That's The Spirit - Bring Me The Horizon

That's The Spirit is quite a new sound from Bring Me The Horizon, if you listened to this album straight after listening to Suicide Season, you'd probably question if you're even listening to the same band. However, with that said, I think that it's perfectly fine that Bring Me The Horizon have experimented with their sound. People have said that they're doing it to sound more 'mainstream' in order to get more fans.. then more money. What I think though, is so i'll give you a little comparison. When you were 5 years old what was your favourite tv show? Is that still your favourite or have you matured and found something new? You may still really love that tv show from when you were 5, but it's unlikely to be your favourite. As we grow we develop more and more, we start to enjoy different thinks and develop our interests. So with that being said, Bring Me The Horizon started off with 'This is what the edge of your seat was made for' and have slowly been developing more and more to get to where they are right now, each one of their albums is very different so that's evidence that they didn't just randomly change their sound. It's been a process. While it very well could be for the money, who cares right? Being in the band is literally their job, and we're not the only people who have to benefit from it.

So anyway, enough of that rant. Lets talk music. This 11 track album is jammed packed with a bunch of songs about depression and how it is often romanticised, and are absolute gold.

1. Doomed
This song, being the first on the album we hear, really sets their new sound up. It's a lot more electronic than their previous music, and the lyrics at the start remind me a little bit of their song 'Can You Feel My Heart. When I click on this album, even though this song is at the top, it's not the first one I choose to listen to. It's not my favourite Bring Me The Horizon song, however in saying that, it isn't a bad song.

2. Happy Song
Every album has a song that basically defines it, quite often that song shares the same title as the album, this isn't named after the album but it sure sounds like it could be with the constant chant of 'That's The Spirit". This song's lyrics and melody are extremely catchy and I find after listening to it, I am usually left humming the tune

3. Throne
This song proves what I was saying about the album being filled with 'gold', it's really just amazing.

4. True Friends
I really like the message behind this song, Oli stated that the lyrics of the song are about "certain people about a situation that really caught [him] up. But to be honest, it applies to a lot of people I've known throughout my life. I don't hold anger or hate towards anyone, maybe I used to but it's just too draining of an emotion. And this song is about making peace with those situations. It's about letting those people know that [he] can forget but [he] will never forgive. From here on out, [he'll] always keen tham at arms length.

5. Follow You
This is probably one of my favourite songs on the album. It's quite different from the old Bring Me The Horizon, as it's a love song.. and so goddamn sweet.

6. What You Need
What You Need is another really catchy song, and also kind of relaxed. Lyrically this song is about close minded people who only accept what they've learnt in school or been bought up by their parents. They refuse to open their ears to an alternative. People like this frustrate me so much, so I understand completely where Oli is coming from in this song.

7. Avalanche
The drums at the beginning of this song always make me either tap my foot, pretend to drum with my hands or sort of shake my body side to side along with the beat. I think that the song uses a perfect balance of sort of relaxed instruments during the verses and in the chorus' and it picks up and makes me want to dance and sing along.

8. Run
When I'm in the mood to get outside and exercise, or even when I'm indoors on the treadmill this song is always on my playlist. Not just because of the name of the song, but also because the beat and rhythm of the song is perfect for the pace I like to keep.

9. Drown
The first single of the album, with a slightly strange video clip. Drown obviously sounds like a hit song, it's catchy, and personally makes me want to dance.

10. Blasphemy
This is my absolute favourite song on the album. The message in the lyrics about religion it shares I completely agree with. And the song it's self is just brilliant in my opinion.

11. Oh No
When this song first starts, it sounds quite different and almost reminds me of Twenty One Pilots. This song is quite relaxed and also catchy like the rest of the album. I personally feel like it ends the album on a really good note.

So all in all, a truely magnificent album by Bring Me The Horizon. Make sure you have a listen if you haven't already. 



Yours Truely,
whothefuckiseh?
xoxo

Soundwave

Saturday 21st of February 2015, a.k.a the best fkn day of my life, I attended soundwave (Australian music festival) for the first, and sadly last time.
The day started off with little sleep, due to excitement. I stayed at my best friends house with two of my best friends. We quickly got ready, tied our hair back and wore shorts and band shirts. My friends parents drove us to the Melbourne Showgrounds, as we figured public transport would most likely be quite busy.
The weather was absolutely beautiful, meaning it had already made me so happy when I woke up (good weather is always a good start to the day). When we finally arrived at the venue, after a slightly long drive, we came face to face with the biggest line I've ever seen in my life. I can't remember how long we actually spent in the line waiting to get into the venue, but once the gates opened it did move quite quickly and soon enough we had passed the gates into an unforgettable day.

