Album Review: Fireworks- Gospel (2011)

Developing and maturing as a band can be really, really tricky: on the one hand, you have bands like A Day to Remember, who seem to be on the cusp of abandoning their genericore breakdowns and accepting their destiny as the next great radio-rock band, but on the other, you have bands like Green Day and Against Me! who lose their creative flame and create albums that their fans can't even recognize as the same band they fell in love with many moons ago. Meanwhile, in the sweaty church basements and legion halls of America, Fireworks have been building their reputations as the next great five-piece pop-punk band, leading the charge for their pals (The Wonder Years and Man Overboard, to name just two) into a new pop-punk revolution. With the new, almost indie-leaning Gospel, their second full-length album, the band seem to be maturing immensely, but is it for the better?

Album Review: Manchester Orchestra- Simple Math (2011)

We know, we know: you're the biggest Manchester Orchestra fan around. You knew about them before Brand New scooped them up to open for them for just about every tour since The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me came out. You know all about Andy Hull's back story, and how emotionally connected he feels to his songs, and how he's the most under-appreciated man in indie rock right now. We get it, you've been there with the band since I'm like a Virgin Losing a Child. That's great. Now, let the rest of us catch up. For those of you whose listening to Manchester Orchestra has been passed over, compromised, or completely forgotten about, the time is now to get into one today's fastest-rising, most forward-thinking rock acts in the game right now. Make no mistake: Andy Hull Will not be ignored any longer.

Show Review: Rise Against's Endgame Tour with Bad Religion and Four Year Strong at Terminal 5, NYC

Spring has finally sprung along the East Coast, where snow delayed the budding and blooming of the trees and flowers until after April Fools' Day. The bad weather broke, and it was just in time for the Mike and Tom Awesome show to trek up to New York City (you know, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of) to see Rise Against's spring 2011 tour, supporting the release of their wonderful new album Endgame. Always the type to put on a good show from start to finish, Rise Against hand-selected Bad Religion to be the direct support for the entire tour, a sort of "full-circle" move considering Rise Against opened for Bad Religion at Terminal 5 just a few short years ago. They also enlisted Four Year Strong to open up the show. Based on how the show went on Saturday night, it seems Rise Against haven't made a wrong decision yet in 2011.

The Obligatory 2011 Bamboozle Recap Post

The annual Bamboozle Festival has seen its lumps over the last few years, opting to appeal to the younger crowd with artists in the final stages of their fifteen minutes of fame rather than honoring the weathered titans of the scene. However, the 2011 edition of the festival proved to be the final stand for those bands who are still fighting for and writing music that's actually good (there were bad ones, too, but they were far outweighed by the good). Thankfully, all three of us at the Mike and Tom Awesome Show were able to snag tickets for Saturday's all-star, legendary line-up, and luckily for you, if you missed the festival (and really, there's no excuse for that), you can sit in on our look back through one of the best Bamboozles (that should be a word if it isn't) of all time:

Album Review: Panic! at the Disco!- Vices & Virtues (2011)

It's been three years since we last saw the dance-emo youngans of Panic! at the Disco, and that's probably a lot longer than the band probably wanted to wait to release their make-or-break third full-length album. However, the departure of key songwriter Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band in a state of flux, as if the underwhelming and unexpected direction the band took on the Beatles-esque Pretty.Odd. divided the band's fanbase. Now, vocalist Brendan Urie and drummer Spencer Smith have found the stability the band needed, got a little older, and have a new album to boot. So does Vices & Virtues bring the band back to the days of the groundbreaking A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, or will they continue to toe the line between catchy and corny as Pretty.Odd.  so often crossed?

Critics be damned: this album is a return to form if there ever was one.