featuring Creeper and Speak Low If You Speak Love

Spending an hour or so waiting out in the cold Worcester night is never fun, but on this particular evening, it was well worth it. The Welsh pop-punk band Neck Deep brought a killer show, with a supporting roster to match. This tour celebrated the release of their new album 

, which debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart this past summer.

Fellow UK rockers, Creeper, kicked off the Saturday night action. The band has often been described as “theatrical punk,” which is a perfect summary of their style. Many of their songs include elements not commonly heard in your ‘average-joe” rock bands, such as large choir-like harmonies, ominous monologues, and even a short mid-song transition into a ‘60s-style ballad. The band played a fairly short set that featured songs from their debut album 

. The combination of catchy melodies and macabre lyrics created an experience that really felt like the band was putting on a show versus simply playing music. A perfect example of this was the first song of the set, “Black Rain.” It began with a short, spoken intro to set the scene (“At war with the world/Yet worlds apart/To return is a promise I can’t make”) and then shifted into a heavy guitar solo. Many members of the crowd seemed to have found their new favorite band during this set, as more people began to join in singing the anthemic line “Loving you is killing me” every time it was repeated in the song “Hiding With Boys.” In addition to their lyrics, the band’s appearance definitely fits their name; every member was dressed in black and many also sported black hair and makeup. The guitarist’s bright white hair contrasting against their matching black jackets (yes, matching jackets!) seemed to give off a 

-era My Chemical Romance vibe, which suggests the idea that they are destined to fill the emo rock hole left by MCR’s departure. Don’t think that Creeper is a band of wannabe’s, though— they truly have their own style that will carry them far into the newest generation of punk.

Up next was Speak Low If You Speak Love, the personal project of the New York pop-punk band State Champs’ bassist/backing vocalist Ryan Scott Graham. Speak Low’s music is generally more mellow than that of the rest of this tour’s lineup, which is why I was surprised they weren’t the first opener. It was nice to have a chill break in the show before the atmosphere got rowdy again, though, and when I say rowdy, I mean it. Creeper’s set featured enough power to incite multiple instances of mosh pits and crowd surfing, and that attitude, in addition to the hype of Super Bowl Weekend, was enough to carry the energy level through to the next act. Speak Low was more than impressed with the crowd’s energy and even mentioned that this was the first time they’ve ever had a circle pit during one of their shows. They played some fan favorites as well as some newer songs off their most recent release, 

 A cool aspect of their performance was that they incorporated various percussion instruments into their set, bringing out a shaker and sleigh bells for a couple songs including “Cannot Have It All.”

Seaway, a fun-loving pop-punk group from Ontario, Canada, was up next. They themed their set around the release of their newest album, 

, with a big flashy banner behind them that featured the album art. The band’s catchy tunes got everyone up and dancing, including vocalist Ryan Locke who busted out his best white-dad-at-a-barbecue moves throughout the entire set (he also wore a white t-shirt and sunglasses while indoors, which really topped off the whole vacation aesthetic). Everyone joined in along with Locke as he sang the hook of their song “Slam” to kick off their set with a big “Everything is cool, man!” The set mostly consisted of songs from 

 including jams like “Apartment” and “Lula on the Beach,” but also included songs from their previous release 

 and even a deep cut from their 2013 album 

. The band kept the crowd moving with their fast, upbeat songs and heavily encouraged audience members to crowd surf their way to the front. Overall, Seaway’s set felt like the perfect celebration of the weekend, with lyrics that inspired a sense of freedom and fun— almost like a real vacation.