The three of us had studied the line up and when every band was playing the night before, and had all agreed on which band we'd see when. First on our list was Dayshell at Stage 3. This band was an absolute must for me to see, as they'd helped me through a bunch of shit the year following up to this day. And it really was a great way to kick off Soundwave by seeing them. My two best friends had never been to a concert or festival so the first band they saw live was these guys. As it was only the start of the day, the crowd was awfully shy and just stood there and watched the guys play. That or they were watching and had no fkn idea who these amazing people were. (I seriously 110% recommend listening to dayshell if you haven't already, cause they're so good!)
It came to the second last song of their set, and I was slightly horrified that I hadn't screamed along with their songs, purely because no one else was and I didn't want to be the only one in the crowd singing.. I didn't want to look like "that fan girl". But my next decision did not help me with that. In between the songs, the lead singer had stopped to get a drink of water, and I took this as my opportunity to scream "I love you Shayley!" However, now I was not aware girls voices could do this, but my voice broke like a 12 year old boy's, which caused, no joke, every one in front of me to turn around and stare at me. Probably one of my most embarrassing moments in my life, but my friends found it hilarious. So after that we didn't stay for the last song, but that wasn't the reason why. The night before we had agreed not to stay for their whole set as This Wild Life  was playing at the same time and we wanted to see them as well.
This Wild Life were playing on stage 5, that was the only one indoors, and even though it was still the morning.. well basically lunch time, it was already getting very hot in there. We got to see them play a couple of songs, including their cover of Bring Me The Horizon's 'sleepwalking' (which was amazing). If you're looking for a band that's really, really chill.. like the sort of music you could listen to before you go to bed, or to calm you down before an exam, listen to these guys. I really don't understand why their genre is listed at pop-punk as it's all so relaxing and calm.

After we saw This Wild Life, there weren't really any bands playing that we were extremely keen to see live so we took this opportunity to get some lunch. Mind you, the food at Soundwave was ridiculously priced. near the food area we saw a giant shed and wandered down to it. This shed was where the meet and greets would be held, I can't remember exactly but I think you had to pay $2 to meet your favourite band (well not all the bands were doing this). Unfortunately there was limited places and they had mostly been taken up already. So if I can give you any advice for if Soundwave ever comes back, go here first to assure your place! Anyway so we ate our lunch while sitting on some plants, Yes on plants, there weren't any free seats around where we were. Then we wandered over to the free water area, filled up our bottles then went to have a look around the tents filled with an amazing amount of merchandise. After we had bought some shirts and what not, we went over to Stage 2 where we waited for Tonight Alive. To me tonight alive were one of those bands I loved but not very openly. Like I didn't have any of their merch or posters and *cringes* Only knew who Jenna was in the band. So when I saw the crowd they pulled I was so shocked. I never realised just how big they were. The performance they put on was seriously so good. They're really an 11 out of 10 kinda band, especially when it comes to playing live. If you ever get the chance to see them, 100% do it! So because their crowd was so huge, AND it was that time of day when it was the hottest I learnt the hard way not to wear so much make up in a mosh pit. All of my foundation was dripping off my face and into my eyes along with my mascara and eyeliner. So I had very, very irritated eyes. I did not purposely cry the first time seeing Tonight Alive. I just could barely see them cause my eyes hurt so much.. and it didn't help that I was rubbing them. Everyone's sweat was making this mosh pit feel more and more like a swimming pool as we jumped and slipped around off each other. It's totally gross thinking back at it now, but it was just kinda normal at the time.. and we could't exactly help it.

Straight after Tonight Alive played, All Time Low were playing on Stage 1. We could still see Tonight Alive from stage 1 so we went over there to get a good spot for All Time Low. (We did take a quick detour to the water stands so that I could wash my face and fix my eyes). All Time Low had been number 1 on my "have to see live" list for a really long time. They were my gateway band into this music scene. So you could only imagine just how happy I was seeing them. I was beginning to feel quite exhausted from having the hot sun on me and doing intense cardio all day, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them. Jack and Alex shared their usual banter on stage, Alex ripped a hole in his jeans and the crowd acted like they were at a death metal concert when really they're just pop-punk.  My friends and I were in a spot in the crowd where all the crowd surfing was being done, so I did get an extremely sore neck.

