Review: The Bunny The Bear - If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say…
Some of my readers may recall that I did a review for The Bunny The Bear’s Self-Titled album a couple of months ago, and that I gave it a good review and enjoyed the album immensely. Well, I have a follow up for that which is this review for their new album that just came out a couple weeks ago.
It seems like The Bunny The Bear went through some changes between these 2 albums, and I would like to start by discussing the differences I have found.
The production value has gone up considerably! I know for a fact that the bands primary composer, The Bunny, will be stoked about my saying so because I know he is a perfectionist when it comes to such things. In fact, the first single from the album, “Aisle,” has had changes made to it between the release of the video for the song and the release of the album. That speaks volumes to me about the bands desire to sound as great as possible.
They did change their sound to some extent. The last album had keys/samples, just as this one does. However, it seemed to me that the function of the keys/samples went from something that sounded kind of erratic and was meant to keep you guessing on the last album, to a more “dancey” style of keys/samples. This doesn’t ruffle my feathers at all, seeing as I enjoy both sounds. Although, it might cause other critics to look down on them as their use of keys/samples on the Self-Titled album would be seen as more progressive and this new use of keys/samples is more, I hate to say it like this, but, trendy. In my mind, this album incorporates the use of both stylings very effectively, as a metal head that is pretty open minded, I enjoy it a lot! Something that should be mentioned is that they did not completely do away with the spazzy, proggy keys/samples, simply incorporated some of the styles that seem to be rising in popularity in the current metalcore and deathcore scenes which I believe will broaden their audience a bit without completely losing the previously existing fan base. It’s a nice blend. In a band where the primary instrumentation is in the keys/samples, this is just the way its going to go.
Now I’m going to move on to the vocal stylings of Bunny and Bear. They still have that Coheed and Cambria clean vocal element, as well as, the punk-ish yelling and growling, but all those elements have moved past their previous versions into a version of themselves with much more range and depth. Including a very impressive deep low growl that could compete with many of the deathcore titans out there right now.
The first two tracks, Aisle and Ocean Floor, excluding the intro, are the driving forces of the album, to me, but there is a lot of appeal in the almost ballad like qualities of the next song with a heavy hitter to follow it up. The Bunny The Bear spend the rest of the record swapping between more melodic stuff and heavier tunes. I can certainly appreciate what they are doing on this record.
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say… is a great album and destroys their Self-Titled when it comes to the production value, but isn’t as good as the self-titled, in this reviewers eyes anyway. If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say… feels a bit more tame to me. I really enjoyed Self-Titled and I feel like The Bunny The Bear went another direction with this one. Don’t get me wrong… this is starting to sound like a negative review, but that’s not the case. I am just stating that I preferred Self-Titled over this newest album. This album still keeps you guessing. You can still hear that Iwrestledabearonce and Arsonists Get All The Girls sound, but now there might be a little bit of Asking Alexandria thrown into the mix.
This is a great album. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that in a record store that is on-the-fence about picking it up, as well as anyone reading this post. Great record guys! Make sure you head over to their various pages (links provided below) and get all the info on their upcoming tour with Deception of a Ghost, who was featured on this blog not that long ago as well.
8/10
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say… Tracklist:
01. Prelude to Pregnancy
02. Aisle
03. Ocean Floor
04. C’est Pas Si Lion
05. It’s a Long Way from the Esophagus to the Ovaries
06. Lust Touch Seed
07. 396.17
08. Rough Eyes
09. Sympathy for the Queen of Lies
10. Alley
11. Path
Podcast You Should Know: SModcast
@ThatKevinSmith @SMosier #SModcast
I have talked about SModcast, or at least a couple of the podcasts on the SModcast Network, before and I finally get to talk about SModcast! This is the podcast that started the SModcast Network, SModcast Internet Radio and the entire revolution of SModcast! This podcast is hosted by film maker Kevin Smith and film producer Scott Mosier. They discuss movies and wiener… that about covers the show. What makes it a great podcast is the way they discuss these topics. They don’t pull punches if a movie is garbage, and they get REALLY in depth on the wiener thing!
As any fan of Kevin Smith’s movies knows, he is hilarious! This podcast is an uncensored look into the life of film makers but also the opinions of said film makers on today’s current flicks. I especially enjoy any coverage the Harry Potter movies get. I had no desire to ever see any of the Harry Potter films, until SModcast covered the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I immediately went and got the entire series up to that point and watched them all. I consider myself a big fan of those films now.
I particularly love their Live SModcasts! These guys get ranting and raving on movies, music, religion and, of course, wiener. My favorite is when Scott Mosier attempts a Canadian accent. Why? Well, because his Canadian accent is horrible, made even funnier by the fact that he is Canadian!
This is a quick shout to Kevin Smith, should he happen to read this. Thank you for SModcast. I myself am a podcaster and believe the podcast scene is fragile and would take a big hit if it weren’t for SModcast. Thank you for all you do for podcasting and podcasters by keeping the scene alive and relevant. That goes for the entire SModcast crew. All the great hosts, the shows wouldn’t be what they are without you. Kevin Smith is funny, but the interaction is what makes the shows as amazing as they are. Thank you. I am a big fan and will be for as long as you are doing it.
Go check out the podcast! All the podcasts I talk about are completely free and you have no good reason not to go listen to a couple selections. There is an entire podcast network at your fingertips! Don’t ignore it!
@SklarBrothers
This pair of twin brothers is amazing on this show. The idea is that it’s supposed to be about sports. Not really. This a stand-up comedy podcast with sports sprinkled over the top of it. Not that I’m complaining! I love the show! Since I am a sports guy, their sports references don’t go completely flat on me. I get most of them. Not gonna lie, I don’t get them all, but the ones I get always have a hilarious connotation.
Those of you that are not familiar with their stand-up routine, do not know what you are missing! The energy they share, possibly because of freaky twin telepathy (twi-lepathy?) is amazing. That same vibe exists on the podcast. This is a great comedy podcast! You don’t have to be sports savvy to enjoy it either. You can listen to it and laugh your ass off even without the sports knowledge. Go over to your iTunes and subscribe! This show will not disappoint! Keep up the great work guys!
Note: The streaming audio is being pulled directly from the Sklarbro Country Feed and is not meant to be claimed as my property. It is meant to act as a sample episode. Please head over to their page and subscribe as I will not be posting their future episodes, just this one so you can try it out. Please don’t sue me Earwolf.
Source: earwolf.com
Podcasts You should Know: Part 2- Century Media Podcast
This podcast is hosted by a super cool guy by the name of Tim Binder. It is the label podcast for Century Media Records. Giving constant updates on the status of tours and new releases for bands from the label. He also spins some killer tunes long before they are available anywhere else. This monthly podcast was one of the first podcasts I started listening to. I originally started listening to three podcasts, and this is the only one that has stayed since 2008. Now I listen to well over 30 podcasts every week and the Century Media Podcast continues to kill! This is a great podcast for the metal heads out there. No matter what kind of metal you are into, this has something to quench your thirst!
Source: centurymediapodcast.com