Right after Seaway left the stage, a white curtain dropped. Fans in the crowd were getting more and more excited by the minute as Neck Deep’s tech crew set up the stage. After a while, the lights dimmed and silhouettes of lead singer Ben Barlow and bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans towered behind the curtain as the band played the opening riff to one of their newest hits, “Happy Judgement Day.” The curtain dropped and everyone screamed, starting off the band’s set with a bang. This tour is Neck Deep’s first return to the United States since headlining the 2017 Vans Warped Tour, and they were welcomed back with open arms. They mostly played songs from their knockout summer album 

, including fan favorites such as “Motion Sickness” and “In Bloom.” Conscious of what the fans want to hear, they also played many songs from their previous release 

 and even a couple of throwbacks to their older EPs, 

 The band had a lot of fun playing for the crowd and even joked around about the Super Bowl. They mentioned that it’s nice to be in the US during the game instead of the UK so they can experience the fun (Ben Barlow even sported a Randy Moss Pats jersey, although Instagram photos later confirmed that he wore an Eagles t-shirt when they played in Philly a few nights before… traitor). Along with the fun, there were some touching moments. One was when Barlow and Thorpe-Evans teamed up for an acoustic duet for their song about the death of a close friend, “Wish You Were Here.” In addition to playing songs from throughout their discography, Neck Deep also brought out some featured artists from the other bands on the tour. Hannah Greenwood of Creeper joined Barlow on the vocals for “A Part of Me” and Ken Taylor of Seaway provided the unclean vocals for “Don’t Wait” are usually performed by Sam Carter of the band Architects. Neck Deep fully delivered on their promise to put on a great show, and I can’t wait until they return on their next tour.

Neck Deep @ Worcester Palladium

featuring Homesafe, Movements, and With Confidence

The Paradise Rock Club is always a crowded venue, but at Knuckle Puck’s sold out Sunday night show, you could barely see to the other side of the room. Luckily, there wasn’t much reason to look away from the stage, because this show was one to remember.

The first band to take the stage was Homesafe, hailing from Oak Lawn, Illinois and featuring Knuckle Puck’s bassist Ryan Rumchaks on vocals and guitar. The crowd was a little slow to get rowdy at first, but as the opener, it was Homesafe’s job to fix this problem. Needless to say, they succeeded. While the band only had a few scattered fans in the audience singing along, the whole crowd was jumping and rocking out before the first song, ‘Guts,’ had even finished. The band played a set that spanned most of their limited discography, and it’s rare to see a band with literally every single one of their early songs being fantastic. Fans were especially excited to hear them play ‘Mountain,’ a popular favorite from the band’s 2015 EP, 

. There was even a special request shouted out for another song from that same EP, ‘Resolve,’ which Homesafe happily obliged. Perhaps the most visually notable part of their set was Rumchaks’s fabulous long flowing red locks, which actually became a conversation point for both the onstage banter and chatter among the crowd. Rumchaks and vocalist/bassist Tyler Albertson had some particularly great onstage bro-chemistry, and I looked forward to seeing him and his luscious mane back onstage later with Knuckle Puck.

Next up was Movements. The quartet of SoCal sadbois opened up their set with ‘Colorblind,’ the widely popular single from their new album 

 which just recently came out this past October. The band played many other songs off the album and promoted it frequently, but also balanced out the set by playing some old favorites such as ‘Nineteen.’ The entire crowd sang along to that one, which blew the band away. They repeatedly expressed that they genuinely felt this was one of the best crowds they’ve played to. The band’s set was a lot heavier on emotion than the other acts of the night. Their delivery played a big factor in this, as many of their songs featured spoken word parts that gave the lyrics greater impact than singing them would have. A particularly moving moment occurred during their performance of ‘Deadly Dull,’ a song that vocalist Patrick Miranda explained was about a loved one dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. The shift in the mood was also demonstrated by the audience members. The once raucous crowd simmered down and listened intently out of respect for the band’s emotionally charged lyrics, and there was a lot more hand waving than jumping and moshing. Ultimately, they brought the energy back up by ending the set with ‘Kept,’ a single off of their last album 

“Who here has heard of With Confidence?” “AHHHHHHH!!!” The small venue erupted into screams that could fill an arena as Aussie pop-punk group With Confidence ran onto the stage. Technical difficulties prevented the music from starting right away, but as soon as everything was fixed, a short-but-sweet “Hey everyone, we’re With Confidence” from vocalist/bassist Jayden Seeley launched the set into full gear as they started off with their most popular track, ‘Voldemort.’ It sounded as though every single audience member was singing along, and Seeley was quick to point out and appreciate that after the song ended. The band’s set was full of bubbly jams that put the “pop” in “pop punk,” and showcased lyrics and riffs that would take a 2008 All Time Low fan back to their roots (fangirl screams and all). Most of the songs played were from the band’s first full length album, 2016’s 

