Having vaulted to new heights with 2015’s *Blurryface*, followed by nearly two solid years of touring, twenty one pilots were in need of a break. Recorded primarily in the band’s Columbus, Ohio, studio during a yearlong public silence, their fifth album *Trench* picks up where the band left off in both sound and subject, exploring rugged emotional terrain in a style by turns cathartic and cryptic. If *Blurryface* was, as Tyler Joseph told Beats 1 host Zane Lowe, a “mirror” for his insecurities, *Trench* is a place where he could go to regain control—or, as he puts it on the tender, album-closing “Leave the City”: “But this year/though I’m far from home/In trench I’m not alone.” What continues to resonate is Joseph’s ability to turn his personal pain into shared experience, his inner dialogue into public art. “Surrounded and up against a wall,” he sings on the disco-ish “My Blood,” “I’ll shred ’em all and go with you.” Whoever he might be talking to (his fans, his wife, his friends), you get the sense the words double as a promise to himself. “I never would have turned to music if I didn’t feel like I need to change or cope with something,” he told Beats 1. “I was perfectly fine before music, and then something happened where I just felt a buildup of some sort. I didn’t know how to decompress that and to have an outlet for it—I was forced to learn how to play the piano.”
Trophy Eyes’ third album forsakes their hardcore past for a brighter mixture of punk, rock, and pop. For all the album\'s softer moments, however, frontman John Floreani’s reflections on his history of drug abuse and violence make for a harrowing lyrical ride. After moving from Australia to Texas, he found that the physical and mental solace of his new surroundings provided him with a greater perspective on his past. The confessions continue with themes of addiction and self-loathing (“More Like You”), suicide (“Something Bigger Than This”), and the passing of youth (“Autumn”), making *The American Dream* the most personal and solemn Trophy Eyes album yet.
Theatricality has long been a part of Panic! At the Disco’s DNA. But following a 10-week run playing entrepreneur Charlie Price in *Kinky Boots* on Broadway, Panic!’s lone full-time member, Brendon Urie, has infused his unique brand of emo-pop with renewed song-and-dance-man vigor. Each track feels humongous, swirling with strings and shiny horns and topped with Urie’s now theater-tested voice. “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” and “(Fuck A) Silver Lining” are on par with PATD’s most grandiose hits, while “High Hopes” and “Hey Look Ma, I Made It” take inspiration for their brassiness from Urie\'s mother (“Mama said, ‘It’s uphill for oddities/Stranger crusaders ain’t ever wannabes’” goes one memorable line). Even the piano-and-strings ballad “Dying in LA” radiates enough charisma to reach the top deck.
“Take me to the darkness/Hang me out to dry,” implores Underoath vocalist Spencer Chamberlain over the chiming keys and propulsive beat of “Rapture,” a particularly infectious track from the band’s first album in eight years. Embracing their shadow selves after disbanding in 2013, *Erase Me* finds the Floridian post-hardcore outfit reemerging with a kinetic set of pulsing pop anthems (“Wake Me,” “In Motion”), torrid industrial grooves (“Hold Your Breath,” “On My Teeth”), and soaring power ballads (“Ihateit,” “I Gave Up”), each amplified by expertly wielded electronics.
What pushes Fall Out Boy after all these years is being open to change. *M A N I A* is filled with unexpected delights. “Young and Menace” drops steep breakdowns, vocal manipulation, huge drums, and an “Oops!... I Did It Again” interpolation into a confetti cannon. Even the most fervent fan won’t see “HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T” coming, with the guys locking into a tropical groove. “Champion” and “The Last of the Real Ones” are classic FOB: Patrick Stump’s proud, keening voice, catchy choruses, and heart and mind hurtling together toward the finish. Stump’s inner soul man comes out on “Heaven’s Gate” and “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes),” the latter blessed with the most perfect lyric: “I’ll stop wearing black when they make a darker color.” *M A N I A* is aptly titled, a riot of electronic pop and rock, color and conviction.
Thrice has announced a September 14th release date for their new album Palms. The album is the first Epitaph release for Thrice, who are widely regarded as one of the most innovative rock bands of their generation. Co-produced by Thrice and Eric Palmquist and mixed by John Congleton, Palms encompasses everything from viscerally charged post-hardcore to piano-driven balladry. The most sonically expansive album so far in the band’s 20-year-history, Palms follows the critically acclaimed To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere (released via Vagrant Records in 2016).
