Again, I am sifting through a Warped Tour compilation and I stumble upon Tsunami Bomb’s ’20 Going on …” I was instantly hooked by Emily Whitehurst’s vocals and went out and purchased their two LPs. About a year later, I was extremely disappointed that the group had broken up. Then while reading through the October 08 edition of my Alternative Press magazine and read about The Action Design, which featured none other than Emily Whitehurst. I instantly put their EP and LP on my Christmas list and was quite pleased when Santa delivered.
The Action Design fall into the dance-punk genre, however, they are not dependent on the keyboard like most others are in this realm. They rely on bouncy rhythm and frantic guitars along with Emily’s awesome vocal range. This is a group that I just can’t help but shake my ass too and sing along with. One diss on them could be the lack of variety on their albums, but as a big fan, if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. I absolutely love female vocals fronting a rock band. To me, there is just something about the female voice that helps you feel the music.
With only an one EP and one LP summing up to 16 tracks, this should be a pretty quick week. I expect reviews finished by noon on Saturday, just kidding. I hope you all enjoy listening to one of my favorite vocalists.
Suggested listening:
Into a Sound (2007)
Never Say (2008)
Suggested listening:
Into a Sound (2007)
Never Say (2008)
Into a Sound (2007)
ReplyDeleteAlthough Thomas’ and my taste in music only cross paths from time to time and at other times can be quite opposite (see last week), I can appreciate a good vocalist when I hear one. I wouldn’t say she’s my favorite of all time, but then again I tend to prefer male vocalists. Most of the time, female-fronted bands annoy me. That being said, I do like her voice, just not as much as, say, a Hayley Williams, for example. (This comparison will make more sense as you read on.)
I liked the track “Eyes on Me” and the upbeat feeling that carried throughout the rest of the EP. I’m not really sure what I expected but the music was more unique than I thought it would be. Thomas was right about the frantic guitars, which I think was an interesting element that added to that more unique sound. I would liken the band to a sort of lighter version of Paramore kind of mixed with a Gwen Stefani-esque influence.
It’s funny that I decided to do my writing early because today actually was “Laundry Day" for me. I just thought that was a weird coincidence I would share. I liked the production on that song when I heard it on headphones, with the vocals coming at me from the right and the band coming from the left. It was kind of disorienting but in a good way, so I guess I would call that my highlight for the album.
Never Say (2008)
ReplyDeleteStarting off, I thought I wouldn’t like the second CD as much as the first - something about the intro to the first track that was a little harsh and off-putting. Further into the song, though, once I settled into the lyrics, that feeling started to fade away a bit.
With only a year between the two, I didn't hear as much of a difference production-wise like I have mentioned with other bands. I don't know if there was much room to grow in that time, but I see they are still kicking, so we may see that progress yet.
I thought “Could, Not Should” added a little something special to the album by slowing down the pace of the music and stopping instead to showcase the lead singer’s voice which is a highlight for the band.
For some reason, I’m getting the feeling that this band would make much more of an impact live. I haven’t seen video or anything but it seems like Emily’s personality onstage might be interesting to see.
As it stands, I didn’t LOVE the band but probably would give these albums another listen. I could see how they might grow on me. Thanks for the pick Thomas.
I actually listened to all the Action Design albums on our way home from A-town after Halloween. The only problem with doing that was, I am side tracked with the baby, and usually not giving it my full attention. Today I had to run a few errands and threw in the albums while driving around.
ReplyDeleteThe first album was pretty good. I REALLY liked the song, “Eyes on Me” it was very catchy and I could see myself listening to that track over and over and not getting tired of it. I can’t tell if she is talking about having a stalker, or if she is just overly paranoid. The other song I really like was, “City Committee” Emily’s voice had a very pretty tone on the slower parts, and I liked how the song built up in tempo. The song I did not like on this album was actually, “Laundry Day.” This is quite weird for me since I usually like the slower music. This song just did not fit in well for me with the other tracks. I actually in this instance prefer to keep the livelier tempo going.
On “Never Say” the album starts off on that upbeat tempo I have come to appreciate from this group. I like the first song, “Half a World,” I think it is a good intro song and I like the use of the guitars in the song. I like how on this album it is very much like the previous album, I usually like when bands stay true to themselves and don’t try to change themselves to drastically to keep up with the more popular music. Although there was only one year in between the albums it will be interesting to see what there next album is like. There have not been any songs that I have disliked so far, although there have not been any songs that I like as much as, “Eyes on Me.” Just got to “Could not Should” and I have to say I like the slow tempo and background music to this one. Go figure it I am being a hypocrite and saying I like this song for that reasoning. Thomas has played the last song on this album for me a few times prior to us doing Action Design week. I am guessing this is his favorite song of theirs but not sure. It may be the fact that he has played it for me before, but I too like this song.
