’s material. I think in a way, the original material is even more of a compliment than the covers are. It shows originality that stems from another band’s legacy. I’d say that’s the ultimate form of tribute. Anyway, here's what the second half of the project will look like in all of its glorious double disc delightfulness.


The Scene, Vol. 5 - Tracks & Talent

I just got the 21st/final Scene track. It's absolutely amazing how slowly projects progress until one day, bam, everything just comes flooding in. It's more than worth the stress, though, especially when the project turns out to be strong front to back. It's truly insane to think that there's so much talent out there. There's just thousands of artists that deserve so much more face time. I'm not necessarily saying fame, but every last one of these bands definitely deserves more respect in their particular genre. I mean, when you look around at some of the bands that larger labels sign, you wonder why they get selected from among a crop of what seem like far more gifted musicians. That's sort of the problem with the music industry, though. It's just not the meritocracy that it should be. Talent doesn't win out, and sadly, a band can run their course without ever garnering even a sniff of success. In almost every other business, the cream rises to the top. In this case, the cream could be curdled and the bigwigs in the business would still ladle it out and force feed it to you in your daily latte of life. It's a tragedy. I certainly can't change that flawed aspect of our culture/business world, but I sure as hell can try and show it with my actions.

This is my long winded way of saying that this iteration of The Scene is bad ass.   

Pacific Ridge Records and Why You're A Terrible Customer Extravaganza sale!

As we all know, businesses generally start discounting their products during the holiday season. Well, piss on that. Who needs Black Friday or Cyber Monday when you have cheap unpopular music and a second rate book that's being shilled out by a college dropout? It just makes good sense to discount everything three weeks after everyone's officially broke, right? In my defense, I'm of the opinion that the discounts lose their novelty when everyone's slashing prices. It would be like if everyone in your town decided to bake banana bread on the third Monday of October. The culinary majesty of that delicious loaf wouldn't quite be the same after the seventh Olympic swimming pool worth of bread was fork lifted onto your lawn. That's why I'm bucking this holiday trend, missing the profitable train, and discounting  several products right now. You know, when everyone's credit card is getting ready to spontaneously combust and a debtor is getting ready to magically appear State Farm-style. 

Anyway, a bunch of Pacific Ridge Records CD's will be knocked down 50% for the next couple of weeks in addition to a giveaway of my e-book, Why You're A Terrible Customer. You can download the free Kindle or E-Book version right here or in the store page. No strings attached. It's all yours to enjoy and never actually read.
 
Merry Tuesday and a happy New-second-week-of-the-Year!

Hardcore/Post-Hardcore

Just so you know, I haven't simply been sitting on my ass waiting for the Taking Back Sunday tribute to come together. Well, I guess I have, but I've been sitting on my ass doing other things too! For example, I'm 16 tracks deep into The Scene, Vol. 5. The problem is I'm trying to round out the roster with some post-hardcore/hardcore material and I'm coming up a bit short. So if anyone has some solid recommendations on quality indie acts that fall somewhere under the heading of those particular genres let me know at contact@pacificridgerecords.com.

Taking Back Sunday - Paper States

I just got another song in for the TBS tribute. It's Paper States' rendition of "Call Me In The Morning." In my opinion it's even better than their Get Up Kids cover, which is seriously saying something. I just can't get enough of their vocalist Ryan Stack. The man's got a gift for singing. Its been a while, but I'm still sticking to what I said in 2012-2013. Their EP "Be Alone" is the best EP of that particular year. Check it out if you haven't.

Taking Back Sunday - Knockout Kid

There are always a couple of cover tracks that catch me by surprise on each of the tribute comps. Knockout Kid's rendition of 'Timberwolves at New Jersey' is definitely one of those tracks. It's TBS gone punk, but with style. If you're a fan of The Wonder Years, but always wished they had more of an edge, then that's these guys. I highly recommend checking them out.

Why You're A Terrible Customer

What do naked chicks, drunks, junkies, assholes and the homeless all have in common? Pizza. They all order pizza. Whether it's with food stamps or a duffel bag full of recyclables, they all find some way to pay for their pizza and ruin the night of those unfortunate enough to be stuck on the wrong end of the order taking counter. What does this have to do with music? Nothing. I simply wrote a book about my delivery driving experiences called 'Why You're A Terrible Customer' and it's conveniently being published today. The book is an angry/comedic take on the figurative raping I've received from a wide variety of customers. You see, the music industry is just about the worst paying gig out there, so I thought delivering pizza would be the perfect choice for a flexible yet reliable part-time job for some additional cash. And it was, but convenience came at a rather steep price seeing as it nearly cost me my sanity.

If you're curious about the content of the book; I touch on moderately racist topics such as who tips the most based on race and gender. I dive into what topless chicks, drug addicts and white supremacists have offered me for free food, and overall I just try to humorously describe the terribleness that is the life of a retail peon. 

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"Why You're A Terrible Customer: A Compilation of Customer Horror Stories By A Jaded Pizza Delivery Guy"