On their second album, young hardcore heroes Turnstile slice, dice, and defy genres at every turn. Leadoff ripper \"Real Thing\" cranks a turbocharged riff against melodic backing vocals and a loungey piano outro, while \"Generator\" spins a Helmet-esque groove into a psych-grunge bridge and hyper-metallic guitar solo. Bassist Franz Lyons takes over for frontman Brendan Yates on the soaring staccato groove of \"Moon\" (which also features subtle backups from Sheer Mag\'s Tina Halladay) and \"Right to Be,\" which boasts spacey production from Diplo.
In 2017, Boston-area metalcore outfit Ice Nine Kills kicked off their fifth album cycle with the release of the single "Enjoy Your Slay," which was inspired by classic psychological-horror film The Shining (and even featured Kubrick's grandson Sam). A year later, they followed with the propulsive "The American Nightmare," an ominous ode to '80s horror series A Nightmare on Elm Street. Much like 2015's Every Trick in the Book -- which was based on classic works of literature -- the band revealed that this horror film theme would fuel an entire concept album: The Silver Scream. Arriving just in time for Halloween in October 2018, The Silver Scream found the band fully embracing their passion for horror by crafting 13 tracks inspired by 13 movies, such as Friday the 13th (the melodic brutality of "Thank God It's Friday"), Saw (the soaring "The Jig Is Up," featuring Finch's Randy Strohmeyer), and The Crow (the haunting "A Grave Mistake"). Additional guests include Stranger Things' Chelsea Talmadge on the sweeping An American Werewolf in London "ballad" "Love Bites"; INK's founding co-vocalist Jeremy Schwartz reuniting with the band on the Jaws number "Rocking the Boat"; Tony Lovato of Mest on the Edward Scissorhands anthem "The World in My Hands"; and Less Than Jake hornsmen JR Wasilewski and Buddy Schaub alongside Fenix TX vocalist Will Salazar on the riotously disturbing It send-up, "IT Is the End." Devilishly fun, appropriately campy, and indulgently satisfying for fans of both heavy music and scary movies, The Silver Scream expertly combines Ice Nine Kills' passionate execution with a dark sense of humor and love of pop culture on their strongest, most melodic, and enjoyable effort to date.
Sydney band Hellions’ fourth LP is ostensibly a concept album about life\'s peaks and troughs. “Odyssey” tackles the egocentricity of modern culture, while the title track delivers a moving message of hope, despite its touching on tragedies such as the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. Two elaborate, vaudeville-styled interludes—“(Theatre Of)” and “(Blueberry)”—lend an air of theatricality as the quartet embellish their punk roots with elements as diverse as funk (“Get Up!”), rock opera (“Odyssey”), nu-metal, and hip-hop (“Harsh Light”).
On *21st Century Liability*, the adventurous Yorkshire artist takes the sounds bouncing in his head (electrified pop, ska, and hip-hop) and creates chart-friendly chaos. The songs leap from the speakers, YUNGBLUD lording over them like a mad professor with a handsome drawl. The title track stomps like “So What\'cha Want” Beasties, even vocally simulating a DJ scratch (you\'ve got to hear it to believe it). “I Love You, Will You Marry Me” lets his romantic side flex over an upbeat electro-ska groove. Yet it\'s the poignant “Polygraph Eyes”—a stern commentary on date-rape culture—that stands out the most; behind YUNGBLUD\'s wild, up-for-whatever persona beats a caring heart.
On their second album, the Aussie punk-pop band leaves teenage-crush stories behind, following blink-182’s and All-American Rejects’ paths in creating emo-tinged pop filled with stadium-ready hooks. Jayden Seeley’s vocal fry is gone, replaced by growing sophistication that extends thematically; There’s less, “she’s gone and I’m bummed” and more, “she’s gone but I’ll be better for it.” Tracks like “That Something,” “Moving Boxes,” and “Jaded” feel custom fit for the Warped Tour faithful, yet, unlike their darker-leaning contemporaries, With Confidence keep their chins up, especially on “Pâquerette,” a gentle ballad that’s a worthy heir to “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s.
