Driven Far Off

The latest on the indie, alternative, and rock music scene including news, music, contest, interviews, and more. Best described as your favorite place to find new bands.

Archives for 2007

New Paramor Merch

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Paramore has a new line of merchandise available at Hot Topic stores across the country. On each, you’ll find a tag with a special code that you can use to download two songs from Paramore: ‘Born For This’ from the upcoming album RIOT! and a rare, live version of ‘Pressure.’

Mae Update

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Mae has a few headlining shows coming up, you can find those below. The band also has one more leg on the Relient K tour, which lasts 3 more weeks. The band will join up with them again in Cleveland at the House of Blues on May 3, then travel through New York, New Jersey, D.C, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia to finish the tour. This summer Mae will be on tour with The Fray and OkGO! Mae will be on the 1st leg of the tour with stops in cities throughout the midwest and northeast. Check out a video update from the band below.

Starting April 29th – May 2nd, Mae will be headlining in these cities…

April 29th – Columbia, SC
Headliner’s Live
700-B Gervais Street
Columbia, SC 29201

April 30th – Charlottesville, VA
Starr Music Hall
709 W. Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22903

May 2nd – Ohio Univ. – Athens, OH
Ohio University
Baker Theater – One Park Place
Athens, OH 45701

You can also track Mae on tour with Google Maps or iCal.

Between The Trees Releases Album Nationally

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Between The Trees are thrilled to announce the wide, national release of their acclaimed debut album The Story and The Song TODAY via Bonded Records. With their infectious melodies and inspiring lyrics, the pop tinged indie rock act has developed a dedicated following of sing-along fans that continues to spread like wildfire across the internet and into packed venues. Make sure you keep your eyes pealed for their new music video for the song The Way She Feels.

Between The Trees “The Way She Feels”  Stream | WMA 112K | WMA 256K

Waking Ashland – The Well

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Waking Ashland - the Well

Artist: Waking Ashland
Album: The Well
Label: Immortal Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: April 17, 2007

Overall: 7.0
Music: 7.0
Lyrics: 7.0
Production: 7.0

Waking Ashland have had a flurry of releases in the past few years, with their debut EP I Am for You in 2004, their first full-length Composure in 2005, Telescopes EP in 2006, and now their sophomore LP the Well in 2007. I was a big fan of their brand of powerpop on I Am for You, and while there was a clear shift to a mellower musical style by the time Telescopes was released, the band still delivered songs that glistened with pop spirit. The Well provides more variety of sound than any of the band’s previous releases. On the whole, the Well is less reminiscent of Ben Folds than Telescopes, signifying the band has taken a step in the right creative direction, because, let’s face it, it ain’t easy to live up to comparisons drawn to one of the fathers of the piano pop-rock sub-genre. Honing a unique sound is always a step in the right creative direction.

Of course, the vocal similarities between Folds and Waking Ashland singer Jonathan Jones make it hard to avoid all comparisons, particularly on such numbers as “Mark Like Mine.” The Ben Folds-esque song is one of the highlights of the album, which I suppose is saying the band has some heavy lifting ahead of them yet in establishing their own flavor of piano rock. On the other hand, the unexpected guitar outro on Foldsy album-opener “Salt Like Jam” underscores the band’s creativity. Of note is the band’s experimentation with more minor tonalities; surprisingly and pleasingly, the band maintains its signature pop energy through these darker tunes. Unfortunately, despite the nice mixture of songs, they are for the most part flat and unmemorable with no lyrics nor melodies sticking with the listener, thereby failing to be a “good” pop album.

Tracklisting:
1. “Salt Lake Jam” — 4:50
2. “Handful of Names” — 3:39
3. “Your Intentions” — 2:58
4. “Diamonds In the Hillside” — 3:55
5. “Change” — 3:11
6. “Sinking Is Swimming” — 2:33
7. “Mark Like Mine” — 4:08
8. “Let It Ring” — 3:30
9. “Looking Alive” — 3:47
10. “Drought of 2001″ — 3:52
11. “Money” — 4:02
12. “Take Me With You” — 2:52

Cauterize Set Release Date

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Cauterize are set to release their new album, Disguises, on Darrin Pfeiffer’s (Goldfinger) label High 4 Records on Tuesday June 12th. As an added bonus there will be a special acoustic CD called “Unmasked” that will be available to the first 2000 people who buy the CD online at www.maplemusic.com. The first 500 of those 2000 “Unmasked” CD’s will be signed by the band. The band is set to release new music on their MySpace page in about 2 weeks.