Our stream this week comes from the excellent Lights Over Bridgeport. Their EP ‘Trenches’ is out on September 26th and you can stream it, and read a great feature with John Hamlin the frontman of the band, below.

When you have those low points in life, keep on fighting” suggests John Hamlin, the captivating frontman for Chicago based Lights Over Bridgeport. Whilst his audience may not be as broad, Hamlin joins the likes of Cam Boucher from Sorority Noise, The Hotelier’s Christian Holden, and The Wonder Years Dan Campbell in using his music and platform to address mental health issues. “Let go of who you think you were, discover who you are now, and accept the person you’re becoming”, he adds.

As his band prepare to release their latest EP, the Nick Diener produced ‘Trenches’, Hamlin is open about his emotions and the “demons” he’s been facing. “I’ve personally found myself dealing with a lot of fear, anxiety, and if I’m honest depression” he confides during our short chat. “I’ve used my music to channel my feelings though, it’s allowed me to work through things in a creative way”.

Often seen as a delicate subject, the increasing willingness for bands to open up about such issues has been a release for many others. Hamlin isn’t looking to be a spokesman for the scene though, in fact he’s keen to point out that his band aren’t here to push a message or, as he puts it, “set an agenda”. He seems genuinely thrilled and thankful to anyone who offers support for his band, connects with their music, or uses it to motivate themselves. For him the record is about his own perseverance and pushing forward with life.

John’s comments are a poignant reminder, should it be ever needed, that appearances can so often tell you very little about a person and the issues they’re facing. Outside of music John spends much of his spare time training at his local gym and encouraging others who show an interest too. One of those is close friend and producer Nick Diener, best known as the voice of recently defunct The Swellers. “It’s pretty surreal to work creatively on your own album with the singer of one of your favourite bands” he enthuses. “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have such a productive relationship with him”. The ‘Windy City’ natives have also linked up with producer and sound engineer Mark Michalik, known for his recent work with Pet Symmetry and Fireworks. It’s a team that works so well together that Hamlin jokes that he hopes the others don’t read this interview and “raise the rates on the next record”.

It’s an approach that seems to have paid off too. Whilst tracks such as ‘Restless’ are a great example of Hamlin channelling his demons, evident in the line where he sings ‘that weight that I’m never without’, the band have delivered a progressive punk-rock record that’s stacked full of anthemic vocal melodies too. ‘True North’ perhaps the pick of the bunch with it’s infectious chorus that will leave you humming the tune for days to come.

Of course it’s easy to hear hints of The Swellers throughout this record, but Hamlin is quick to point even closer to home when it comes to his own influences. “I was pushed creatively by some people I am lucky to consider friends”, he says before then talking excitedly about how fellow Midwesterners Lost Years and Mike Golden have released some of his favourite records of the last few years. “I’ve spent a lot of time listening to the increasing maturity in both of their song writing and it’s really motivated my own attempts.”

With Lights Over Bridgeport the focus isn’t on becoming the biggest band in the world, and that’s refreshing to see. Music is taken seriously but it’s having to be worked around full time jobs, family commitments, and a love of sports too. As this interview plays out John is anxiously keeping an eye on the Chicago Bears score (American Football) and describes the experience as simply ‘watching the Bears lose’, echoing his point that you have to fight through life regardless of what’s ahead.

Baltimore’s Have Mercy are first up with a live acoustic version of ‘Two Years’, a track which appeared full band on their Hopeless Records debut. They’ve then contributed a cover of Jackson Browne’s ‘Somebody’s Baby’ which is light and melodic.  Both tracks are well performed and beautifully sung but certainly aren’t strong enough to convince me to buy yet another record.

You’ve then got Boston’s Somos contributing a new track, ‘Streets Upon Streets’, and then their own acoustic version of ‘Domestic’. Both tracks are a good listen but only really serve as a reminder of how much we loved their ‘Temple Of Plenty’ debut record. Their debut is a record that’s full of character, littered with likeable imperfections, and backed up by huge vocal melodies. You hear the same here but it’s fleeting and over all too quickly.

