May 28
Give in to Pop-Punk: Mayday Parade
Most of bands I listen to are little known and obscure. This is a sad fact since I think many of these bands are more than deserving of a little attention. Therefore I have decided to share one of my recent finds, Mayday Parade. I am not going to review any of their albums like I have done with other bands in the past, but since I don’t own both of their CDs you can assume most of my opinions have been formed off of Mayday Parade’s latest LP, A Lesson in Romantics.
Mayday Parade is reminiscent of my high school love of pop-punk; they are easy to listen to, rock out fairly often, have a few emo tendencies, and most importantly, infuse their music with fiery intense passion. I think that last point is why I enjoy them the most. Lead singers Derek Sanders and Jeremy Lenzo don’t just sing lyrics like most bands out there. They have some serious energy backing their vocals, and it shows.
Another aspect of this band that I really enjoy is the fact that they have 2 lead singers. Neither singer dominates the other and both have very unique vocal inflections, though they compliment each other very well. Maybe I am a sucker for duets or something, because I absolutely love bands that feature more that on vocalist, and Mayday Parade can pull it off with the best of them.
Even though I consider Mayday Parade a pop-punk band with a matured sound, they also slow it down and sing some amazing lyrical ballads. Their song “Miserable At Best” is made up of simply vocals and piano. They leave their guitars, keys, and drums behind to belt out one emotional tune. I can’t even tell you how many times I have listened to this song, it is so good. It is personal, passionate, and super emo. It is also another great duet, which is obviously a signature of the band.
I wish I could comment on Mayday Parade’s live performance, but sadly I haven’t had a chance to see them perform. I only discovered this band a few months ago and since then they haven’t toured through Atlanta. The next time they will be in town is on Warped Tour 2008 in July, so hopefully I will be able to catch them then. In the meantime I’ll keep playing their album repeatedly since I seriously cannot get enough of this band.
Check out Mayday Parade’s website here. You can find them on Myspace here.
P.S. Doesn’t their album art rock? I love that style, and it really embodies the feeling of A Lesson in Romantics well.
If you're new here, you can subscribe to automaticable's RSS feed by clicking here. Or, you can get post updates through your email. Thanks for visiting!
May 28th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Oh Em Gee. I totally just downloaded this CD the other day. I found out about them off of the Punk Goes Acoustic 2 CD… Speaking of which, you should probably check out All Time Low.. also on that CD. Also rocks. Anyways, yeah, Mayday Parade is awesome, and you’re not the only one that is a sucker for duets.
May 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Funny that you say that, brother, because that is how I discovered both of those bands. I have become a big fan of Mayday Parade, All Time Low, and The Audition since that CD. I think the second release of Punk Goes Acoustic was MUCH better than the first since I actually discovered some awesome bands from there.