I am actually surprised that I have liked this group as much as I have. One reason being this is a little out of my usual realm of music, but that is why I joined this little club in the first place, so I could see what else is out there. Good pick Thomas.
BTW I did not read Laura's post before putting mine up, they are however quite similar....WEIRD!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I really like that Tsunami Bomb song you embedded; David and I were talking about how they were a staple of Warped Tour forever. I can always remember seeing their name on some stage's schedule but never knowing anything about them. With that said, I forgot to get the EP from David before he left but I am listening to the LP as I am typing this. For this I'm sorry, but I am going to listen to some more Tsunami Bomb and do a little contrasting and comparing.
ReplyDelete"Half a World" grabs my attention immediately as the guitar signatures could easily make this a Glassjaw tune. Emily's voice is pleasant but seems to get lost under the guitars in this song. "Ten Feet of Snow" does not sound like a band that is rooted in a dance-punk background, I think it's refreshing that they're not one of those bands that has an album full of the same song over and over. "Pale Horizon" has a synthy, 80's groove that goes great with Emily's poppy croon that reminds me a lot of Belinda Carlisle when she was fronting the Go-Go's (that reference really dates me). "Lounge in Formation" has a fun bouncy tempo that at times has ska/reggae influences a la The Police. I know it's been said but it is very evident that this band would be better experienced in concert, the drums would be better served in a live setting as they are muffled on tracks like "Tokoyo Train". I feel on most of the tracks the instruments are turned down as not to drown out Emily's voice. I really dug the bassline on "Empty Face" and get the idea that these guys are a more grown up version of Paramore.
I checked out Tsunami Bomb's album "Ultimate Escape" and really wish you would have included this in our listening because it's a great mixture of old fashion chug-along punk and pop punk. I would go as far to say, AFI with a female singer. This album helped me understand Emily's transition to Action Design. I'm very picky about my female lead singers, Emily passed the test. I want to thank Thomas for intoducing me to Tsunami Bomb and rekindling my love of punk music.
I can remember seeing Emily Whitehurst with her previous band Tsunami Bomb at one of the few Warped Tours I went to in the early part of this decade. I remember thinking then that she had a really good, powerful voice, and due to this the band stood out to me amongst the other mostly generic pop-punk bands that were there at the time. More recently, I heard her name again due to her brother Logan being in a band that I liked called The Velvet Teens, and the notoriety that their family got in the indie world due to his early passing from brain cancer a few years ago. I had never heard of The Action Design when I first saw that it was one of Thomas’ picks for this project, but was pleased to find out that they wouldn’t be a completely unknown commodity once I discovered who their vocalist was.
ReplyDeleteUpon my first listen to “Into a Sound”, the thing that stood out to me the most was of course, Emily’s voice. Beyond that, though, the 80s synth sounds that were on ‘The Scissor Game’ were pretty interesting, and showed me that she was going in a different direction than she had with Tsunami Bomb. The electronic elements seemed to continue on at times throughout the rest of the EP, which I thought was a nice contrast to what otherwise was some fairly un-inspiring instrumental work. Emily’s voice makes up for a lot of the lack of innovation with the guitars though, and it’s especially great on the loud, bombastic choruses. Overall, I think think that it was a fairly promising beginning for the band, and I think that if they follow what were some slight post-punk hints in portions of the songs that the next album may be a bit more to my liking.
Well, based on the first song on “Never Say”, it sounds as if I may have predicted the direction that the band was going to take on their first full-length album. ‘Half a World’ definitely has more of the spiky, angular post-punk guitars that I like, along with a really good chorus. ‘Ten Feet of Snow’ is basically a carbon-copy of the previous song, but it’s still a template that I like fairly well, so the band could keep this kind of thing up for a while before it starts to get repetitive. In all I think that my complaint of the previous album has been resolved for the most part on this album with the band trying to be more original in terms of instrumental songwriting, but there are still some traces of unoriginality, especially on a song like ‘Landmines’, which despite it’s loud vocal chorus, it just doesn’t seem to go anywhere. This is followed up by my favorite song by the band though, in ‘The Crossing’, as I really like the chiming guitar during the verses and how it plays against the bass-line. I still think that there’s more room for the band to grow, but I think that this album was definitely a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the sound of the band, as I didn’t expect to hear so much of the post-punk sound, and just assumed that they would follow the pop-punk course that so many of their Warped Tour brethren have taken in the years since that type of music was really in it’s heyday. I must admit that I’m pleased with the path they did choose to go down, and while I’ll definitely say that I’ve heard quite a few better bands that play a similar kind of music (the band Metric being a good suggestion for Thomas if he’s looking for an example of what I’m talking about), I still thought that altogether The Action Design were a pretty good band (one I liked better than Tsunami Bomb), and that Thomas is a fairly solid 2 for 2 in his picks.