Oralndo, FL based power pop quartet Amely is comprised of Petie Pizarro (vocals/guitar), Brandon Walden (guitar), Patrick Ridgen (bass) and Nate Parsell (drums). Amely originally started as a studio project of Pizarro’s who branched out on his own after his prior band spilt. He had begun writing songs on his own and decided to record an EP. Pizarro recorded all the insturments for the EP including bass, piano, guiar and synth. He brought in Nate Parsell to record drums; the two having met through a prior band. After realizing they had something going on they decided to focus on the project protenial and soon Amely was born.

After playing their first show in March 2009, Amely has since completed three national tours, opened for All Time Low, played the Florida dates of Warped Tour and Purevolume named Amley one of their Top 20 Unsigned bands of 2009. Since then the band has signed to Fearless Records and has has headed into the studio with producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount (All Time Low/Mayday parade) to record their debut EP. The bands EP titled ‘Hello World’ will be out September 14th.

First off, vacation was nice but I have missed your guys. Let’s talk a little bit about Poughkeepsie, NY’s own “We Are The In Crowd”. I had been hearing a lot about this band since their signing with Hopeless records but it wasn’t until I heard Tay Jardine’s voice live at Warped Tour that I realized, this band is a must share. The band start off as “The In Crowd” in 2009 until another band of the same name was brought to their attention, forcing the band to add “We Are” to their name. The band is comprised of Tay Jardine (vocals), Jordan Eckes (vocals/guitar), Mike Ferri (bass), Rob Chianelli (drums) and Cameron Hurley (guitar).

The band formed in 2009 and signed to Hopeless Records not long after. We Are The In Crowd combines both male and female vocals, honest pop songs about young adulthood to deliver up-tempo pop-rock. According to Jardine. “With two vocalists, we think it’s a great way to illustrate two opinions because you can clearly hear the difference between our voices. We based a lot of the songs around the idea of having two opinions to every situation.”  I find it hard, personally, to find female vocalist I actually enjoy but Tay’s voice is one of my favorites and if you think it sounds good on CD wait till you hear it live.

In June the band released their first EP ‘Guaranteed To Disagree’ and that is only a taste of what is to come from this band. It is without a doubt that this is on crowd you will want to join.

xoxo Michele

twitter.com/bandrecmonday

You can still catch my articles on livemusicguide.com while I am gone.

The band Sleeperstar coms to use from Dallas, TX. It is comprised of Chris Pearson (vox/guitar), Nick Box (vox/guitar/piano), Jake Lester (vox/piano/synth), Brandon Rosas (bass) and Shaun Menary (drums). The band has recently released their album Just Another Ghost which you can find on itunes, I know I just bought it and it well worth the $9.99 on Itunes. I discovered this band through Purevolume’s Unsigned Bands Soundtrack for the Summer and I was instantly impressed with this pop-rock group. I highly recommend you give this band a listen. There is not much biographical information on this group of me to share with you but I will also invite you check out the band’s blog at  http://sleeperstar.com/blog/posts/, I personally have spent the last hour there, the photographs of their journeys are incredible so kudos to the photographer in the group.

Head to Itunes right now and pick up ‘Just Another Ghost’, you can thank me later

James Mason (vox) and Robbie Rusbuldt (guitar) were introduced by a friend while both parties were living in Los Angeles in late 2007. The two began an acoustic project before they considered adapting to a full band. After much discussion the two headed back to their hometown of Richmond, Virginia in search of a more permanent line-up in 2008. Jackson Wise (guitar), Reid Taylor (bass) and Travis King (drums), after much search on craigslist, were added into the line-up to solidify “Safety Word Orange” as a band. The bands focus is writing music is pulling from real life experiences in order to deliver pop-rock music that every one can relate to. In May 2010 the band released their EP “On Your Mark, get Set…” (the follow up to their 2008, self titled EP) produced by Bryan Russell (Straylight Run, Envy On the Coast). The EP just might easily become the soundtrack to your summer, be sure to pick it up on Itunes. Safety Word Orange will provide that feel good vibe that you can blast in your car driving to the beach with the windows down.

