SOUND BITES

(This post is a continuation from the previous two "catch-up" posts, and covers albums I didn't get around to giving a proper review to in August and September.) BLUE OCTOBER I Hope You're Happy August 17, 2018 • Up/Down Highlights  Daylight •  I Want to Come Back Home •  I Hope You're Happy Remembered by most as the one-hit wonders behind 2006's Hate Me , Blue October has soldiered on to build a small but devoted fan base and an impressive resumé; I Hope You're Happy is their ninth album, and fourth to be fully funded by crowdsourcing. It also features some sharp songwriting and tasteful pop elements that could absolutely blindside listeners who have only heard Hate Me , but longtime fans will just smile and enjoy it like they have the other eight. SLAVES Acts of Fear and Love August 17, 2018 • Virgin Highlights  Cut and Run •  Magnolia •  Chokehold Scuzzy UK duo Slaves' third album finds them trimming the fat a bit (at nine tracks, ...

The eighth album by Thrice (and first since a hiatus of nearly four years) finds them picking up more or less where they left off. The maturity and intensity of previous record Major/Minor  are here, complimented by another batch of strong songs carrying messages both political and personal. It tends to lean heavily on slow-to-mid tempos, which can be a little draining in places, but it's still an engaging listen; this holds even more true when they run loose and fast, as on Blood On the Sand and Whistleblower . The sum of the parts is an album that operates at a slow burn but marks a welcome return for one of hard rock's most underappreciated bands. May 27, 2016 • Vagrant Highlights Blood On the Sand • Wake Up • Black Honey

THRICE Yellow Belly From: Major/Minor Released: September 20 When it comes to bands quietly going about their business, there aren't many like Thrice.  You never hear of infighting, scandals, backlashes and the like around this band.  It's because they aren't troublemakers; no bickering about money, no selling out, no drama of any kind.  They're just normal guys who started a band, got noticed, and have steadily grown as songwriters and musicians with each passing album.  They haven't undertaken any monumental sonic shifts from album to album since starting out as what may be considered an "emo" band (whatever that means anymore); they've simply added new colours to their palette over the years.  It all kind of came to a head on 2009's Beggars , which was as close to a pop album as we're ever likely to get from Thrice.  That album saw the band scale back the atmospheric nuances and conceptual tendencies that had abounded on their four E...