With finals coming to an end, you finally have that so-hard-to-find time to download some new tunes into your library. Here are 5 bands/artists to check out this summer:
5. Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties
Solo project of pop-punk band The Wonder Years frontman Dan "Soupy" Campbell, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties is a "character study conducted through music." Campell is taking on the persona of Aaron West, a man suffering through a bitter divorce whose ensuing personal crisis, in this folk-rock venture. Through Hopeless Records, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties produced a full-length album, "We Don't Have Eachother," in 2014 and is set to release an EP, "Bittersweet," on May 20.
What sets apart Aaron West from the unplugged Wonder Years moments is not only the hints of banjo here and there but the attention to detail and fictional story telling done throughout his work; it is almost hard to believe that the characters and town he has created do not exist outside of these songs.
4. Drug Church
Drug Church is a hardcore rock band based out of Albany, N.Y. and has released two full lengths as well as several EPs. The group got signed to No Sleep Records in 2012 after releasing a 3-song demo in '11. With a dark and satirical twist, their lyrics focus on social matters, such as "But Does It Work?" off of their sophomore EP, "Swell." The song questions suburbia and touches on the boys' pessimistic view on romance.
The band's latest album, "Hit Your Head," is "worst-body-on-the-beach music," "fired-from-your-window-tinting-job songs," "for people on probation for crimes that aren't even cool. Big riffs and petty concerns," according to their Bandcamp page.
3. Adventures
An American rock band from Pittsburgh, Pa, Adventures is the lovechild of 90's indie rock and emo music. The vocals of Joe Goldman and Reba Meyers dance with each other, creating a uniquely bleak and somber listening experience.
Three members of the five-piece band are from hardcore punk group Code Orange, but Adventures could not be any more different, acting as almost an emotional release and break from their punk stomping grounds. Their latest release is an EP titled "Supersonic Home."
2. Vinnie Caruana
Vinnie Caruana is the front man to formerly-on hiatus band The Movielife and to punk rock band I Am The Avalanche (IATA), but in 2013, he ventured off on his own to release his debut solo EP, "City by the Sea". Taking the acoustic route, these five songs are filled with heart-wrenching vocals that simultaneously make the hairs on your neck stand up and flood your veins with warmth.
On May 27, Caruana will be releasing his first solo LP through Equal Visions Records. Sounding similar to his project IATA, there is a refreshing quality to his lyrics being backed by a full band this time around.
1. Pinegrove
A New Jersey-based indie rock — although sometimes seen as alternative country — band, Pinegrove is a force to be reckoned with. It's the sort of music that you can listen to at 2 a.m. on the drive back home from a late-night trip to Taco Bell or while lying in bed at 2 p.m. when you should probably be in the shower.
In February, the band released their debut full-length, "Cardinal," through Run For Cover Records. The LP almost sounds like a colorful, unrestrained dialogue between young musicians and their fans.
