Motherfish #16- Homegrown

New Music Tuesday

I’ve got a lot to talk about. For starters, many of you may have noticed a Twitter post from a few days ago stating that the months of May and June are going to be pretty big. Let’s discuss that. Here we are in the month of May and this is going to be a special month. This month is going to be purely local music. I’m going to feature the best of the best from both here where I go to school and from back home. I’m fortunate to know a whole host of talented musicians who have written some of the catchiest, most earnest music I’ve come across in my life. These people are all really good friends of mine and I’m proud to call them that. I’ve seen them in concert, I’ve eaten meals with them, and I’ve even sat through classes with some of them. I’d do whatever I can to support them. Growing up, the local music scene was very important to me. Our weekends comprised of going to shows at the Elk’s Lodge, or one of the many Rec Centers in the surrounding towns. The first time I played guitar in front of an audience was at that very Elk’s Lodge. Having such a strong local scene was the best thing that could have happened; it fostered my love of music and my love of performance. It provided an opportunity for anyone to be able to be a rock star for a night. You didn’t have to be talented. Fuck, you didn’t even have to be good. All that mattered was that you were putting your body and soul into it, and if you were you instantly had the crowd’s support. Some bands from my area have made it reasonably big, some have reached moderate success, but most don’t. Nobody cares. We weren’t in it for the money or the success. We were in it because this is what we wanted to do. For everyone who was a part of that scene, for all of us who decided that we wanted to be a part of something big, for everyone who’s in a band that practices in your drummer’s basement or garage, for everyone who plays shows in coffee shops and considers a Battle of the Bands a big deal, for every guitar player who regularly fucks up at least chord progression per show, for every drummer who loses himself in the music and breaks a stick at the end of a performance even though he doesn’t have money to buy new ones, this month is dedicated to us.

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All of my Pride by The Skyscrapers

This is a review that I’ve been waiting to write since way back when I started this blog. I remember sitting at my computer typing up my top 5 favorite albums and writing a tiny little paragraph about each one and talking to my friend Armen online telling him about what I was doing. He seemed into the idea so I offered to review his band when their album was finished recording, and here it is. Had it been any other person, I wouldn’t have made that promise because there would have been a chance of their album sucking so much dick I would have no choice but to write a bad review, and that would make it awkward whenever we talked, like I walked in on him masturbating or something. The only reason why I did was because I know Armen, and I know how talented this little son of a bitch is. The kid knows his way around an acoustic guitar like you couldn’t imagine. Now, he’s no Joey Eppard or Kinsella, think more of a Jesse Lacey, but he’s a damn fine musician. For a first release, All of My Pride is very strong. There are some obvious weaknesses, but they’re more than overshadowed by the overall quality of the album. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to write songs. These songs don’t sound like your typical garage band. They show a surprising depth of musicianship both in the skill of those involved and in the way the different parts interact.

The songs sound remarkably polished and almost unbelievably mature. He utilizes a lot of different production techniques to clean up the tracks but refrains from overuse for the most part. In the spirit of being as fair and impartial as possible, the reverb-guitar does show up quite often, leading me to wonder what some of the songs might have sounded like without the effect. What are you getting when you listen to The Skyscrapers? That’s a good question, I’m glad I asked. What we have here is a solid alternative rock album that has a predisposition to lean into the territory of folk –rock and often dips into some of Armen’s more emo influences. The album opens with The Incision, a pop-punk masterpiece that comes right out of the Brand New playbook. It’s no carbon copy, but fans of the Long Island band will feel comfortable and at home with this track, and will smile at the way Armen takes Jesse’s vocals and uses them as a basis for his own unique half whining half belting style. Kid’s got pipes, that’s for sure. Most of the album plays a little slow, but it’s deliberate. The songs are well crafted with solid intros and build up to something epic, though I would have liked a few more songs like The Incision which starts high and ends high, but I’m impatient sometimes. It’s a quality album that does a lot of great things, and can mobilize a lot of interesting reactions from anyone who listens. If you’re looking for something that is more consistent and has a more focused theme, you may want to wait to check out All of My Pride. The album draws from a lot of different sources and plays with a lot of styles that Armen’s been exposed to over the years growing up in a constantly changing music scene, but he does so in such a way that it doesn’t sound disjointed or unorganized. I anticipate that as he continues to grow, he’ll start to hone in more on what exactly he’s going for. All of My Pride is a great starting point because it puts Armen in a place to take his music in a lot of different directions, none of which look bad from where I’m standing. He’s got potential, hopefully he doesn’t fuck it up.

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*Edit* It just came to me that Armen's friend Nick played guitar and contributed vocals to the album and that the good lads at Double D Studios were instrumental at putting together the album and he wants to shout out to all of them.


Well ladies and gents, that’s the first of four extra special reviews featuring local, unsigned bands. It’s nice to be able to do something for friends of mine to help support them. Keep in mind that even though these are friends I’m reviewing, I will still give honest reviews. Details on how to nag yourself a copy of this album are still a little sketchy (because I’m lazy and haven’t asked him about it) but when I know, I’ll be sure to pass along the information. If you’re interested, though, just email me with “All of My Pride” in the subject line and we’ll figure something out. I’m going to be talking a lot about local music scenes and how important they are both to kids in general but also to me when I was growing up during the rest of this month. Enjoy. Join me next week when we shift gears a little bit, and get into some fights.



Here, try some:


Skyscrapers- www.myspace.com/skyscrapersnj
Double D- www.myspace.com/doubledstudiosmusic