In the photo above, my friends and I are standing to the left of the guy who's down on his hands and knees, it's impossible to tell which ones we are though cause there's so many people. After All Time Low played, I felt sad that they'd finished but totally complete that I'd been able to see them. They put on a really good performance as well.  We then wandered around for awhile, seeing parts of several bands sets including: Papa Roach, Crossfaith, Millencolin, and Coldrain. We caught up with some friends that we'd bumped into in a crowd of 35,000 people. Then sat down in the grand stands to watch the start of Marilyn Manson's set. He pulled the biggest crowd i'd seen so far, but later it looked like it was beat by Slipknot. We weren't overly keen on watching his whole set although he was amazing we were hungry, so we went and grabbed some dinner. Just more overly priced, unhealthy food. But it tasted so good. After we ate we headed back to the stage we started at, which was Stage 3. We saw the end of Escape The Fate's set, got dragged into many circle pits and walls of death and happened to loose one of our best friends because of them. We found her at the end though. Then we waited for Of  Mice & Men to come on stage. I'd seen this band previously when they'd come on tour to Australia with Bring Me The Horizon so I sort of knew what to expect in the sense of the rough crowd and extremely angry looking Austin Carlile. Even though I sort of knew what to expect, it was so much worse than what I thought. The crowd pushed each other so hard that I couldn't breathe. Also being short and surrounded by people taller than me it was only hot, sweaty air around me to breathe so I struggled with that too. I had people crowd surfing over me, and while I was busy trying not to break my neck I lost my best friends and found myself surrounded only by tall, rather fat, sweaty, middle-aged men. To say the least, I was a little scared that I may die. Even though that sounds like I'm over reacting, don't judge until you've been in an Of Mice & Men crowd. The guys around me went absolutely nuts, I got quite beat up by their limbs that were swinging in the direction of where I was. I had my hair pulled at, my shins kicked at, my shoes stood on so much that they ripped and I also walked away with bruised ribs. Other than the terrifying crowd the band was really good live, and like I mentioned earlier, for those of you who are fans of Of Mice & Men, you'd know their lead man Austin Carlile is the sweetest guy ever, but then when he's on stage screaming into the microphone, he is one of the scariest looking dudes ever. 

After getting beat up at Of Mice & Men, I needed to sit down and just catch my breath and also look at my injuries. Before I sat down I bumped into another friend, this one I went to Primary School with so it was really cool to see how his taste of music was now fkn amazing all this time later. Straight after Of Mice & Men, Slipknot was playing on Stage 1, so we headed over in that direction.. just like sheep as seriously that's where everyone was going. We got seats in the grandstand and I relaxed for a little bit. We watched two of their songs before one of my friends asked to leave because she was scared of clowns. The part of their set I did see however, contained two of my favourite songs by them, a giant crowd, and lots of fire included into their act. At the same time of Slipknot playing, Fall Out Boy and The Smashing Pumpkins were on, so we firstly went and head a quick look at The Smashing Pumpkins (mainly for bragging rights) and then spent the rest of our night at Fall Out Boy. I was far too sore to get into the crowd, I even struggled walking from Stage 1, to Stage 4, to then Stage 3 where Fall Out Boy was playing. Even though the whole day was so amazing, I feel as though Fall Out Boy was the highlight of my day. I stood back from the crowd and really took in the atmosphere. Surrounded by people like me, listening to music we love, made by people who aren't so different from us. 

I walked away from Soundwave with my two best friends, the tiredest I've ever been, the sorest I'd ever been and the happiest i'd ever been. I'm so devastated that the festival has been cancelled, but at least my first and last Soundwave experience was a really, really extraordinary one. It's a day I'll hold with me for the rest of my life, as it's the best day I've ever, EVER had. 

Imagine Dragons - Not Today (review)

Imagine Dragons are a band that we generally expect great things from. As they have in fact had many hit songs, in the past and they're just all round great to listen to. I personally haven't meet someone who has actually disliked their music, and if you are one of those people I would love to know your reasoning behind it, I'm generally interested as to how someone could possibly dislike this band.

So anyway, they bought out a new song today titled Not Today. It seems to be slower and slightly more peaceful than some of their other songs.  The melody in it's simplicity is absolutely beautiful.