This isn’t intrinsically a bad record – you’ve got two enjoyable bands trying something a touch different. It just feels like two acoustic tracks, one cover track, and then one new track split between two bands is an odd mix to build a new release around.

TOM BECK

Derek Grant, perhaps best known as the drummer from Alkaline Trio, released his solo album ‘Breakdown’ on Red Scare Industries last month. He’s somewhat of a punk-rock legend, having previously appeared for bands such as the Gaslight Anthem, Face to Face, and the Vandals, and it’s therefore not surprising to find shades of three chord punk throughout. These eight tracks are far more stripped down than previous efforts though and Derek’s more reflective side is allowed to shine through.

The album starts with a ‘Dookie’ era Green Day vibe as ‘Holiday Breakdown’ is a short and sweet two minute acoustic pop song. It’s perhaps a bit linear in approach and structure, and that applies to large parts of this album, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. ‘Waiting For The End of The World’ then kicks in with a heavy Springsteen vibe as Grant’s gravelly vocals and delivery really do remind you of ‘the Boss’, it does lack a touch of energy but the strong chorus vocal melody gets you through.

From there the album slows dramatically into ‘Got A Feeling’ and ‘Turn And Walk Away’ and becomes much more of a mellow folk-rock album than you might expect. You have well worked acoustic guitar riffs, but a simple beat and very little life in the vocals and the lyrics. In ‘Love Is Bad Dream’ for example Derek meekly states that he “wants to scream” but you struggle to hear any genuine passion coming through there. There’s no change in tempo, nothing direct, and nothing for us to really get excited about either.

We get that this is a tale of lost love and personal hardship, but there are far more compelling singer-songwriters out there penning similar stories. As a listener we want to side with the broken voice, hear their anger and frustration and root for them to come out as winners at the end of it all. Unfortunately Derek Grant can’t seem to raise the enthusiasm in himself on ‘Breakdown’ and in turn this ends up being one of the most forgettable albums we’ve heard in a long time.

TOM BECK

Groezrock, the excellent punk-rock festival based in Belgium, returns this May and event sponsors Macbeth are running a fan vote competition to see who joins bands such as Social Distortion, Refused, and Millencolin on the line up. We caught up with the only band from the USA who are in contention, Chicago based Lights Over Bridgeport, to see how they rate their chances.

Thanks for taking time to speak to us John – for those who aren’t familiar with your band can you sum up everything we need to know in a few sentences?

I’ll try my best: group of close friends writes songs they love..and then finally gets their act together and writes better songs while organized, reaching a few more ears. Currently doing their best to reach for a few more ears, and enjoying each step as much as possible in the process.

Lights Over Bridgeport have been included in the fan’s vote competition to win a spot at Groezrock this year, how do you rate your chances?

Well to be honest we’re all still sort of in shock that we actually even have a chance. The fact that we’ve got a dog in the race though, I’d say we feel very positive right now. In order to get better, we had to leave behind any negativity and believe in ourselves. So no use in doubting, we wanna make a run at Europe. This is a better chance than we could have ever hoped for.

As an un-signed band what challenges does playing a festival in Belgium represent for you?

Obviously virtually no one there knows who we are. But we’ve got to start somewhere. We believe in our music. And It’s kind of encouraging to see Groezrock bands like Millencolin, Lagwagon, Good Riddance, The Swellers, and Social Distortion of course…all punk bands who play what you could call a classic style of punk (or more or less inventing a classic sound in the case of Social D), and all bands who seem to be doing at least relatively well in Europe. I guess our hope would be that fans in Europe can hear a similar sound or inspiration in our music that they may find with those bands. Our hope, anyway!

You recorded your EP with Nick from the Swellers, a band who are booked in for Groezrock for one last time. Have you learned a lot from that band?

