Recently I have been on a Go Radio kick. I am not complaining by any means; I just wanted to share with you one of my favorite songs and videos by them. This is one of their biggest and most popular songs, and you may have heard it, but here is the music video for Goodnight Moon by Go Radio (directly below it is a piano version).
Day 5's Pick: Coffee Shop Soundtrack by All Time Low
The band All Time Low originally started as a bunch of high school guys wanting to make a Blink-182 cover band. By the time they had graduated high school, they had already signed with their second record label, Hopeless Records. They have since released five studio albums and are now signed to the record label, Interscope.
My love for All Time Low is very bittersweet. I love their guitar tones, and catchy lyrics but I really dislike what they stand for and how they act. Their shows are energetic and killer to be at, but girls legitimately bring extra bras that they write messages on and throw at them, and the band collects them and hangs them from their mic stands. It is disgusting. Not to mention their language on stage. I went to one of their shows in Chicago with some of my friends and I have never heard the F bomb dropped so many times in a two hour time span. Ironically enough, it was one of the most fun shows I have been too. Weird, I know! I don't get it. It might have to do with the memories that came from it like our car getting towed in downtown Chicago, getting punched by a girl, and having a chance to talk to my celebrity musician crush, Cassadee Pope after the show. None the less, a lot of what they stand for and do on stage disgusts me but I love their sound and how talented they are.
Anyways, I digress. The song Coffee Shop Soundtrack was the song that introduced me to the band. Ever since then, I have been hooked. The video carries a humorous theme similar to the Forever The Sickest Kids video I posted yesterday. The song is pretty self explanatory so feel free to check out the videos.
Also, with his being the last installment of the Unplugged series, I decided to add a video of the band performing this song live as well. If you are interested in seeing the energy of their shows that I mentioned, then feel free to check it out. However, I will warn you that as I mentioned, they do like to use vulgar language so if that bothers you, I wouldn't watch that one! Also, due to Hopeless Records' policies, I can't post the original video on my blog, so here is a link for it:
Day 4's Pick is: "She Likes (Bittersweet Love)" by Forever the Sickest Kids
Forever the Sickest Kids is a group based out of Dallas, Texas. The guys rely on their catchy vocals and melodic guitar riffs to keep their jams stuck in your head. I almost can't even go an entire week without having one of their choruses stuck in my head for an afternoon or more! Another big plus of this group is the humor they bring to their performances and videos. You can see this exhibited in both the music video and even the acoustic performance. In essence, they are a bunch of goofballs who love to play music which makes for some awesome entertainment!
The song "She Likes" is one of my favorites because it features vocals from an array of their members. At least four of the members have some vocals in the album version, and three of them have lines in the acoustic version which cool because it brings variety to the table. Caleb, the guitarist who sings first, has my personal favorite voice out of the group. I also enjoy it because it features their humor that I mentioned before. So, check out the videos and let me know what you think! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for the final installment of my Unplugged Series!
The band Boys Like Girls is very intriguing to me. I loved their first album, but was very disappointed in the direction they decided to take off of stage and for their follow up release. They released a self-titled full length album in 2006 focused around catchy pop vocals followed by their synth heavy and auto-tune laden release Love Drunk in 2009. I also have heard a lot of rumors that as the group became more popular, the guys started acting like jerks which is unfortunately a common side effect of fame in the music industry.
On a brighter note, their lyrics relate to a lot of aspects of life ranging from relationships to the chaos of life. Their first album was on constant repeat during the last month of my sophomore year of high school and throughout that summer. Some stand out tracks to me were "The Great Escape," "Hero-Heroine," and today's unplugged pick "Thunder."
Thunder was the first song that the group wrote together and it is one of my all time favorite songs! Especially the acoustic version. I don't want to bore you with a lengthy description of the song because vocalist Martin Johnson explains his meaning behind the song in the video of the acoustic performance; but I do want to give my reasoning as to why I like this song so much. I apologize for getting all soft on you here, but I feel like it captures the essence of what I want in a relationship/my future marriage. Kind of ironic I know, since the song is about a summer's love lost; but that's how I correlate it and that is just me. Feel free to ask me about this sometime if you want further detail and I would be glad to explain!