. They also threw it back to a deep cut from their older EP 

, ‘Godzilla,’ a song that many of the audience members clearly loved. The setlist was crafted skillfully, mixing in the newer songs with the old, and also presenting an opportunity to play a recent B-side release for 

 that came out this past summer. With Confidence’s performance was not only pleasing to listen to, but also entertaining. Lots of conversation both between band members and between the band and the audience occurred between songs, featuring jokes, crowd chants, and even a count-off for the crowd to shout an insult in unison to Seeley. The guys also paid respect to their host city by playing a snippet of ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’ by local favorites Dropkick Murphys.

Finally, the moment the crowd had been waiting for: Knuckle Puck. The suburban Chicago-based group didn’t hesitate at all to get the action started, launching right into ‘Gone,’ a single from their most recent release 

. The set consisted of many new jams from this album, as well as many from the band’s last album 

 such as ‘Poison Pen Letter’ and ‘Pretense.’ Some old fan favorites were thrown in as well, including ‘But Why Would You Care?’ from 2014’s 

. The pit was absolutely insane — after all, it’s not a real pop punk show unless you get punched in the side or kicked in the teeth at least once. Lead vocalist Joe Taylor even took the time to mention that, while Knuckle Puck has played the Paradise many times before, this was the best time they’ve had there by far. The energy didn’t drop at all despite the late night; in fact, with the crowd singing along to every single song at the top of their lungs, it actually felt like it increased. The best part about Knuckle Puck’s live act is that all the guys seem like genuinely nice people who enjoy doing what they do. Bassist Ryan Rumchaks (onstage for the second time this night) routinely made it a point to check in on members of the crowd who looked like they were getting a little beat up in the pit, and encouraged the security staff to hand out water bottles to the crowd. Homesafe’s bassist Tyler Albertson also made a guest appearance at the end of ‘Evergreen’ and stood side by side with Taylor as they sang together, proving that the aforementioned bro-chemistry extends far beyond the confines of their own band. It was unclear whether Knuckle Puck had actually intended to play an encore, but all of the chants of “One more song!” after leaving the stage convinced them to come back out. They finished up their set with a performance of one of their earliest songs, ‘Gold Rush,’ as a tribute to their dedicated fans, and it could not have been a more perfect ending to a great show.

Authors Note: A few hours after the show concluded, news broke out that With Confidence lead guitarist Luke Rockets was the subject of allegations of sexual misconduct. With Confidence was quick to release a statement that said Rockets was no longer a part of the band and that they would no longer be on the current tour, and all of their social media icons were updated with new photos to reflect the lineup change. Knuckle Puck also released a statement saying they would continue the tour with a series of local openers to make up for the gap in the lineup.

Knuckle Puck @ Paradise Rock Club

[three_fourth]If the address 115 Gainsborough sounds familiar to you, you’re probably a Northeastern student. Dylan Rockoff, the artist behind the album with the same name, also falls into that category. Fresh off of a series of shows, including an opening performance for none other than Bon Jovi in the legendary Madison Square Garden, Rockoff proves he knows how to use everything he learned at Northeastern and more on his debut full-length.

The majority of the album conjures up an image of a sly smirk; Rockoff carefully employs dissonant chords at the end of multiple choruses that entice the listener into the next verse. Coupled with beguiling lyrics, especially those of the album opener “Come Over,” Rockoff casts a spell over the listeners that will keep them listening to his album over and over again. He also bends the genre of rock to give it more of a groovy, bluesy, western movie vibe, and maintains a poised, relaxed composure in the tone of his voice— imagine Jason Mraz covering The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.”

