Millsted “Umm Yea” (Song Collections)

It was about a year ago when I visited the Millsted studio and interviewed them, since then there’s been little change to the life of Millsted as a band, but there is some change pertaining to their direction. They still maintain that Millsted sound but that sound is slowing down just a bit, which by the way isn’t a bad thing whatsoever. In other words they are kind of walking away from the punk/hardcore scene, I’m not even sure if that’s considered a real genre but in the Millsted world… it a little genre in its own, well that statement is pertaining to the brand new stuff they are putting out there which isn’t even completely recorded yet, this is not about the “Umm Yea” album with consist of pretty heavy stuff. Well anyway this time around my intension was not to interview them for the simple fact this time I wanted to aim all of my concentration on reviewing the newest album which was released January, 16, 2008, I wanted to center my attention on that rather than throw a interview in there; also to see what they had in store for the brand new work coming out which is actually currently in the process of being recorded. Just like last year, I was invited to Millsted’s studio by guitarist Chris Caramboti once again; but this time around it was a much warmer day rather than last year, aside from all of that this is what I came up with later that night…
Starting off with the “Umm Yea” collection; I call this record a collection instead of a full length only because that’s what Millsted calls this record, it even says it on the back cover of the album booklet… and I quote “The CD you have in your hands is a collection of songs that spun five years of a band. We consider this more of a collection than a full length”. This is a very interesting statement considering the fact that there are old re-recorded songs from the past years along with some new stuff, an example of this is songs like “Sad Satan” and The Culprit” two old songs but yet re-recorded for this collection, great concept. One song on this album that I consider a personal hit is “Dirty Elvis”, personal hit you ask? What I mean by that is the fact of the matter is “Dirty Elvis” is a hit with a lot of people I know around me (personally); though I have to admit it’s a very attractive song. As for the rest of the tracks on “Umm Yea” they can be very diverse with the selection of song structure and setting with some nice guitar ambiance from time to time and with a lot of these songs you can actually dance to them! One thing that’s highly noticeable if you’re the type to pay attention to detail is how powerful and advanced drummer (Pete Belloli) new drum tracks are in these newly recorded songs, it just blew me away and I was very impressed. When listening to these somewhat new Millsted songs you can immediately catch a sense the bands originality, just like always when they put out something new.
Trust me, I’m a big fan of music sharing i.e. Limewire and such programs, but I’ve always said that if you really dig a band and if you can really respect them as musicians then you better shell out some cash to buy their release and support them by cashing in to have the privilege to listen to some good musicianship, case in point “Umm Yea”; they are only charging $5.99 on Snocap for this 13 track album, I highly suggest you spend your hard earned money and order yourself a copy, I bet you’ll think it’s worth it. Once again the guys of Millsted decided to with Producer David Andronico just like they did for the EP “4 songs” back in 2007, this little collection is very well recorded with a lot of work put into it. In terms of working with people Millsted has the right idea and it definitely shows.
Moving forward to Millsted’s brand new songs which are in the process of being recorded, well more of a “sneak peek” of what’s coming up. These new breed of songs are just a bit slower, cutting out the hardcore vibe, and as strange as it may sound they are also supporting a West Coast California rock kind of sound while maintaining the downtown New York swagger sound as Ironic as that may sound, even more of a reason to listen to these guys, because it’s just really original stuff and I cannot emphasize that enough. So go ahead and look out for it, it’s currently in the process of the tail end of the recording stages, from what I am aware of there is no set release date yet and this may actually be a concept album… very exciting.


Overall it looks like some good stuff coming up for Millsted so keep your eye out for them; they have some shows lined up, as listed here:



(Note): Scheduled show for The Snitch Bar for May, 16 has been cancelled due to Snitch closing down. (R.I.P. fun times at Snitch).




May 17 2008 8:00P
Ace Of Clubs
NY, New York
Jun 21 2008 1:00P
URB ALT Fest 08 Launch at The Gatehouse - Harlem Stages
New York, New York
Jun 28 2008 1:00P
Verus Fest at Luna Lounge
Williamsburg/Brooklyn, New York

Go out, have fun, be drunk, buy albums and check out your local music scene-JasonFranquiz

Rekindling the Love of Music

We are all aware that NYC Music Review has been on hiatus mode for just a little while because of some conflicting priority changes lately. I thought it would be appropriate if I come back to earth with something that has been a thorn to my side lately, something I’ve been itching to write about. This “thorn on my side” is also known as New York City band NearForever, don’t worry it’s not as bad as it may sound, I don’t have any animosity towards this band, actually the thorn is the separation of NF back in fall of 2007; separation as in there is no official word that the four year old band has dismembered, it’s just that every member of NF are working on their own individual projects. Randall McFadden (Vocalist) is basically traveling all over the U.S. perusing his acting career, Mike Vignola (Guitarist) which is the last original member of NF joined Connecticut based band The Second, Eric Velasco (Bassist) is now perusing the family life, and last but not least Phillip Lherisson is now drumming for Brooklyn based band Astronaut Down.
Taking a glance at NearForever’s Myspace page I couldn’t it help notice the headline reading: "the well is drying... but we will return..." leaving me to assume the meaning behind those wisely chosen words may mean that they are taking a really long break and eventually getting back together, or maybe it can mean that NF is coming back but only this time with new members. I don’t necessary know what that quote means exactly but whatever the case maybe, from what I see NF is not officially done and I hope I’m not wrong. There is reason to believe that NF is not officially done because their Myspace page is not dead in terms of updates and changes, I find that every month or so something changes to the site, top friends, old songs being put up, photos, and even blogs; there was actually a blog posted on January 30th of 2008 pertaining to proceeds from (Snocap) will be donated to various charity organizations.
There are many things that I miss about NearForever’s sound, like in the E.P. that was released back in 2005 (Few and Far Between) there were songs such as “Explosions” and “Intervention” with more of an early non-experimental sound with the great “Vignola scream” as we use to call it, it’s pretty self explanatory just take a listen to the background screams in the record. Also back then there were two guitarists. I love the E.P. put out in 2006 (On Borrowed Time) which had more of an experimental kind of vibe, out of the two records, the one thing that has never changed is with NF is Randall’s spoken words during songs which is pretty unique if you ask me. Bottom line, it would be nice for it to be like old times, I would hate to see a band like this to go to waste. Then maybe the thorn in my side will finally be taken out.

"I asked for an education, they handed me a gun"-Start Over

Be sure to go out, have fun, be drunk, buy albums and check out your local music scene-Jason Franquiz