2008 Woodie Awards
Local Band, PMToday, creates unique blend of rock on debut album
Listen Up!
Brian Washburn
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Life & Style
Rock bands these days revolve around two sounds: a "throwback" sound from the '60s and '70s (much in the way Panic At The Disco flat out copied the Beatles for their latest release) or the high-pitched, guitar driven rock-the-scene that has been copied over and over again for years. However, when a band comes out and actually sounds of uniqueness and originality, it feels like a breath of fresh air. But when that band is from your home state, then it just makes that breath of fresh air even sweeter.
Jacksonville natives PMToday are not rookies to the music scene around Arkansas. In fact, they have been around for quite a while. But when they released their debut full length CD, And Then the Hurricane, last year, PMToday took their music to the next level with their creative song structures and unique, and at times unbelievable, musicianship. Apparently, music fans in Arkansas are not the only ones who noticed. PMToday even scored a short feature in popular rock magazine Alternative Press this past year in their unsigned bands showcase. With this type of debut, it's hard to believe these Arkansas natives aren't signed - yet.
And Then the Hurricane opens with the song "Celebration," which is a soft-spoken, soft-played intro to the rest of the album. The next song, "Doctor," is one of the album's high points. Fast drums, fast guitars and singer Conor Brogan's high-pitched vocals make this song one of the heaviest on the album, and also makes it one of Hurricane's best. These first two songs on the album really mark what listeners are about to indulge themselves in for the next hour - a unique mix of experimental rock (think Circa Survive) with a fast-paced hard rock sound (think a poppier, lighter Chiodos).
The songs are structured in a way that makes it difficult to find a chorus in some songs, but this is not a bad thing as it is with other albums. They also employ a different technique of having a few parts in earlier songs on the CD played at the end of other songs and at different points in the album (it's different, although a bit unnecessary). While the song structures do set this CD aside, it is the musicianship that puts it on a pedestal amongst other great bands. The ability for drummer Ryan Brogan - Conor's brother - to switch between fast and slow at a pace that is not abrupt allow listeners to ease into the transition. The guitar work is phenomenal. Guitarists Brogan and Kevin Middleton, who recently departed from the band, mix lead guitar parts that sound classic, heavy and just plain different through a bit of guitar sweeping (a guitar technique which is almost impossible to learn) and an enormous amount of tapping, which gives the songs their ultra-catchy melodies.
Jacksonville natives PMToday are not rookies to the music scene around Arkansas. In fact, they have been around for quite a while. But when they released their debut full length CD, And Then the Hurricane, last year, PMToday took their music to the next level with their creative song structures and unique, and at times unbelievable, musicianship. Apparently, music fans in Arkansas are not the only ones who noticed. PMToday even scored a short feature in popular rock magazine Alternative Press this past year in their unsigned bands showcase. With this type of debut, it's hard to believe these Arkansas natives aren't signed - yet.
And Then the Hurricane opens with the song "Celebration," which is a soft-spoken, soft-played intro to the rest of the album. The next song, "Doctor," is one of the album's high points. Fast drums, fast guitars and singer Conor Brogan's high-pitched vocals make this song one of the heaviest on the album, and also makes it one of Hurricane's best. These first two songs on the album really mark what listeners are about to indulge themselves in for the next hour - a unique mix of experimental rock (think Circa Survive) with a fast-paced hard rock sound (think a poppier, lighter Chiodos).
The songs are structured in a way that makes it difficult to find a chorus in some songs, but this is not a bad thing as it is with other albums. They also employ a different technique of having a few parts in earlier songs on the CD played at the end of other songs and at different points in the album (it's different, although a bit unnecessary). While the song structures do set this CD aside, it is the musicianship that puts it on a pedestal amongst other great bands. The ability for drummer Ryan Brogan - Conor's brother - to switch between fast and slow at a pace that is not abrupt allow listeners to ease into the transition. The guitar work is phenomenal. Guitarists Brogan and Kevin Middleton, who recently departed from the band, mix lead guitar parts that sound classic, heavy and just plain different through a bit of guitar sweeping (a guitar technique which is almost impossible to learn) and an enormous amount of tapping, which gives the songs their ultra-catchy melodies.
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