Taking Back Sunday - Contact

More TBS news! The band Contact will be joining the tribute project. They're a four-piece Rock group that features a combination of both male and female vocals. They're somewhat of a familiar face considering some of the members' past projects include And Then There Were None and Young London, both of which appeared on past iterations of our tribute series.

The band's in for a tough task seeing as they've chosen to select "Your So Last Summer," which is hands down one of the most beloved TBS tracks in the TBS library. If their past projects are any indication of their ability than I'm positive that they'll be more than capable of recreating a brilliant rendition of the fan favorite. Young London's version of The Movielife's song "10 Seconds Too Late" is proof of that.

TBS - The Scene Aesthetic

The Scene Aesthetic is the newest artist to join the Taking Back Sunday tribute. 

I can already imagine how masterful their cover of 'Bike Scene' will ultimately be, especially given the superb job they did on their cover of The Movielife. 

I just see The Scene Aesthetic's ability to adeptly use two vocalists in such beautiful harmony as something that should absolutely mesh delightfully with the multiple vocal stylings of TBS.

Taking Back Sunday - Koji

I've probably had the most people tell me that the Alkaline Trio tribute was the best tribute out of all six of the albums in the series. Well, I've added one of the reasons for that high praise, and that's the talents of indie singer/songwriter Koji. 

Koji did a killer stripped down rendition of 'She Took Him To The Lake,' so it'll truly be interesting to see what he does with the Taking Back Sunday song 'Where My Mouth Is.'




Taking Back Sunday - Everyone Dies In Utah

Well, it's been a rough week. Two great bands broke up that were slated to record a TBS track. Speaking of which, I want to wish the members of On My Honor and Paper Cities all the best. I thought those two bands had the sound and style to do amazing things in the music world, and I'm sure they would have if everything had worked out. This speed bump in their lives hardly matters, though. With their skill and ability they'll almost certainly be able to translate their talent into a number of different arenas, away from the music industry or back in it in another form. 

That being said, the project must move on. That's why I'm excited to announce the addition of another band on the comp. It's a familiar face that put together one of the most impressive covers I've had the pleasure of releasing.  I'm referring to none other than the Post-Hardcore/Electronic band Everyone Dies In Utah. EDIU will be taking on the track 'A Decade Under The Influence.'

Here's their cover of The Get Up Kids' track 'Close to Home.'


Distances Song Stream

You know what's terrible about going on vacation? Getting back and realizing you have about 43 hours worth of work to cram into one work day. I've found that that's why you have to put on appropriate music for just such an occasion. 

Introducing "Scene Vol. 4" artist, Distances .


A Tribute To Taking Back Sunday - On My Honor

I'm ecstatic to announce that On My Honor will be participating on A Tribute To Taking Back Sunday. They'll be taking their pristinely polished Pop Punk and tackling the TBS hit "One-Eighty By Summer." 

OMH recently contributed a track to The Scene, Vol. 3, so if you're unfamiliar with their material you should check out their song 'Indrid Cold.' It appears on the comp as well as their album I Never Deserve The Things I Need.  

A Tribute To Taking Back Sunday - Roster

I've been working on the Taking Back Sunday Tribute compilation these last few months and have started putting together a pretty rock solid roster of participants. The first artist that I'm proud to say jumped on board was Farraday. If you're unfamiliar with their work just listen to their cover of The Get Up Kids' song "Action & Action." In my opinion they knocked out the best cover on the album, so I'm super stoked to see what they do with the TBS track this time around. They chose to cover 'You Know How I Do.'

The Scene, Vol. 4 - Shellshock Lullaby

Shellshock Lullaby 's 'Scene' track deserves a little loving. It has an incredibly polished sound with a set of vocals that is reminiscent of 2000's era Emo. I'm talking about early Get Up Kids type material with a a little more focus on the musicianship aspect of the creative process. What's even more impressive is that Shellshock Lullaby is the nom de plume for the singer/songwriter Russ Nelson. I always find it impressive when somebody goes the solo route and  has that much range talent-wise.

'All I Need' can be streamed right here, or it can also be found on SSL's seven track album "Shades of Grey."

The Scene, Vol. 4 - Knockout Kid

I've got to give props to another band that deserves a participation shout out. Knockout Kid   put on a hell of melodically driven punk display on their Scene, Vol. 4 contribution 'Wake Me Up When We're Underwater.' The track has a Wonder Years sort of lyrical vibe with the vocal variety of Four Year Strong. Not a bad combination for an acoustic ballad by an up-and-coming artist.

Seriously, they're an awesome band with a hell of a lot of talent. I'd highly recommend picking up their full length album, 'It Comes With The Job Description.' It's aggressive Pop Punk at its best.


The Scene, Vol. 4, Available Now

As the title suggests, The Scene, Vol. 4 is now available.

Here are my thoughts on the project as a whole:

There seems to be a common misconception that the scene's so bloated that it's dying. I made the honest mistake of believing that myself. It's not bloated. It just contains options. Like every other aspect of our lives, the 21st century has simply provided us with more alternatives than ever before. Back in the day, if you wanted to listen to Pop Punk you had to throw on Blink 182, Green Day or Sum 41. You always had the option of digging really deep to find something worthwhile, but let's be honest, the quality inevitably struggled in that second tier of artists. Now you have hundreds if not thousands of similar artists that have all put their personal spin on a genre that otherwise had limited scope. Same goes for the Hardcore and Indie genres. Remember the days of Poison The Well and Sunny Day Real Estate? Remember any other artists in those same genres? Don't worry, no one does. That's the glory of this musical overflow. Its brought about an unbelievable number of similar yet distinct talents. Sure, there's still a discouraging amount of garbage out there, but the renaissance of talent far outweighs the more dreadful dregs that will always pervade the musical landscape.
Nothing's fundamentally changed on this fourth volume of The Scene. I've continued to gather Pop Punk, Punk, Hardcore, Acoustic and Indie acts that I personally think stand out.

As always, I'm not making the proclamation that all of these bands will go on to be substantial. I just personally love their sound and wholeheartedly believe that they all excel at crafting substantial art in their particular genres.