Hawthorne Heights Release 'Silence in Black and White' Acoustic

Hawthorne Heights 

It seems as if the current trend among bands is to release an acoustic, 10 year anniversary album. Last year, Taking Back Sunday released an acoustic version of "Tell All Your Friends" and Yellowcard released an acoustic version of "Ocean Avenue." Hawthorne Heights is the next band to release an acoustic version of their debut album "Silence in Black and White." It will feature all of the original songs and can be streamed on the Alternative Press website.

The famed Hawthorne Heights album will be released on iTunes on April 15th and it won't be available on CD until May 20th and vinyl on July 1st. You can Pre-order "Silence in Black and White" through inVogue Records. Bundles range in price from $11 - $80 and include several different products. Vinyls, CDs, shirts, sweatshirts, and posters are available in almost every combination.

Artist Spotlight: Mean Little Blanket

Mean Little Blanket

Mean Little Blanket is a two-piece band from Brooklyn, NY known for their complex time signatures and heavy riffs. Formed by Corey Dozier and Jason Prushko in 2009, the band will constantly keep you guessing with what comes next. Their newest album entitled "Blast Off" features 10 tracks that will redefine hard rock.

The album starts off with with a 9 minute track that sums up their talents perfectly and sets the tone for the rest of the album. It shows exactly what the two are capable of doing together and they definitely find ways to compliment each other's talent. Each song seems to be carefully constructed unlike several of the popular rock songs known today, which seem to be thrown together and incredibly repetitive.

The track entitled "Samhain" is one of my favorites. It has an upbeat tempo that is interrupted by complicated instrumental breaks at unexpected times. Then just as you think you've figured out the scheme, everything relaxes around 2:45 only to pick back up where they left off.

"Power Wash" starts off as a slower track rich with emotional vocals. But that soon changes to something with more technical intricacies. Over the course of 7 minutes, the track occasionally revisits the slower tempo and melody it began with, a perfect balance of soft and hard in one song.

Overall, Mean Little Blanket is definitely worth listening to. With a fresh and innovative sound, the band has a long career ahead of them and I look forward to hearing more.

Although they are unsigned, you can listen to their entire album by clicking here.

Warped Tour 2014

noisetrend

With all of this cold, snowy weather it has put quite a damper on some tours. Several artists have cancelled dates and performances due to poor traveling conditions caused by the never-ending snow that has hit the east coast. Now that March has come, it seems as if this year's Warped Tour cannot come soon enough. Thinking of the summer and Warped Tour makes the current frigid weather a little more bearable and just what many of us need. 

So who's playing this year? Several of the well-known bands we love like A Skylit Drive, Bowling for Soup, Enter Shikari, Mayday Parade, Yellowcard, We the Kings, Devil Wears Prada, and many more (Check out the entire list).

Bayside Pre-order Bundles "Cult"

Bayside

Bayside, an alternative rock band from Queens, NY has announced the release of their sixth album, entitled "Cult." The 11 track album will be out on February 18th, 2014. The band posted several pictures on social media websites like Facebook and Instagram over the past week of symbols without captions. It was a clever way to make the announcement as fans tried to guess what the images meant.

Ashes Forever Release "All You Love Will Put You"

Ashes Forever

Ashes Forever, a New York band with their own genre, has been busy in the studio for the past several months. They have yet again surprised listeners with what they're capable of and have created something remarkable. It's definitely something worth listening to, if not to see how different this band really is. Ashes Forever writes their own rules when it comes to their songs and they don't mind going against the confines of one particular genre.

The newest release from Ashes Forever is due out August 2nd. I got a chance to catch up with drummer, Matt Dillon to get some more information on it.

Recent and Upcoming Album Releases

Recent and Upcoming album releases from your favorites:

Yellowcard Releases "Ocean Avenue" Acoustic

Yellowcard

It seems as if a current trend with bands celebrating 10 year anniversaries is to re-release their first album. Yellowcard is a band that was popular in the early 2000's with their unique sound and violin incorporation. Earlier this year, they released their newest album, "Southern Air" and now they have announced that they too are going to release "Ocean Avenue" acoustic. There is no word yet whether it is going to be a live recording or a studio recording of the album. Taking Back Sunday's release of "Tell All Your Friends" was released as a live recording (on digital formats only) and I was a bit disappointed when I found this news, they could have appealed to more fans had they done a studio release across digital and physical formats.