The lyrics in the song are about a relationship going through some difficulty and how it'll get 'easier somehow' and basically states that it won't happen straight away. I think this is a beautiful message of hope, as nothing comes easily or straight away, especially in a relationship you have to work for it, but it doesn't mean it's not there. Sometimes you just have to work for things. But as much as the great times in a relationship make memories, the bad times do too, as they show strength, growth and progress.  This song presents this message beautifully. I know I've described this song as beautiful a few times already, and I could probably find a great deal of adjectives but beautiful seems to be the most fitting.

So, take 4 minutes and 18 seconds out of your day to listen to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trig1MiEo1s&app=desktop 

Let me know in the comments what you thought of the song.


Yours truly,
whothefuckiseh?
xoxo

Skydancer tour

On Saturday 6th of June, 2015 I attended In Hearts Wake's Skydancer tour with my uncle, dad and best friend.  The night started off with us having dinner at a small Italian restaurant as we were all craving pizza. I seriously wish I could remember what the name of the restaurant was because it was no joke the best pizza I've ever had. You know how like, on teenage mutant ninja turtles how their cartoon pizza looks absolutely to die for? Well that's how this pizza tasted. Anyway, so we had the pizza while sitting next to us at a table were these two probably 14 year olds on a date and literally not speaking a word to each other which made it kinda awkward to talk cause we would've been the only people talking in the restaurant as it wasn't very busy at all.

After we ate our pizza we walked to the venue Arrows. We were faced by a line of punk-rock teenagers that laced around the building with a line that continued on for what felt like forever, into a tiny, scary looking alleyway. So that's where we were left standing for about half an hour before the line began to move, once it was moving it went quite fast and my excitement was growing more and more with each step closer to the entrance. 

Finally we got to the entrance and made our way into the building. We walked down a few stairs as the venue was underground to prevent loud noise disturbing the suburban area. As soon as we got down the stairs we were hit with an unbearable stench of sweaty teenagers, which wasn't very pleasant. Once we all got over the fact that it stunk so much, my best friend and I made our way over to the merch tables to see what they had. We got a couple of t-shirts each and then realised we hadn't bought bags to put them in, so I put mine over my clothes which later on I discovered was a terrible mistake, because it made me incredibly hot while in the mosh pit, and my best friend left hers with my dad and uncle as they weren't overly keen on getting into a crowd of sweaty teenagers. 

The first band had already started before we walked in the door so we only saw two of their songs. The band was called Storm the Sky, I found that they sounded kind of similar to Memphis May Fire. I'll be honest and say I didn't particularly like this band but then after listening to them after the concert I began to appreciate them more. After Storm the Sky, Beartooth came on. Beartooth were one of the main reasons my best friend and I even got tickets to the concert so we made sure to get in amongst the crowd. We were right next to a speaker at the front of the stage, the crowd was incredibly hot to be in for so long without a bottle of water. So if I can give you any advice for mosh pits, take some water with you. Half way through Beartooth's set the guitarist climbed up onto the speaker we were standing next to and then jumped off onto us. A week before the concert I had just had my tragus pierced so with my luck, when the guitarist jumped down his guitar hit me in the head and then as he moved he kicked my ear and my new piercing started to bleed all down the side of my face. I didn't notice until Beartooth finished their set and I went to see my dad to tell him I basically got crushed by the guitarist while my best friend caught him and had to hold his butt the whole time. 

While telling my dad, I saw the guitarist at the merch table, so my best friend and I went and got a photo with him and he was the one who pointed out there was blood on me, which was kinda funny as it was his fault. After buying a bottle of water each, we then joined the mosh pit again while we waited for We Came As Romans. I hadn't listened to many of their songs before seeing them live, from memory I think Hope and their Punk Goes Pop covers were the only songs i'd actually heard. Since then I've made an effort to listen to everyone of their songs. It's so much more fun actually knowing the songs before seeing a band, so if you get the time always make sure to listen to the band first, unlike what I did.

We bounced around in the crowd until their song Hope came on and the two of us looked at each other and I screamed to my best friend "I'm gonna go up!" She was shocked at how quickly I had asked someone to lift me up and then throw my body on top of the crowd. One second I was screaming at her and the next I was in the air, crowd surfing. I made it right to the front with hands all over me, and just as the security guard went to pull me over the fence I was dropped, did a backflip and whacked my face on the fence. So my first ever time crowd surfing was a bit of a fail but a great story to tell. We Came As Roman's set was quite long and I really enjoyed them. They're definitely worth seeing live if you haven't already. 

