Artist Spotlight: Yellowcard

Usually we don't post articles every time a little article of news comes up, but this is way too exciting to pass up. According to an Amazon link, Yellowcard will be releasing an acoustic version of Ocean Avenue on July 23rd. This coincides with the assumed 10th anniversary tour for the album that the band has been hinting at since their tour early this year. The band had been in the studio but had not mentioned what it was for, and I think we now have our answer. This is enormous, as most people expected maybe a deluxe reissue, but nothing as insane as this. Yellowcard has done very well in the past in their revamped acoustic material, as the acoustic version of When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes was just as strong as the original while giving an original twist on the album. The best part of this will be that vocalist Ryan Key will be able to show off his vocal growth from ten years ago, strengthening what was probably the weakest part of the album. Yellowcard's summer plans seem to finally be getting into motion, so follow them on Facebook for all their upcoming plans.

Casey's EPs, Songs, and Albums of 2012

Reflecting back on 2012, I can't help to compare it to 2011 due to the fact that I only started paying attention to a broader scope of music that year. As of now, 2012 feels a lot weaker at the top than 2011, however the depth far surpasses it. It pained me to leave off records such as Chromatics, Gifts From Enola, Lone, Masked Intruder and Savoir Adore, but this year just had too many strong albums to mention every single one of them. It's even crazier when you think that if you had told me that all of Two Door Cinema Club, Say Anything, Sleigh Bells and Motion City Soundtrack wouldn't have a place on this list, I would have thought you were crazy. Surely a couple of those could release poor albums, but there was no chance that all of them could. Alas, the worst happened, and none of those albums will receive any more mention than this. Pop punk also had a very down year after taking up three of my top five spots (or so) last year, and you won't find a record that I consider pop punk amongst the top 25. Bands you will find featured predominantly are fun., Yellowcard, Frank Ocean, Take One Car, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, ScHoolboy Q, and far more that you can find below. If you click on the name of the album, you will find links to our coverage. If you click on the name of the song, you will be taken to Youtube for a listen.

Album Review: Yellowcard - Southern Air

Album Rating: A

Only a band with more than ten years of experience and five full length albums could make a record as focused as Yellowcard's Southern Air. While the band hasn't changed its sound much over the last decade, the intricacies within the band's sound have progressed. Every aspect of the music feels slaved over for hours, and every subtlety is fine-tuned to perfection, creating the best sounding Yellowcard album to date. Although not every song is an "Ocean Avenue," a "The Takedown" or a "For You And Your Denial," they are among the most carefully crafted songs that Yellowcard has released, and the best of the batch will forever be classics among the band's prolific discography.

Interview With Yellowcard

Yellowcard has been one of the biggest and most respected bands in the scene for more than 10 years now. "Ocean Avenue" is one of our generation's anthems, and will always be a defining song in pop punk. The band is now about to release their sixth album with vocalist Ryan Key, and the album is definitely one of their best. The band took some questions from us at MuzikDizcovery that mostly focused on the new album, including possible bonus tracks, the reasoning for the releasing "Always Summer" first, the creation of "Here I Am Alive," the choice of guest vocalists on "Telescope," the final answer regarding if there will be an acoustic version of Southern Air, and much more that you can read below.

Casey's End Of The Year Extravaganza

More than likely this is going to be a clusterfuck of information, so I'll keep this intro short. Below, I've put together a list of my favorite EPs, albums, and songs of 2011. My tastes have widened drastically this year, so much that I currently have over 9000 songs in my library just from 2011. While the top of my lists focus more on my customary pop punk and pop rock realms, the deeper cuts of my lists are full of albums that before this year I never would have expected to like. Fireworks, The Wonder Years, Childish Gambino, M83, Farewell Fighter, Yellowcard, SBTRKT, and many more can be seen below. For a Spotify playlist containing the songs of the year list, click right here.

Album Review: Yellowcard - When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes

Memories and nostalgia are at the forefront of Yellowcard's latest release. People used these two terms in response to nearly every significant event since the reformation of the band after their two and a half year hiatus. The release of first single "For You And Your Denial" brought many minds back to grade school, when many of us heard "Ocean Avenue", "Only One", or "Way Away" on the radio for the first time. However, unlike many nostalgia trips, Yellowcard's return isn't a letdown. In fact, the band may have even released their strongest to date, fueled even more passionately by flames of the past.

New Yellowcard Song Streaming

I am officially pumped. "For You, And Your Denial" sounds like a song right out of Ocean Avenue, an album I've gone back to quite often lately. The violin is front and center as it should be for a Yellowcard track, and the chorus is classic Yellowcard. There really isn't much else to say except go listen, and I want this album in my hands now. Stream it here.

New Yellowcard Album

Yellowcard was probably one of the first pop-punk bands I listened to. Back in elementary school, "Ocean Avenue" and "Only One" were two of my favorite songs, and they are still pretty high up there for nostalgia's sake. After the great album Paper Walls, Yellowcard took a three year hiatus, which they recently came out of. Their newest album, When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes, has finally been completed and is expected to be released in March. This is easily one of my most anticipated for the upcoming year, and I'm sure it is for many other people as well. Yellowcard will be on tour with All Time Low, Hey Monday, and The Summer Set this spring. Follow Yellowcard on Myspace here.
*Update* The album release date is now announced to be March 22nd.