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.

Motion City Soundtrack Album Art; Track Listing

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Update: The album has been pushed back to a September 18th release date. The artwork and track listing are likely to change. Take these assets as unofficial.
The album art for Motion City Soundtrack‘s new album Even If It Kills Me can be seen below along with the track listing. Even If It Kills Me is due out September 18th on Epitaph Records.
Motion City Soundtrack
Track Listing

01. Fell In Love Without You
02. This Is For Real
03. It Had To Be You
04. Last Night
05. Calling All Cops
06. Can’t Finish What You Started
07. The Conversation
08. Broken Heart
09. Hello Helicopter
10. Where I Belong
11. Point Of Extinction
12. Antonia
13. Even If It Kills Me

Epitaph Signs Farewell

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Epitaph has announced the signing of North Carolina based Farewell. You can read a message from the band below.

It goes without saying that we are SO FREAKING EXCITED about this news, and we are honored to call this legendary label “home”. We aren’t quite sure when the new record is going to come out, but we promise to let you guys know all the news as we find out. The new demo version of “EIGHTY-EIGHTS” is up now, so go check it out……and be on the lookout for more new songs soon! We have heard rumors about Epitaph giving out free label samplers at this years Warped Tour with a NEW FAREWELL song on it….as well as new material from Motion City Soundtrack, the Higher, the Matches, and more!! Anyways….we just wanted to share this news with you guys and say thanks for all the support and help we have recieved along the way. This is the beginning of something big! =)

Youth Group – Casino Twilight Dogs

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Youth Group

Artist: Youth Group
Album: Casino Twilight Dogs
Label: Epitaph
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: January 30, 2007

Overall: 9.0
Music: 9.0
Lyrics: 8.5
Production: 9.0

Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll admit, I only got interested in this Aussie indie band after they exploded into the US market via an awe-inspiringly well-polished cover of 80s pop hit â┚¬Ã…”Forever Youngâ┚¬?. Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢d heard a song or two before that, but only in passing. Recently I was listening to a local public radio station that plays the latest from the underground and independent music scenes when â┚¬Ã…”Start Today Tomorrowâ┚¬? came on. I immediately knew that I was familiar with the band, but I couldnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t quite place it. The US release, put out on Epitaph, kicks off with â┚¬Ã…”On a Stringâ┚¬? which is at times reminiscent of a mellow Shins song. Though Youth Group occasionally falters at providing something spankinâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ new to the indie scene (but really not many within any â┚¬Ã…”sceneâ┚¬? succeed at this venture), they make up for it with the diversity of their music. They lack the power of Death Cab for Cutie, among others, to make listeners know on the first listen of any song that it is a creation of the band. Perhaps, however, this is their strength; not only is the new album novel for old fans, but all fans, old and new alike, will be impressed by the variety of music on this disc.

Tracklisting:
1. On A String
2. Sorry
3. Catching And Killing
4. Dead Zoo
5. Under The Underpass
6. Sicily
7. Daisy Chains
8. Forever Young
9. Start Today Tomorrow
10. The Destruction Of Laurel Canyon
11. TJ

The Higher – On Fire

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The Higher On Fire

Artist: The Higher
Album: On Fire
Label: Epitaph
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: March 6th, 2007

Overall: 7.5
Music: 7.5
Lyrics: 7.0
Production: 10.0

On the verge of breaking up to then go on to put out what will probably be one of the most well produced, polished, radio friendly records of 2007. The Higher fit into an interesting place in the music spectrum. If I had to categorize â┚¬Ã…”On Fireâ┚¬?, it would get thrown into a pop punk section, and maybe thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s correct, yet the album raises the typical pop punk bar a couple of notches.

First thing is first, there are 2 songs they rerecorded, but the songs are so much better and flow so naturally that you might not even realize that they are older songs. There is actually a 3rd song â┚¬Ã…”Pace Yourselfâ┚¬? that is from their last record. Itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s been remixed by Patrick Stump (think FOB) and I still canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t figure out why they included it on the disc because itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s flat out terrible. The song gets repetitive real fast and offers nothing to the record.

The thing â┚¬Ã…”On Fireâ┚¬? does well is try to give each song a unique feel. â┚¬Ã…”Insuranceâ┚¬? has a sort of salsa mixed with rock feel which is weird at first but strangely compelling. â┚¬Ã…”Can anyone really love youngâ┚¬? is a John Mayer reminiscent love song. And what album would be complete without a string/synth ballad like â┚¬Ã…”Our movie rulesâ┚¬? to close out the full album. This album rarely, if ever, repeats itself in terms of style and feel which is good because too often records are coming with the same song repeated 12 times.
The record reminds me of the catchiness of â┚¬Ã…”Cute is what we aim forâ┚¬? but without the embarrassment of saying you listen to â┚¬Ã…”Cute is what we aim forâ┚¬?. After everything is said and done â┚¬Ã…”On Fireâ┚¬? is definitely worth checking out and most people will probably agree itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s worth the ten bucks.

Tracklisting
01. Insurance?
02. Guts
03. Rock My Body
04. Weapons Wired
05. Histrionics
06. Movement
07. Can Anyone Really Love Young
08. Darkpop
09. DARE
10. 31 Floors
11. Our Movie Rules
12. Pace Yourself (Patrick Stump Remix)

Tonight On DJ Rossstar

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Tune in tonight, Thursday, January 4th, 2007 from 7-8pm PST to hear a live in studio interview with I Am Ghost and a live phone interview with Escape The Fate. This is the Epitaph Records Show and we will be playing music from all Epitaph bands. You can listen from anywhere in the world by logging on to www.idobiradio.com and send us questions live by IMing the screen name: StaridobiԚ  For more info add www.myspace.com/djrossstar or djrossstar.buzznet.com.

The Higher Release Pace Yourself EP

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The Higher have released their digital EP Pace Yourself on iTunes. The new album was produced by Mike Green (The Matches, Paramore) and features the tracks “Weapons Wired”, “Movement”, “In The Set”, and “Pace Yourself” – which was remixed by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. The Pace Yourself EP comes in advance of the band’s debut Epitaph full length, On Fire, which is slated for release on March 6th, 2007!