The third song on the album “I Made a Mess Here (22 Symphony)” slows things down a bit by drawing the focus away from the funky sound of a full band to the quiet of an acoustic guitar. The placement in the album’s order for this song could not have been better; situated after two down-n’-dirty jams and before the band comes back into play, the track reminds the listeners of how personal this music really is. While it would be nice to hear more variety in the album overall, the contrast of instrumentation in some songs such as this one definitely keeps things interesting.

The lyrical content of the album is something that I’m sure many listeners can relate to, especially those of the same age as Rockoff, who have gone through similar experiences. He explores the light and dark side of multiple themes, and this juxtaposition provides a glimpse into how he has dealt with the struggles that ensue when these themes come into conflict with one another. For example, “The Greenest Leaf” embodies Rockoff’s determination to be great and have a successful life, but it comes right after “Paranoid” which expresses his skepticism of how he’d be able to accomplish his goals when it seems like the world is out to hold him back. “Come Over” and “Say My Name” describe the thrill and joy of relationships, but “I Made a Mess Here” explores the flip side of that in how they don’t always work out the way you want them to. The concepts are fitting for a person at Rockoff’s point in life—still not really sure of what he wants or where he’s going, but he’s getting there.

The quality of this album that stands out to me the most is its emotional intimacy. 

isn’t just an album name, it’s the place where most of these songs were inspired (as mentioned on Rockoff’s 

 page). It is obvious that he put a lot of introspection into writing this album, and it will be interesting to see how his lyrics and themes develop over time.

Dylan Rockoff releases debut full-length ‘115 Gainsborough’

All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell

[three_fourth]A lot can happen in three years. For a band like PVRIS, still in the fairly early stages of their career, it was just the right amount of time needed for self-discovery. The last song of their previous 2014 release 

 contained the lyrics “I wanna feel something,” and it seems as though PVRIS has finally felt that something.

The release of the band’s sophomore album 

 was preceded by five singles and three videos, which certainly increased the hype surrounding this past Friday. The first single and opening track “Heaven” starts off slow and builds to a rumbling chorus, drawing listeners in and giving them a proper summary of what is yet to come with the rest of the album. Fans of PVRIS’s earlier music will notice some of the same rhythmic patterns and themes taken to the next level. Layers upon layers of synth, guitar, and other ambient effects create an entirely new environment that can only truly be experienced by listening to the entire album in order. A few of the tracks conclude with the playing of a harp that seems to push one song into the next in a seamless transition.

Structurally, the songs on the album suggest that PVRIS are moving closer to the pop side of the electropop genre, but the motifs of introspection and darkness they’ve cultivated throughout their previous releases remain steady in their hard-hitting instrumentation and lyrics, and signals to the listener that their deeply ingrained post-hardcore sound isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Steady, powerful drums pierce through the sea of reverb at exactly the right times, and vocalist Lynn Gunn’s growls and authoritative high notes accentuate the emotion the band channels into their handiwork. The noteworthy lyrical content demonstrates a certain maturity that takes many other bands multiple albums to master— some examples are “Half my bones in the city streets/The other in my sheets/And I don’t think they’ll ever get the chance to meet” (from “Half”) and “Cause I could touch a hundred thousand souls/But none of them would ever feel like home” (from “Anyone Else”).

Overall, it is clear that PVRIS’s intention for this album is not to simply showcase their abilities, but to use their skills and talents in a way that perfectly demonstrates their own visions and feelings that most people would not be able to put into words, let alone music. They made this album for themselves

 A majority of the lyrics deal with the unkind combination of feeling overwhelmed while simultaneously feeling almost nothing at all. There are also many references to lessons learned from experiences of betrayal, loss and mistrust. The highly personal lyrics coupled with the tone of the music itself allows listeners a glimpse into the soul-searching it must have taken to write this album, but this glimpse is fairly small compared to the songwriter’s understanding. A couple weeks before the album release, Gunn took to Twitter to reflect on a then-unknown song (which we now know to be “Anyone Else”) that she claims is her favorite off the album. It’s not the lyrics that make the song special to her, but the atmosphere that it creates. “Maybe you’ll never specifically feel what I do from it & that slightly breaks my heart… to never be able to fully share it,” she laments. “It’s my feeling and my feeling only… a secret only I’ll ever know.”