Absolutely. And at each stage of our growth even. Around the time that our band started to become more organized and set goals, The Swellers were the band that we were all listening to. We always come back to it – ‘Ups & Downsizing’ was a huge record for us: it’s the reason we reached out to Nick and Mark Michalik to record in the first place. It helped us push ourselves to write better music, along with a few of our other big influences. Having the opportunity to record with Nick though… going into the recording, I’m not sure that we knew what to expect other than that we knew we’d make a record that sounded incredible. I think building a relationship there though, becoming friends with Nick and being aware of the Swellers’ success, I’d like to think that it enforced to us all the importance of just being ourselves and doing that the best we can. You’ll run into a few bands out there trying to revive something, or trying to latch on to the latest flavor of the month subgenre. Sometimes, bands experience extreme success going that route. But The Swellers were always true to themselves. Getting a chance to meet them, playing with them a few times and interact with them, as I said I’d like to think it taught us that we’ve got to be our own band and earn our own way. The support that bands like The Swellers get comes from a lot of hard work and dedication — it’s not this overnight thing. And in the end, although their band is ending now – from the outside looking in it seems like it’s more rewarding that way.

The Groezrock line up looks pretty strong this year – if you joined that list who would you most like to see?

Certainly we want to see The Swellers one last time. We opened at their last Chicago show and thought for sure that would be our last chance to see them. I’d go INSANE to see Millencollin, have been listening to them since I was 13 and have never ever seen them. American Nightmare, Social Distortion, Comeback Kid, Mineral, Title Fight, Make Do & Mend, and our fellow Chicago-area dudes in Counterpunch would all be big for us to see. What a crazy lineup!

And finally, in your opinion, why should people vote for you?

Because they want to get to the bottom of why we’d be the only American band even considered for the fest! And also because the chance the share our music across an OCEAN is something that no other four average Midwestern dudes could possibly appreciate more than we would. Please give us a shot to go to Belgium, it would mean the world to us – a total dream.

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You can vote for Lights Over Bridgeport, alongside a whole host of other exciting acts, over at the Macbeth Groezrock page. A full list of acts in the running can be found below.

Hear the band’s excellent EP, ‘Prayers & Eulogies’, right here:

Alternatively check out their great video for ‘Automatic’ on their YouTube channel:

The 30 shortlisted bands are:

The Peterlees (The Netherlands)
Bad Ideas (United Kingdom)
COLT 45 (United Kingdom)
Drones (United Kingdom)
Taped (Liechtenstein)
Tiger Bell (Sweden)
Kill Ferelli (The Netherlands)
Lights Over Bridgeport (United States)
Shinebox (Italy)
The King is Dead (United Kingdom)
Seething Akira (United Kingdom)
High Hopes (United Kingdom)
Holly Would Surrender (Germany)
Jarhead (Belgium)
Mr Shiraz (United Kingdom)
Not On Tour (Israel)
Scream Your Name (Switzerland)
Speaking in Shadows (United Kingdom)
Stars Burn Stripes (Denmark)
The 4130’s (United Kingdom)
Dead Giveaway (The Netherlands)
Ducking Punches (United Kingdom)
Straightline (Germany)
Versive (Ireland)
Lacey (United Kingdom)
Kill The President! (Spain)
Monday Kills (Sweden)
You May Kiss the Bride (Turkey)
Black Sheep (Belgium)
Wolves Scream (Belgium)

The line “Yet I’m nothing more than a line in your book” from Funeral For A Friend’s seminal track ‘Juno’ (later re-released as ‘Juneau’) spoke to my teenage heart more than most. It was my MSN screen name, it was the line I screamed out during their live sets, and it rung out in my ears most days on the way to school. No doubt the overwhelming majority of people reading this review join me in these memories.

Thirteen year have passed since and Funeral For A Friend are set to release their seventh studio album, ‘Chapter And Verse’ this January. Gone are the days of their heart soothing anthems, the theatrical bridges and the arena shows. What we have now is an increasingly aggressive and direct post-hardcore band who have moved their focus into issues such as social equality, feminism, and religion. As a result this album becomes a rapid rant at everything that’s wrong with modern society. Lead single ‘You’ve Got A Bad Case Of The Religions’ is the perfect example of this. It’s quick, raw, and makes an instant statement. Vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye now snarls the majority of his lyrics with a real bitterness, a huge contrast to his earlier approaches. You’ve then got the album stand out track in ‘Pencil Pusher’. It’s the huge guitar riffs, the pounding bridge, and the hammering drumbeat that make it so appealing.