Sorry again for going all lame and cheesy there for a minute but I really hope that you enjoy both videos and have a great night!
Be sure to check back tomorrow for my second to last pick of the week!
I first discovered LIGHTS when searching YouTube for Owl City stuff. She has such a unique style that not many artists can match, but carries a similarity to Adam Young of Owl City. LIGHTS was started in 2006 by 19 year old Valerie Poxleitner in her bedroom with a synthesizer and key-tar. She made a couple of low budget music videos and slowly built a fan base. Later on she released her first full-length followed by an acoustic EP, which is phenomenal and I would highly suggest it to anyone to check out on YouTube or Spotify if you have an account on there. It is just titled "LIGHTS Acoustic." She is also featured on the Silverstein song "The End" which I would also suggest to anyone! Overall I could just listen to her voice forever haha.
The music video for Second Go is awesome! The creativity in it just captures the essence of who LIGHTS is. Also, I personally think that it would be really fun to do something like that one day just for the heck of it, which makes the video more appealing to me! Well, I will stop rambling now but make sure to check out the videos and let me know what you think of her style!
Don't forget to check back tomorrow for another song!
Hello! This is the first installment of my week long series on "Unplugged" versions of some of my favorite songs. Each day I will post a little about one of my favorite songs and include the band's music video and an unplugged, or acoustic version of that song.
Getting things started off, I chose Skyway Avenue by the band We the Kings. We the Kings have provided some awesome memories in my life from driving around with friends blaring their album during my high school years to even getting dropped on asphalt while crowd surfing during their set at the 2010 Vans Warped Tour in Indianapolis and then later receive around 20 text messages from people who saw it happen. Needless to say, I definitely have a lot of stories that involve their music!
Their song Skyway Avenue was one of the first songs that got me into the Pop/Punk genre. I was getting ready for school one morning and the video for it came on FuseTV and I was hooked right away. The video is very creative and unique compared to a lot of others out there and that is what caught my attention. The acoustic video posted below it is from one of their acoustic sets at a Best Buy in Tennessee. Granted, Travis' voice isn't as good live as it is in produced recordings, but I love the emotion that he puts into his writings. I hope you like the videos, and remember to check back tomorrow for another one of my favorite songs unplugged!
Music impacts us daily. Whether we realize it or not, or even believe it. It has the capability and power to express the things that we are so excited about and even the things we are wrestling with deep within us. Music is one of my greatest passions in life. This has led to my drive to create this blog, which is to use it as a venue to share with everyone the music that is effecting me. I hope you enjoy!
My plan for this space is to collect the thoughts, stories and wonderings of my mind as I try to process my encounters through traveling and chasing the horizon of this winding road. As we begin, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andrew. I am an Indiana boy through and through, with a heart for music and people. I am a strong believer in community and sharing in the joys and struggles through life. I am blessed with the opportunity to travel the country doing what I love, with people that I love. I hope that this serves as a medium for you to join along in my journey.
I first discovered LIGHTS when searching YouTube for Owl City stuff. She has such a unique style that not many artists can match, but carries a similarity to Adam Young of Owl City. LIGHTS was started in 2006 by 19 year old Valerie Poxleitner in her bedroom with a synthesizer and key-tar. She made a couple of low budget music videos and slowly built a fan base. Later on she released her first full-length followed by an acoustic EP, which is phenomenal and I would highly suggest it to anyone to check out on YouTube or Spotify if you have an account on there. It is just titled "LIGHTS Acoustic." She is also featured on the Silverstein song "The End" which I would also suggest to anyone! Overall I could just listen to her voice forever haha.
Getting things started off, I chose Skyway Avenue by the band We the Kings. We the Kings have provided some awesome memories in my life from driving around with friends blaring their album during my high school years to even getting dropped on asphalt while crowd surfing during their set at the 2010 Vans Warped Tour in Indianapolis and then later receive around 20 text messages from people who saw it happen. Needless to say, I definitely have a lot of stories that involve their music! 