PVRIS Release Full-Length “All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell”

After a detour to perform at Northeastern’s Afterhours, 

 vocalist Chrissy Costanza met up with WRBB 104.9 FM’s Rachel Lipson during the tour of their brand new album, 

, for a chat about the band’s current position and fierce femininity in the music world.

So you guys were just in the Boston area a couple months ago with CRUISR and Beach Weather, what’s it like to be back?


Oh it’s great, I mean Boston’s cool because it’s so close to home for us, and it’s got the same east-coast vibe that Philly, New York, and even Baltimore and other shows like that kinda have. It’s always (a lot of) fun and energetic but a little edgy too.

Seeing that this is the band’s first real album, how was your approach to In Our Bones different from your previous EPs?


We did a totally different approach to In Our Bones than to Gravity or Infinity because we wrote the two EPs pretty much in like a week for each of them, and everything was written and recorded within the week. Then, for the record, we took months and months and months to write all the songs first and didn’t even worry about recording them, and then went and recorded it after everything was written and demoed and scratched out already.

What’s your game plan when you’re looking for inspiration?


It’s kind of just… honestly, every song starts differently, so sometimes there’s a lyric idea or a concept that I’ve had brewing, sometimes Will [Ferri, drummer] comes in with a fully fleshed-out instrumental track ready and there’s just a certain feeling in the music that is an inspiration. (Sometimes, when) we’re writing with someone else (in) a writing session and someone says, “Oh, I had this phrase I kept saying” that phrase will then inspire everything else. It’s totally different every single time.

Being a woman in the music industry obviously has its ups and downs— how would you describe your experiences thus far?


So far, I think I’ve been really lucky personally. It’s hard for me to speak about the hardships of a woman in the music industry, ‘cause I haven’t personally faced them head-on yet, but we are also at a much smaller level right now, y’know? I think it’s really cool to be a woman in the music industry though, especially for my situation – specifically being in a band – because there’s soooo many less women in bands right now, and throughout history in general. That’s why the ones who kind of do something with it always stand out so fiercely in our memories because it is such a special thing. But also as of right now women kind of dominate the music industry in general, so whenever people are like, “y’know you’re kind of like at a fall, y’know being a woman in the music industry” and I was like, really? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure like all of the top Forbes musicians were all women in the past 8 years… so I mean I think I’m kinda dominating. So far there’s much less of us in the band world though, so hopefully we’re gonna get that one going.

Yeah, automatically, I guess since there aren’t many, people just assume they should compare you to other female-fronted bands like Paramore… you obviously get that a lot.


Yeah, all the time. ‘Cause that’s like the modern rock female-fronted band, that’s like the only 2000’s female-fronted band that you think of immediately when you think of this pop/rock or “scene” genre, or whatever it is.

That’s like a compliment though— I mean, Paramore’s great!


Honestly yeah, like Hayley’s so freakin’ talented, so to be compared to her, even if someone doesn’t even realize what they’re actually comparing, is always a compliment.

A great amount of your growing fan base can be attributed to your online covers. How do you decide what songs to do and when?


It’s usually always really last-minute, and we’re always like, “Oh God, we really wanna come up with a cool cover,” (and) we book the studio space, A lot of them we did ourselves in the early times but if we’re on tour we have to rent a studio and we’re like, “Oh God we gotta go, we gotta go, we need to pick a cover!” and then last-minute we kind of just pick one. Usually we kinda try and look at the top charts, but usually we just do something that we like. We listen to all kinds of music and a lot of the time that does sync up with the top charts.

It must be pretty incredible to see other people doing covers of your own songs too.


Yeah it’s weird, especially cuz we were doing covers and writing our own music simultaneously in the beginning. Not a lot of people knew about our original music so much, but we were doing both at the same time. So, to see people doing covers of our music when that’s kind of how we got our foot in the door, it’s like… wow, that’s such a cool thing.