‘You Should Be Ashamed Of Yourself’ then tackles the interesting subject of feminism and gender equality in society. The heart and intent here should definitely be applauded, especially as a number of prominent US metal-core bands find it increasingly necessary to degrade women with their choice of merchandise designs. Musically it’s exceptional, however at times the lyrics would be better suited to a GCSE sociology class. Whilst it’s pro-feminism there’s also a dig at those with radicalized views who believe that all men are bastards regardless. The line “just because I’m born with a dick doesn’t mean I’m a misogynist” could be expressed far more eloquently, for example.

From there ‘Chapter and Verse’ starts to lose its appeal though, sadly. Whilst the intensity continues it can be hard to pin-point any really awe-inspiring moments, both musically and lyrically. Again the sentiment behind ‘Inequality’ can only be applauded, however we’ve heard bands deal with this subject matter in a far more effective way. Of course this doesn’t mean that Funeral For A Friend should return to penning only heart breaking anthems, but it does mean that they’re now riding the imaginary train rather than driving it as they once were.

TOM BECK

For more information head to SaintNovember.com – where you can also find vinyl copies of releases from Kids In Glass Houses, Canterbury, and Nathan Detroit.

No Devotion, featuring Thursday’s Geoff Rickley on vocals, have been announced as support for Gerard Way this January. In addition to their support slots they will also play two headline dates in Bristol and Reading. The full dates are:

19th January – The Fleece, Bristol
20th January – O2 Academy, Birmingham*
21st January – O2 Guildhall, Southampton*
22nd January – The Bowery District, Reading
23rd January – O2 Academy Brixton, London*

*Supporting Gerard Way

The band have also just released a vinyl boxset, Singles 2014, featuring 12″ copies of “Stay” and “20,000 Summers”. The release is limited to 400 copies and can be bought now from Collect Records.

Glasgow’s Twin Atlantic have announced their largest headline shows to date. The band, who released their second album ‘The Great Divide’ this year, will play the following:

May 5th – MANCHESTER, Albert Hall
May 7th – LONDON, o2 Brixton Academy
May 8th – BIRMINGHAM, o2 Academy
May 9th – GLASGOW, SSE Hydro

Tickets go on sale to members of their mailing list from December 24th, and then on general sale from December 26th. Treat yourself this Christmas to one of the best live shows you’ll see in 2015.

Read what we made of the record in our full review.

So what makes Days Like Today so appealing? ‘What’s It Like’ opens the release strongly and in many ways showcases the band’s plus points neatly. It opens with a rolling drum beat and then quickly springs to life and rumbles through a fast verse and a quicker and livelier chorus. The Canadians have a touch of grit in the vocals and this works nicely throughout, though perhaps does lack some of the more instant vocal melodies of the first EP.

Despite tagging themselves as pop-punk, Days Like Today have far more of a heavy edge – think Moneen meets Thrice in places rather than the sunnier side of alternative music. This is particularly evident in the latter stages of lead single ‘Hourglass’ where the band really head down a more progressive route. The fact that Moneen’s Kenny Bridges is listed as the EP producer could be partly to thank for this – a front man whose own band really took listeners on a technical and deep journey with their albums.  The producer’s influence carries through to ‘Second Chances’ superbly – the opening guitar riffs could easily have come from the excellent ‘Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now?’.

The band do still leave their own mark though and ‘Hell In My Head’ is slowed down a touch and that makes a huge difference. There’s a bite in the chorus still, but you get more of a uplift into the bridge and that leaves far more of an impact. That momentum is taken into ‘Last Call’ and ‘Closer’ as the EP comes to a really strong end. The softer section a few minutes into the final track is perhaps the highlight of the whole EP, building slowly and then really driving the release home.

If Days Like Today get the right touring opportunities then there’s no reason why they can’t fly through 2015. With ‘We’re Only Humans’ they’ve given themselves another great platform to push on and we hope they take it.