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Music Video Reviews

The Ivy Walls “Getaway Driver” Review By Samantha Ponoroff
Newcomer, The Ivy Walls’ music video for their single “Getaway Driver” is unoriginal. The video employs the done-over and boring format of juxtaposing the safe and calmness of a band playing on a rooftop with a dangerously dramatic world, located a mere twenty stories below, on the ground. As the video continues, and the real world characters lead us from a robbery to the desert, the audience cannot help but cringe: haven’t we seen videos like this a million times?
Despite The Ivy Walls’ good sound, the “Getaway Driver” video is tedious and boring; once the audience sees the girls running away incognito with suspicious black bags they know what will inevitably occur, an escape to a place (in this case, the desert) where they think no one will find them. And even worse, The Ivy Walls, in thinking they made an artistic break-through, covered the entire end of their video with successively darker stages of the color yellow: no, the color yellow did not make me think of the girls’ final state of complacency as they reach their personal nirvana, it made me think that the director did not know his way around Final Cut Pro.

The Futureheads “Heartbeat Song” Review By Samantha Ponoroff
Finally, something I can listen to without cringing. Although their lyrics may not be of the highest quality, The Futureheads have a very unique sound—a sound that intrigues their listeners. The video accompanying “Heartbeat Song,” again not stellar, definitely has its moments: their retro-inspired game show is very cute-sey. All in all, The Futureheads have potential, but definitely need work: their lyrics need major retouching and their videos need to have more of a story life. But, needless to say, The Futureheads are much closer to fame than many of the other struggling bands and artists out there.

Blowing Trees “Goblins” Review By Samantha Ponoroff
After watching this video a few times, I have come to the conclusion that the star is not the lead singer, Chris Madden; the star of this video is its director, Ryan Scheer. While the band delivers music reminiscent of a bad high school sponsored concert, Scheer makes use of stunning visuals through his manipulation of light, televisions and angles. Because of his artful manipulation of the camera and light, Ryan Scheer is who should be remembered when one watches this video: he is the strongest artist in association with this lackluster band and their lackluster song, “Goblins,”
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Tim Barry Show

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“Standing in Line to See the Show Tonight”
By Diana Ciuca

With my flower headband on and shiny European shirt, I felt out of place at the Thursday Night show. It wasn’t filled with the usual crowd of wasteful teenagers that have nothing better to do on their Saturday night. Instead, hardcore fans and devoted musicians composed the line outside the doors of The Culture Room. After my down-to-earth interview with Tim Barry, one of the opening acts, I joined anxious rockers in the smoke-filled room. Few sported Against Me! Shirts (a taboo, since it is beyond lame to wear the shirt of the band to their concert) while most fashioned the usual tight black shirt with another similarly cool group on them (i.e. Bad Religion, Anti-Flag…) while featuring their badass piercings and tattoos. My Vans flip flops stood out in the mass of converse All-Stars like a hot air balloon at a Blue Angels Air Show.

Ninja Gun, from Georgia, was the first group to hit the stage. With evident energy, they played their short songs to less-than-responsive group. People don’t react too warmly to opening bands. Yet, after every strong round of applause, the lead singer, a cute fellow (who resembled Elmer Fudd a bit), uttered, “ ’preciate it.” Their songs might have failed to get the crowd moving beyond an occasional clap party due to the lack of intense instrumentation, but mostly, I believe, to the light airy feeling of the music that would attract more of a pop/folk following than necessarily punk/folk.

Tim Barry, from Richmond, Virginia modestly walked onto the staged, grabbed his guitar and started jamming, without need for much explanation. Swaying passionately back and forth, he recalled memories of his hometown, past relationships, and even politics. The audience went wild as their connected to Tim based on their collective fallibility. Tim Barry sang of the misrepresentations of society along with the mistakes of human beings. With subjects like those, along with heartfelt thank you’s to the thrilled crowd, he won over even the most dispassionate spectators. He finished with an ad-lib.’d “Thank you guys again, I’m gonna go walk my dog now. She’s been waiting in the van for me.”

Against Me! finally decided to show up around 10:30 pm, after an extensive ‘instrument check’ and fog-set up. While waiting, the crowd did not grow too dissuaded, as many joked, “I remember when they used to tune their guitars on the own, not have someone else do it for them,” and “You know that a band is more popular based on the amount of time it takes between opening bands and their show time.” My favorite comment was from the back, someone ludicrously shouting, “I’m so excited for the Jonas Brothers! This is the Jonas Brothers Concert, right?” The sarcasm eased the tension as we all knew that the show was worth waiting and that (Thank God) this is not a Jonas Brothers concert – where a fully decorated Jo Bros shirtwould not be uncommon.

The band came on. The audience goes crazy. As if the place wasn’t already stuffed, with waves of pushing knocking people over, people started bouncing around once the first drum was beat. For not being the biggest Against Me! fan, I could recognize and sing along to most of their songs. However, there was not too much singing going on as the ‘bigger’ guys started crashing into each other in the center of the pit. I got pitted a few times – most of my own volition. Other instances, a rogue wave hit me, and I was ingested into the sweaty, pounding center. It was a good idea that I had left my camera with the merch guy, or else it would have suffered the same fate as my flip flops. Granted, my shoe choice was a horrible idea, almost as bad as paying $100 to see the Jonas Brothers last year. Nevertheless, they were gone, lost into the muck of the mosh pit. Guys started taking their shirts off, sweat everywhere… Music became of secondary importance to survival. A show is only as good as the energy through the audience; that energy was engulfing. Against Me! finished their set with mostly songs from New Wave, and even a few from As The Eternal Cowboy, along with Reinventing Axl Rose.

After pleas and lyrical demands from the audience, they finally concluded with a 4 song encore. Fretfully, I stared at my watch, knowing that it was way past my bed-time. Yet, all the agitation and waiting was definitely worth it. The pop/punk/folk/country/punk show left me with a couple of bruises, notably on my feet, but also a desire to explore the welcoming realm of punk-folk music.

Neon Trees create buzz in the music scene

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By Alison Sikes NYU

Utah. A state known for its outdoor activities and scenic views, not for flash and bright colors. Alternative band Neon Trees hopes to electrify their home state’s reputation.  Self-described as post-pop punk, Neon Trees’ sound is infectious, entertaining, and dance-worthy.  Lead singer Tyler Glenn accredits bands like Passion Pit and The Big Pink as well as French DJs to their enthralling music. These influences are apparent in their first single “Animal.” The catchy song is a solid debut about comparing the start of a relationship to…well, to an animal. The upcoming video for “Animal” also takes from an interesting source of influence—Batman. As a teenager, Glenn loved superheroes like X-Men and of course, The Dark Knight. The band drew from their love of the Tim-Burton-directed Batman and paid homage to the Joker scene in which he and his cronies wreak havoc in an art gallery. Whether inspired by caped-crusaders or by electronic tastemakers, prepare for Neon Trees’ forthcoming album, Habits, to be filled with seductive vocals and hard-edged tracks about the habits of a relationship. Be sure to give Habits a listen when it is released on March 16th!