Archives: August 2019
Song Premiere: All Eyes West – “Kick the Clouds”
On Friday, August 30th, All Eyes West is set to release their third full-length, titled Like Lightning. The album marks the band’s first new material in over four years and we’re premiering one of its songs below, called “Kick the Clouds.” We recently spoke with singer/bassist Justin Miller and talked about how the record came together. He cited a hectic touring schedule and various issues in the band members’ personal lives as the main reasons that it took several years to finish the album. Miller explained, “On my end, my mother was diagnosed and very quickly taken by pancreatic cancer. A day after the funeral my first child was born. So, everything kind of flipped upside down. I eventually moved out of the city, fought some demons, dove headfirst into raising my kids and kind of started doing a little repair work on my life. So, obviously all of this left a little less time to focus on the band. We still remained active, but it slowed down quite a bit.”
Miller indicated that a few of the songs on Like Lightning were written in 2015, shortly after drummer Ronnie DiCola joined the band. Some of the songs that followed would unfold from a single riff, while others were primarily arranged by guitarist Jeff Dean and DiCola. When commenting on the overall writing process, Miller said “It was pretty strange. With all that was going on outside of music, it bled into the band for sure. I mean, there was a bit of tension between us for a while during the writing and recording of the album, but we always pushed through. All that shit we were going through is on the record. It’s in the music and it’s in the lyrics. We pulled it together and it means a lot to us. For me, it’s a very personal album. It was the glue that kept us going.”
In regards to the song “Kick the Clouds,” both internal and external factors played a role in its creation. Miller said, “Lyrically it was inspired by a bunch of different things. With everything going on in my life at the time, I was bursting with a million things I wanted to express. The music really spoke to me as we wrote it and I wanted to shove everything into it.” He continued, “I’d say the overall inspiration was this feeling of ‘Is everything fucked? Should we just burn it all down?’ Not just my personal life or the band, but all the politics, the state of the country, social media, anxiety, and all the angry people I seemed to encounter on a daily basis. It just felt like everything was boiling over. Still kind of does, I suppose.”
Check out the song now and be advised that it’s highly representative of the urgency, concise writing and exceptional performances that are displayed throughout Like Lightning. Be sure to pre-order the album from Jump Start Records here and look for the band to announce a record release show in the coming weeks.
Billy Liar – Some Legacy
Red Scare – Release Date: 6/21/19
Earlier this summer, Billy Liar released his debut album via Red Scare, called Some Legacy. With the record primarily being a full band affair, Liar demonstrates that he’s capable of more than the typical singer/songwriter. He routinely displays his ability to put together unpredictable arrangements and craft unique vocal melodies. The first song, “The View from Here,” is just one example of this. It’s a rousing sing-a-long that contrasts an upbeat rhythm with lyrics that are slightly self-deprecating. One could easily envision Liar playing this song in a packed club with a sweaty, beer-soaked crowd screaming the words back at him. “The Righteous & The Rats” is a topical song about borders and how society’s problems repeat throughout history. With Liar hailing from Scotland, this song clearly isn’t sung from an American perspective and instead has more of a universal appeal. “Pills” might be the album’s catchiest track, as it features a huge chorus that seemingly comes out of nowhere, but transitions in a manner that’s natural and not forced. The song also has somewhat of a loose and reckless feel, sounding like it could go off the rails at any moment, but never does. “Change” is the record’s fastest and most aggressive song, with Liar shouting, “I want see your blood spilled on the stage / I want hear your heart beat through the PA / I want to hear true adolescent rage / I want to be inspired, I want to see something change.” Despite him being seemingly disillusioned with contemporary music, listeners who might feel the same are sure to find plenty of inspiration on this album. Some Legacy was produced by Joe McMahon, (Smoke or Fire) and his influence only helps to solidify what is a decidedly complete debut. In many ways, this is a promising and distinctive record, and it should be very interesting to see where Liar goes from here.
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