After they were finished it was then time for the band basically everyone had come to see, Australian metal core band: In Hearts Wake. I'd loved this band for a quite a while before seeing them so being in their presence and seeing them play live was amazing for me. I attempted to crowd surf during many of their songs and definitely got most of my injuries while watching them. I wanted to make the most of seeing them as I knew I probably would't get the opportunity any time soon. 

The skydancer tour was one of my favourite concerts i've been to and I'd definitely recommend seeing any of the four bands mentioned above if you get the chance because they all put on a really great performance.

Yours truly,

whothefuckiseh?

xoxo

Cute, Little Punk-Rock Chick

Today was just another day of school, a Wednesday to be specific, or hump day as I would call it. (It surprises me the amount of people who don't understand what 'hump' day is, so for those of you who aren't aware it's like the week is a hill and Wednesday is in the middle of the working/school week so you're at the top of the hill.. or hump, and Thursday, Friday rolls down into the weekend). Anywho, today started off just like any other day. Wake up, get ready, walk to the bus stop, sit in a crowded bus with far too much noise, then school. Maths first up went quite quickly as I'm surprising enjoying the topic of matrices at the moment. Then recess quickly rolled into period 3 and 4 of Literature and Art theory. Then lunch time. Lunch time was where my usual school day turned into something much.. much better than usual.

In the courtyard there was a stage and a band had set up. A band by the name of 'Deadfall'. For any of you who haven't heard of them, they're worth checking out. They're kind of a heavy rock band, little bit hardcore but not really. Anyway, it's common knowledge amongst teens that that genre of music is not generally accepted by majority of society.. well it's not that it isn't accepted but most people don't like it, that or they give shit to those who do. My friends and I are in the minority of teens who love that music, so we sat on the steps next to the courtyard and enjoyed the band play. There was this one girl there who was having a absolute hoot of a time. (omg I can't believe I just used the word hoot). She was head banging and dancing around and quite entertaining to watch. I really admire the courage she showed to enjoy herself and dance in front of the whole school who were looking down their noses at the band. I noticed to the side of the stage a group of boys, maybe 15 of them, all laughing at her. And I could tell they weren't being friendly about it. They were making fun of her by pointing and laughing and pretending to copy what she was doing but in a very insulting way. It made me so angry to see this. Then I noticed about 5 of them had their phones out filming her. I felt so bad for the poor girl as she wasn't aware of this, and they could have been making fun of her on social media as well.

I didn't want to just sit there and watch it all unfold in front of me. So I got up from the steps and walked over to the boys. I questioned why they were filming the girl and making fun of her as all she was doing was having fun and enjoying the band. They were so rude to me while they insisted they were''t doing it, even though I.. and all my friends, had witnessed it. I told them they better stop because it was so mean and they were bullying her. 10 minutes went by and they started doing it again but much worse, they got closer to her. And then started standing in front of my friends and I so that we couldn't see the band.

I've heard of stories where people have been bullied for no apparent reason but i'd never actually seen it in person. And while the people bullying her infuriated me, as they clearly had nothing better to do than be assholes, I was also quite upset that out of nearly 1000 people, I was the only person who stood up for this cute little punk-rock chick. Bullying is an issue that is spoken about so much, but there just isn't anything we can do to stop it if none of us stand up for each other. It almost makes bystanders just as bad as the bullies as they're allowing it to happen as if it's okay.

I just wish people would stop being so awful to each other.
And I wish we didn't get looked down on for liking something, whether it be music, books, games, tv, sports.. just anything that's slightly different than the norm. If someone finds a passion in anything, no matter what it is, that is no reason to pick on them for it. Everyone deserves to have something that makes them feel happy. And if you want to be that person who stands in the way of other people's happiness.. well you sir/ma'am are an awful person.

It's time we stand up for our happiness and encourage each other to find passion in things. It's all we've really got to enjoy is happiness.

If you have been in a situation where you've been bullied for no apparent reason feel free to reach out to me. It makes me happy helping others, it's a passion of mine. A listening ear and a kind heart is all someone needs sometimes to feel a little better in a shit situation.

Yours truly,
whothefuckiseh?
xoxo