Jordan Lyga (vox), Phil Petersen (guitar/vox), Victor Wright (guitar), Frankie Blydenburgh (drums) and Peter Henkles (bass) come together to make up The Fast Track; a five piece pop rock band from Minneapolis, MN. Jordan and Phil got together in May of 2007 after a prior band spilt. The two continued to write and play together, fully filling the line-up of The Fast track in February 2008. The band has since self-released two EPs; “The Life and Death of the Party” in 2008 and Judge & Jury earlier this year. Judge & Jury is a raw mix of guitar riffs, heartfelt words, and powerful choruses that will having you singing along by the time you finish the EP. Judge & Jury was produced by Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Over It, The Dangerous Summer) giving it a much more mature edge than their prior release. The Fast Track will leave you begging for more and have you  hoping they have a full-length up their sleeves.

The band will be hitting the West Coast in September, check them out.

Could 17 minutes really be enough to grab you attention and make you feel something real? It is if we are talking about The Afterlife Kids EP. With 5 songs and a length exceeding 17 minutes by only a few seconds, The Afterlife Kids have put forth a EP that is worthy of your attention. The group is made up of former members of former Tooth & Nail Records band Sullivan and El Shaddai Records bandThis Runs Through. The band comes to us from Florida and is comprised of Brooks, Tyson, Jeremy, Josh, Matt and Luke. Not much is known about the band at this time  (having emerged earlier this year) but they are going to be around for a while so we should probably keep our eyes on them. Their self-titled EP is available on Itunes and is well worth the 4.95, I suggest you look into it.

The Brightlife is a five-piece rock band comprised of Andy Tongren (vocals), Anthony Marcano (guitars), Jerry Powell (guitar/vocals), Haamid Dash (bass/vocals) and Shane Czarnecki (drums), hailing from East Stroudsburg, PA. In fact perhaps you’ve noticed them on the purevolume page for some time last week. The band hopes to use their fresh blend of guitar driven pop melodies accompanied by synth and piano to deliver a positive message that’s packaged with some sweet tunes that will be stuck in your head for days. According to bassist Haamid Dash, “I think the thing that drives us to make music, is that we all would like to make people feel better. That’s kind of where the meaning behind our name, The Brightlife comes from. We want people to listen to our music and put them in a better mood. You know, have it brighten their day, their week, or hopefully…their life.”

Just last week the band released their EP “Everybody Knows” exclusively in their webstore and on itunes. A nice follow up to their previously released debut Ep, “Ready To Explode”. Be sure to check this band out they are for sure a must watch for 2010.

Oh, The Story! is a 6 piece band from Baltimore, MD made up of James Larson (vox), Jw Sargent (guitar), John Calvin (guitar) Chris Pollock (drums), Josh Schlotterback (bass) and Scott Swindells (piano). James and Jw met while Jw was playing in other bands around the Baltimore area but soon the two ended up working together. Oh, the Story suffered many line up changes right before heading into the studio to record their EP “Sea of Stars” so the line up was built around the EP. According to James, the name of the band comes from ” a reflection of our intentions. People create music for a lot of different reasons, but hopefully with the same core reason [human connection]. We want our music to tell a story that’s both relatable and emotionally engaging”.

Their latest EP “Sea of Stars” lyrics contains a great deal of imagery and focus on the main theme that “love has no bounds”. The EP flows like a fictional parable opening with ‘The Astronomer’ which tells the story of a boy who doesn’t have much faith in the world he is growing up in. He looks to the sky to find a star, he feels that there is something special about. The story continues with “Keep Your Eyes to the North” and so on giving the listener a complete tale to follow. Pick up the EP on Itunes to discover the story for yourself.