Breathe Carolina Keep It Tame On New Album

Breathe Carolina released their fourth record Savages last month and it's pretty tame compared to past albums. The songs on their last album Hell Is What You Make It had a passion to them that made that their best record. That album yielded their one hit single "Blackout."
After losing founding member and unclean vocalist Kyle Even lesser bands would have called it quits. However the band didn't replace Even and this album is almost devoid of their previous post-hardcore influences on their first three albums.
The album starts out with the four best songs on the record. "Bury Me" is a dance pop song that is packed with attitude and meant to be sung with a middle finger in the air.
"Fuck repercussions/ They don't mean shit to me," singer David Schmitt sings during the pre chorus.
"Bang it Out" features Karmin and is a fun dance number that is sure to be a hit. "Sellouts" which features Asking Alexandria singer Danny Warsnop is the lone post-hardcore inspired song. It deals with success and how some fans have been hating and calling them sellouts. The band applaud their fans who have stuck by them.
"You're fascinated with the old me/ and how you hate it when we don't scream/ You're stuck in the past and I'm not looking back/ I didn't do it just to make you happy/ I do it for the ones still clapping/ You're stuck on the fence and I'm over it," Schmitt sings during the first verse.
"Shots Fired" is a straight up pop song that sounds like it could be off their previous album. It deals with the betrayal the band felt when Even left.
After that the rest of the record is hit or miss. The acoustic laced "Please Don't Say" to the excellent title track to the chill "Chasing Hearts" which features Tyler Carter of Issues are all great songs. However when mixed in with songs like "Shadows," "Collide" or "I Don't Know What I'm Doing" that aren't that great it makes the listener not stray past the beginning of the album. While these songs aren't bad, they just aren't as memorable. If they came on shuffle on an iPod you might listen to them but you wouldn't really go out in search of them to listen to.
Savages has it's great moments and it shows that Breathe Carolina aren't going anywhere and they can survive adversity and still make good music.

Issues Release Weird Debut Album

Metalcore band Issues released their self-titled debut album last month and it's pretty odd. The album mixes in metalcore with R&B, hip hop, pop and nu-metal. While this is a tad strange it does work in most cases.
The album opens with two of the most soulful songs. "Sad Ghost" and "Mad at Myself." The latter features a chorus that could have been left off of an old Backstreet Boys record. The soulful clean vocals sung by Tyler Carter are the highlight of the album.
The album's best song is the second single "Never Lose Your Flame." The song is a mostly sung by Carter and features little harsh vocals from Michael Bohn. This is the best idea the band could have. Carter's vocals are so perfect they don't even need an unclean vocalist.
The lyrics are also what make this song so great.
"I hope you make peace with your pain/ And never lose your flames," the duo sing/scream during the chorus. The song is uplifting and touching.
However some of these song are stupid and unnecessary. "Life of a Nine" is a hip hop mistake with silly rapping. "Late" is a dance-laced number that could have been left off the record.
However there's some great songs on the record as well. First single "Stingray Affliction" is a catchy hip hop anthem that tackles haters. "Tears on the Runway, Pt. 2" which features Nylo, a dance singer whose female vocals are great on the song. Issues would do well to feature women on future songs. However, there is no part one so the song title makes no sense.
Issues is a decent debut album to introduce the band. This record for all it's faults is still experimental and does more forward thinking than most metalcore bands.