January: “Happy Judgement Day” – Neck Deep
February: “Count On Me” – High Wire
March: “Playing Fiction” – ROAM
April: “Nothing Left” – Highlives
May: “All You Are Is History” – State Champs
June: “Something Wonderful” – Seaway
July: “Paradise” – Broadside
August: “On The Road” – Paper Rockets
September: “Out Of Time” – Cliffhanger
October: “Made In America” – Waterparks
November: “Gone” – Knuckle Puck
December: “Strawberry Moon” – Øff Guard
Rhode Island group Silence The Radio are reinvigorating pop-punk with their own upbeat and energetic take on the time-honored genre. The band is aiming for anthemic choruses and sing-along-ready lyrics, and as they hone their sound, they’re getting closer than ever. Their newest single “Friendly Neighborhood Nightmare” is an impressively catchy pop-rock track that isn’t made any less fun by its darker lyrical edge.
Favorites: “Friendly Neighborhood Nightmare,” “Gopher Gold,” “Worst Generation”
Similar to: Øff Guard, Survival Kit, The Gospel Youth
Interview:
How did you guys meet?
We met through playing shows together with our old bands in the Providence scene. We all became good friends through hanging out at shows.
You talk about being surrounded by metal and easycore in Providence. Do you think people were just waiting for a pop-punk band to come around?
We just wanted to play the music we liked to play. We love metal and easycore music, but pop-punk/pop-rock is what we’ve always wanted to play.
Do the lyrics or the music come first?
Usually it starts with vocals, then we write the instrumentals around the vocals.
Your music has a very early-2000s pop-punk feel. How do you feel like you’ve modernized that familiar sound?
It kind of just happens. We’ll be writing something new and naturally gravitate towards writing in that style.
What would your dream collab be?
Lil Yachty.
Both the song “Friendly Neighborhood Nightmare” and the video are pretty adorable. What was the inspiration behind that?
Thank you! “Friendly Neighborhood Nightmare” is sort of cute in tone, but has a dark underlying meaning. The light heartedness is kind of a front for the twisted meaning behind the song, but we also like cute stuff.
What’s your favorite show you’ve played so far?
Playing with Trophy Wives (Makeout) for their holiday show last year was nuts.
What do you think is the perfect environment for listening to your music?
Anywhere you want, but “Friendly Neighborhood” is a good party song.
What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?
Our new EP, “Friendly Neighborhood Nightmares” comes out December 1st on iTunes, Spotify and all other platforms. It’s a really powerful and emotional album, and we can’t wait to get it out there.
Watch the music video for “Friendly Neighborhood Nightmare” below:
Glass House Point released their “Midnight Appetite” EP featuring previously released singles “Polaris” and “Creatures.” Listen here.
The band is currently on the “Midnight Appetite Tour” supporting the EP. Tickets are available here.
Øff Guard released their debut EP “Set The Scene” today.
The band had this to say on their future:
“Since we are relatively new to the scene, we are going to do our best to hop on as direct support to any shows/tours that we can. After our EP release, we plan on doing a three-to-five day promotional tour across the Tri-State area with New York bands that we’ve grown a relationship with. We can’t wait to be those boys on our way to every venue blasting Post Malone and watching Futurama.”
Listen to “Set The Scene” here.
The 5-track EP “Old Wounds” is Cliffhanger’s third. Their gritty pop-punk style, reminiscent of ROAM’s early work, is energetic and fun-filled. Even the darker lyrics sound as though they come alongside a mental shrug, and the more antagonistic lyrics sound matter-of-fact rather than vindictive. Interlocking guitar lines provide a vibrant, solid backdrop that races along behind the vocals, reinforcing the sheer breakneck speed of “Old Wounds.”
