Dan Andriano - Hurricane Season Review

Following in the footsteps of his Alkaline Trio counterpart Matt Skiba, bassist Dan Andriano will be releasing his debut solo album, Hurricane Season, on August 9. Playing under the moniker Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room, the 34-year-old bassist is delivering a 10-track wonder that's some of his freshest and most personal work yet.

Hurricane Season is a deeply intimate look into Andriano's life as it stands today. The love for his family, his fear of losing them and his struggle with finding a sense of home in Florida (after spending years living in Chicago) are all themes that dominate the record. After more than a decade on the road with the Trio, Andriano used his solo platform as a sort of apology to his wife and daughter - the two of whom he had been away from for months at a time while pursuing a musical career.

Take for instance the album's third song, "Hollow Sounds". The soft acoustic track is what Andriano described to Alternative Press as a sort of "'I miss you' song, with a hint of, 'I know I'm gone a lot, but please don't leave me.'" And this certainly holds true as Andriano compares his unrelenting need for a cigarette to the longing he feels for his wife. "I want to light you up and take you deep inside my lungs/Well maybe you can shine your light inside on all the damage that I've done."

As the record progresses, it becomes evident that while his insecurities might be running on high, Andriano has come to terms with them and has put them to the wayside to just enjoy the present. During the album's ninth track, "The Last Day We Ever Close Our Eyes", he paints a picture of finding happiness with his loved ones as the world around them crumbles.

"And when they finally kill the lights, you get the glass, I'll pour the wine/On the last day that we ever close our eyes."

Ultimately what you're getting on this record are themes focused inward, rather than the usual dark and macabre scenarios played out on most of Alkaline Trio's discography. It's a completely different and fresh side of an artist that most people thought they had pegged. That itself is was makes this album worthwhile.

Hurricane Season stands as a journey of sorts that takes the listener through all the deep inner workings of a man struggling to find his place in life and hold onto it. What starts off as shaky and insecure in the beginning of the record develops into something that's happy and fulfilled at the end. At varying times, Hurricane Season is depressing, uplifting and funny, but somehow it remains catchy and honest throughout.

Simply put, the record is a must have for Alkaline Trio fans and anyone who likes things slowed down just a bit. You can preview a few tracks from the album below.

Blink-182, "Up All Night" Review

It's been eight years since we last heard any new material from blink-182. But Thursday night's premiere of the band's new song, "Up All Night", solidified the resurgence of blink's presence in the 2011 rock game.

While "Up All Night" is only a taste of what's to come off their new record, Neighborhoods (tentatively set for release on September 27), it gives the blink community an idea of the direction the band are moving. With each member of the trio bringing significantly different influences to the table this time around, many critics and fans are being quick to label the new song as a recycled version of previous side-project material - which may or may not be a suitable description.

The track opens up quite heavy. It's far from the lighthearted pop-punk blink became famous on, but at the sametime it doesn't sound like a stretch. Remember, their last album was littered with darker and harder material, i.e. - "Obvious", "Down" and "Violence". The intro, which lasts around 30 seconds, is a heavily distorted and choppy mix of chords and drum beats.

If there's one thing that's evident from this track, it's that blink aren't afraid to try new instrumentation and pedal configurations. There's a lot of ear candy present.

The verses have a familiar feel to them. With guitarist Tom DeLonge and bassist Mark Hoppus trading off on lines throughout the verse, "Up All Night" starts sounding more like a Boxcar Racer song ("Tiny Voices") than anything else. There's a certain rhythm that's undeniably blink-182.

The chorus is somewhat subdued. DeLonge, along with his airy vocal approach, take us through what sounds not too far from something in the Angels & Airwaves discography ("Do It For Me Now"). And somehow, after the weakened chorus, the track leaps right back into the heavy intro.

The track is sort of a hodgepodge of sounds. It's eclectic in itself - an array of different songwriting techniques that takes a truly talented band to pull off. But despite having so many layers, it still remains catchy.

Whether you like the track or not, let's not let "Up All Night" decide the fate of Neighborhoods. If blink's Untitled record was any indication, this band are as multifaceted as they come. "Up All Night" is simply one eleventh of what's probably going to be one of the most mature, intense and eclectic records blink have ever put out. Get stoked.

Blink-182 Up All Night by UpxAllxNight

Lyrics:

Everyone wants to call it all around our life with a better name
Everyone falls and spins and gets up again with a friend who does the same
Everyone lies and cheats their wants and needs and still believes their heart
And everyone gets the chills, the kind that kills when the pain begins to start

Lets get this straight, do you want me here?
As I struggle through each and every year
and all these demons, they keep me up all night.
They keep me up all night.
They keep me up all night.

Everyone's cross to bear's a crown they wear on endless holiday
Everyone raises kids in a world that changes life to a bitter game
Everyone works and fights, stays up all night, to celebrate the day
And everyone lives to tell the tale of how we die alone some day

Lets get this straight, do you want me here?
As I struggle through each and every year,
And all these demons, they keep me up all night.
They keep me up all night.
They keep me up all night.