Thursday, March 27, 2008

Free Album Success from Pennywise

"Who goes to buy a new pair of pants without trying them on, you know? If you're a band you should be so confident in your music you can say, 'Here, try it. If you like it, buy it." -Pennywise



my favorite discussion



Recently Punk Rock champions Pennywise released their 104th album on Myspace Records...for free. Pennywise, who dissolved their contract with Epitaph Records because Epitaph wasn't excited to release another record, and signed with Myspace Records.



They decided to release their album, Reason to Believe, for free on their myspace page, for anyone and everyone to download. the result? 400,000 downloads, a top 50 single on the Billboard, and getting their message out to more and more people.



I've long supported to the idea of giving an album away for free in order to get more people to hear it, and now i'm in good company with Pennywise, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead to name a few.



Here's the interview with Pennywise discussing the album downloads and stuff.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Show Recap: Comeback Kid @ Marquis 3/3/08

Oh man, i haven't been to a show in a couple of months, and it was worth the wait

Last night Isaac and I took in a great show at the Marquis Theatre in downtown Denver, Comeback Kid and Crime in Stereo. i'm hurting today.

First Band - Crooked Way: These guys were alright, they're from Denver and you could tell that they were a little raw. They were taking the place of Daggermouth who dropped off the tour about a week ago. Anyway, they were reminiscent of old Comeback Kid, Bane and Champion, good vocals, average guitar work/riffs, and pretty week drumming. They just didn't have any creativity and lacked energy.

Second Band - Steel Nation: Brutal. typical tough-guy east coast hardcore, and man this set was intense. Isaac and i feared for our lives when a fight broke out about halfway through the set between some tough-tattooed dudes. The music was heavy and thumping, and the vocals were very intense, but i wasn't able to identify any of the words. These kinds of bands are what turn people off to hardcore/punk music. They had a pretty good crowd response so apparently they've got a following, i'm just not tough-enough for them

Third Band - Crime in Stereo: I was impressed with CIS. Definitely the most laid-back band of the night, apparently CIS had some van trouble and arrived at the venue about an hour before performing. This band is more pop-punk than hardcore, but they have a pretty good following. they played well, the singer's voice was pretty tired and he failed to hit some notes which came across pretty bad but besides that they played most of the good songs like Sudan, I Stateside and others.

Last Band - Comeback Kid: This was the 3rd time i've seen CBK and it might have been the best. This was their first headlining tour in Denver and that made a huge difference. Andrew has totally improved as a frontman, and he was able to maintain energy throughout the entire set despite the altitude and sheer energy CBK requires. the set featured songs from all three albums and it was almost obvious that the new album hasn't quite hit it off with fans, they played Broadcasting, Defeated and Giv'r and those were the 3 weakest songs of the set. highlights woulds have to be All In A Year, False Idols Fall, Talk is Cheap and the closer Wake the Dead. I was planning on bringing a lot of people to this show since CBK is the shining example of great sing-along hardcore, but that didn't happen.

All in all it was a long wait for one great set. i should have stayed home to skip the first 2 bands but whatever. Keep your ear out for Comeback Kid, they've made some appearances on MTV2 and i'm sure they'll continue to gain momentum.