I wasn’t sure if I was going to write this and it has been a while since I have been able to write in my spare time due to school and work. It has been a while since I updated this and my last two entries have been music related. I always thought if I returned to write here, it would be about Fuckface Von Clownstick, but he isn’t worth my time despite the fact that he will be here for four years fucking shit up. I am a college student now, finally decided on Forensic Psychology as my major after wanting to be a geologist for a while (I can’t do math to save my life). I have not written political things in a while, my last entry here being about the Confederate flag and haven’t contributed my writing to anything since my junior year in high school when I wrote for my school magazine (I can’t remember the last thing I contributed)
But who knows, I have been laid off at work due to hour cuts and am trying to find a new place of employment and do have spare time now and will have even more during the summer since I am only taking one online course. So I may post here more in the future; politics or not. Right now, I am going to focus on music, something that is not stressing me out at all right now (unlike current politics)
Recently, Julia Pierce came out with new music and announced her new solo project, Pyrce. I was ecstatic hearing the news! It had been forever since Cherri Bomb and she is an extremely talented musician.
If you haven’t heard of Julia Pierce, then that is not surprising. Julia fronted an all-girl rock band Cherri Bomb many moons ago. In fact, she and Cherri Bomb opened for the Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins before she turned 16. They released a great album titled This Is The End of Control (still in my top five favorite albums with BMTH’s Sempiternal, Green Day’s American Idiot, Avril Lavigne’s Under My Skin and Icon For Hire’s Scripted) Julia was later kicked out of her own band. I will not go into the drama of it because a lot of it is not confirmed other than it wasn’t her decision to leave.
Now, why did I go as far as to mention all that when this is titled music evolution? Two words. Hey Violet.
Hey Violet is what became of Cherri Bomb. Members Nia Lovelis, Rena Lovelis and Miranda Miller added Casey Moretta to the band. They still had potential. Rena took over on vocals and if you listened to her leads on Act The Part and co-lead on Raw. Real. You would understand that she had potential to be a good rock vocalist. I thought they could do well without Julia and they released a demo titled Middle Finger and it sounded really good. Rena had the good gritty vocals and if they kept that sound, they could really succeed in the genre.
But that did not happen.
They went a pop route. Their first EP I Can Feel It was pop. They were then signed by 5 Seconds of Summer (which I earlier wrote about, thinking it’s possible they could save Pop Punk, I was wrong). It was bad. Rena didn’t have gritty vocals but really bad pop ones. It was extremely disappointing, especially since they got a lot of attention because of 5SOS.
Now flash forward to this year and they are getting even bigger. Rena stopped playing bass and they got a new bass player, Iain Shipp who looks like everyone’s confused metrosexual yuppie cousin who is always judging you. (My family is weird.) Their music has got worse. Rena is not much younger than me. She is around 18-19 and what she is now singing about is nauseating. It is definitely not good for their young fans to hear. The last thing anyone 12-year-old should be singing about is about how guys her age don’t know how to touch her right and wanting someone to wash her "pure" away. It is gross, almost as gross as Blood on the Dance Floor. This is the kind of music that is getting them famous. Instead of producing lyrics similar to Too Many Faces, Act the Part or Paper Doll, they are producing sexual lyrics. They have a younger audience now because of 5SOS. They are no longer playing Warped Tour, they are opening for a band that got their start opening for One Direction and gaining young kids as a fan base. It’s awful. Not to mention the plagiarism they have been accused of. (Want more info, I will link you Here and here to a few blogs on tumblr about it) The one thing I noticed the most was how their song Fuqboi (like seriously?) sounds similar to Teenage Dirtbag (i'm only familiar with the Patty Walters from As It Is' version). It’s depressing and hard to look at Too Many Faces and then look at this shit they are producing. Hey Violet is awful. Miranda, Nia and Rena did not evolve as they aged, but sold out.
But a lot of artists are going to pop right now. Look at Paramore. They released some great Pop-Punk albums, Riot! being one that is amazing and full of great tracks. They had great energy and Hayley Williams has a great stage presence. But, their self-titled album…wow. It was awful. Ain’t It Fun is also an awful track, and not just because of the word (or lack of) “ain’t” being in it. Hayley will never be “one of us.” She has been in the industry since she was a teen and is the only one of her band even signed to the label. I will admit I do not know Hayley or her struggles, but she is definitely privileged. Moving that aside, their new stuff is pop also. Their new song “Hard Times” makes no sense. The lyrics and music do not match at all. This is no longer a pop punk band, but just pop and maybe power pop. This does not seem like an evolution of their sound by them maturing. Of course, no band or artist is going to sound like their first album, but this stuff is extremely different from their old stuff. It's just bad.
Recently both Good Charlotte and Sum 41 have returned to the scene. I love them both dearly. Fat Lip and The Anthem are definitely amazing songs that bring back memories. Their new stuff is also different from their early work.
Good Charlotte’s first single was Makeshift Love. It definitely wasn’t The Anthem but I still purchased the album when it came out and do enjoy it. It’s Good fucking Charlotte. Of course it will be good. They still have some of their core sound but have evolved. The Outfield is a great song. Although, it is a little weird to think it could be about either Cameron Diaz or Nicole Richie since they are who the Madden brothers have married, but still a great song. The song 40 Oz. Dream did have a weird sound but the lyrics still sounded like Good Charlotte. This album differed from their earlier stuff but listening to it, I could still tell it was Good Charlotte.
Same with Sum 41. They have matured over the years, likely due to Deryck Whibley nearly dying of alcohol poisoning but they are still Sum 41. Deryck has described 13 Voices as Screaming Bloody Murder 2.0. it’s still a good album although I did not enjoy Screaming Bloody Murder. It’s Sum 41. Deryck is healthy and Dave is back. Fake My Own Death was a good first single. It wasn’t the classic “fuck society” song but it was still great. I can still hear Sum 41 in it. They really hit the nail on the head with War. It is a good song with a good meaning, kind of reminding me of Some Say and Pieces. There sound just may be harder than when they began. (youtube is being weird and only showing covers, but this guy is a good guitarist)
Papa Roach as also changed, I will admit I haven’t heard all their stuff and like their hits best. Some say that makes me a fake fan, but whatever. Last Resort is badass and so is Getting Away with Murder. I have noticed something different in their past few albums. Gravity on F.E.A.R has spoken parts and so does Born For Greatness on Crooked Teeth. They both sound good but are definitely different than Last Resort. I can still hear Papa Roach and know that the vocalist is still Jacoby (unlike Hey Violet since Rena does not sound like Rena anymore)
Sometimes sound does evolve as members leave. Icon For Hire is now down to two members, Ariel and Shawn and now have electronic elements. Same as Riot Child. First when Nicki left and Amanda took over as vocalist, it didn’t seem much would change but both Never Enough and Bullet barely featured guitars on the tracks. This may have been a reason for guitarist Hanna leaving and resulting in just Amanda and Alice remaining. Their song Liar featured heavy computer generated and electronic elements and was way different than some of their earliest tracks like Waking Up the Neighbors. They may be adapting or evolving.
Looking at what Julia has released, I am kind of disappointed. I guess I was hoping for something similar to the hard rock feel or Cherri Bomb but got Indie Pop instead. I rarely listen to that, and when I do, it's Lorde. I may have been hoping for Cherri Bomb 2.0 which I realized was a mistake. I can see this is Julia’s new sound and do hope that I will enjoy other tracks because Julia has so much talent.