So this goes for both the covers and your original songs— how do you balance out what you want to do versus what your fans want you to do?


Honestly I think we’ve gotten really lucky with the fan base that we’ve partially just gotten and partially kind of cultivated. I think the attitude you put out is kinda the attitude you’re gonna get in response as well, from the people that want to be that close to you. Obviously you’re gonna have haters on either side of the spectrum. But for the real fans, the core fans, when we put out a certain mentality we see that reflected back at us. So for us we feel like our fans usually kinda want the same things that we do. We haven’t really done anything yet that was like, “This isn’t Against The Current” or “this is so weird.” I definitely get personally, like the whole, “we miss the old Chrissy,” but guys— I’m just not 15, I’m sorry, like, I’m sorry! But in terms of the music and the covers and stuff, they’ve always been pretty receptive to everything. We haven’t really faced that yet… maybe on record two though… I feel like everything changes on record two, so we’ll see.

In your song “Forget Me Now,” you mention “[your] voice on the airwaves.” Is your ultimate goal to someday be on mainstream radio?


I think that’s one of the goals. I wouldn’t say ultimate, but I would say definitely one of the major stepping stones that we wanna do. Turning on — I don’t know what you guys listen to, but for me it’s stations like Z100 or 92.3 [in New York] and turning that on and just all of a sudden hearing your song, being like “whaaaat,” is obviously one of those major platforms that you wanna be on.

How was your first time on the Vans Warped Tour this past summer?


Oh, it was a lot of fun. Yeah it was awesome, it was really cool, it was unlike any other tour we’ve ever done ‘cause it’s both a festival and tour at the same time. But it’s really cool, it’s literally like summer camp for bands, except kind of more like a labor camp. So it’s fun, but it’s a lot of work. [laughs]

Any hints on whether you’ll be back this year?


Probably not this year, I would say, just because right before the summer we’re going on tour with State Champs in the US, and we also just did Warped Tour and we don’t have a new record coming out before the summer so we’ll probably wait until we have new content before going back again.

Most of your fans are in or around their teens, as you saw tonight in the crowd of college students. At this easily moldable age, what advice would you wanna give them?


Ooh, that’s a good question. Ok, part of my answer has to be, “Warning, I am also at this age!” I mean I’m not a teen, I’m 21, which is basically the same thing as being a teen anyways. I’m still technically a college-age student— I mean, I’d be a senior right now, so I don’t really have this all figured out myself! But I would just say that the best thing you could possibly do is just absorb any information that you possibly could, gain every perspective, like always pick everybody’s brain around you, because some of the biggest moments of growth and some of the biggest moments of change in my life were from really, microscopically inspecting someone else’s perspective that I thought was a great perspective. Learning so much about, “Wow someone’s brain works like this, my brain would never work like that on its own,” but now it does, because now I’ve adapted to these different traits and ways of thinking. So I think that’s the best thing you can do, just learn from the people around you.

Lastly, what direction do you think Against The Current will head in next?


Well, currently, our direction is set towards Europe! But I don’t know, it’s really hard to say -eventually sometime this year we’re gonna start getting into record number two, and for us there’s nothing clear-cut about what we wanna do with the record yet. We really don’t like to put up walls for ourselves, y’know? Too many people end up locking themselves in because they think they have to be this thing, and all of a sudden they’ve crossed out all the things they can now never be, and just lock themselves in this little room. So we wanna just keep an open mind and always keep writing music, and just keep developing. So we don’t know what it’s gonna look like next year or two years from now, but I think that’s the fun of it for us.

Thank you so much to Chrissy for taking the time to interview with Rachel Lipson of WRBB, and thank you to Northeastern’s own 

Jan 14th | The Foundry | Philadelphia, PA

Apr 7th | Agora Theatre & Ballroom | Cleveland, OH

Apr 8th | Saint Andrew’s Hall | Detroit, MI

Apr 9th | Concord Music Hall | Chicago, IL