Each track is fast-paced and high-energy, ensuring that listeners are immediately swept up in the EP’s exuberance, and aren’t let off until the record draws to a close. “Chicago Sunroof” is a mad dash of a song, dynamic guitar riffs and frantic drumming filling in any place the vocals don’t reach. “Barbed Wire” is a high-spirited track that feels like a realization, a fresh understanding that paves the way for “Dead-Weight” to make sense of the situation. “Dead-Weight” is cathartic and freeing, and finishes the EP off in a satisfying, case-closed kind of way.
Favorites: “Chicago Sunroof,” “Barbed Wire,” “Dead-Weight”
Similar to: Øff Guard, ROAM, High Wire
Related – EP Review + Interview: High Wire’s “Different Places”
Photo by Cory Ingram
On their first single “Maybe,” Øff Guard have an energetic and earnest charm that makes you want to listen to them. Matt Becker is capable of turning despondent lyrics around and flipping them on their heads until they come out sounding like promises of hope and a better future. On their newest single “Strawberry Moon,” Øff Guard present their polished pop-punk with a healthy dose of melancholy. The result is a graceful and forlorn track, which absorbs alternative influences to deliver more blended instrumentals. We’ll have to wait and see where the band go next, both emotionally and instrumentally.
Listen to their two singles “Strawberry Moon” and “Maybe”
Similar to: Homesafe, ROAM, High Wire
Interview:
How did you guys get into making music?
Tyler: Matt Becker, Doug, and I went to high school together. I was in my first band with Matt Becker back in the 10th grade. I met Matt Weiss while going to Nassau Community College with Matt Becker (Becker found him first) and we have all been music compadres ever since. Nick Kolokathis has always been a part of the Long Island Music scene and growing up. He, Matt Weiss, and Matt Becker have been in various bands. Matt Weiss was a solo artist at the time when he asked the current band members to join his live band. After a while, we decided to get more serious and form Off Guard.
You’re from Long Island. What’s the music scene like there? Has it helped influence your sound?
Matt B: The Long Island music scene is pretty diverse. The two main genres on the island are hardcore and pop-punk but you can always find a mixed bill of different sounding acts. Big acts like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday have definitely influenced our sound but working with Matt Lagatutta of Giants At Large on our debut EP has also had a big influence on us.
Which artists have had the most influence on you as a band?
Matt W: I like to think that bands like Pierce The Veil, Mayday Parade, and Foo Fighters have a heavy influence on our sound
What’s the last album you listened to?
Nick: I’ve been jamming to PVRIS most recent album “All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell” on my record player.
What’s one thing you want people to know about Øff Guard?
We have 3 shows coming up in October. 10/11 we’re going to be at Amityville Music Hall with Postcards, 10/17 we’ll be at The Kingsland in Brooklyn with 7 Minutes in Heaven, and 10/27 is our EP release show at Shaker’s Pub with Forever Losing Sleep!!!!
What’s your favorite guilty pleasure song?
Doug: Burning up by The Jonas Brothers……but there’s more…
If your music were the soundtrack to a TV show, what do you think it would be?
The Original Scooby-Doo cartoon series.
You’re releasing a new single “Strawberry Moon” on September 29th. What’s the story behind this song?
Matt W: The song is about an ex girlfriend of mine from last Summer. The lyrics are about how hard it is to let someone go. Moving on is hard, but I think putting those emotions in words and melodies make it bearable.
What are your plans for the near future?
We plan on playing as many shows as possible to promote our upcoming EP ‘Set The Scene’ in 2017-2018. We also plan on writing during this period of time for a second EP down the line.
Listen to Øff Guard’s newest single “Strawberry Moon” here.
Related – EP Review + Interview: High Wire’s “Different Places”
Photo by Holly Turner
The band had this to say on the new single:
“I think we can all relate to a song about needing to be on your own to find yourself. This song is a metaphor for all of the hard work that we’ve done and the things that we had to leave behind going into adulthood. We want people to be hit with the same feelings and thoughts that we were experiencing when we wrote the song.”
Listen to “Strawberry Moon” here.
The Offbeat 