It’s the end of the weekend again, so PropertyOfZack is back with a brand new Team Recommendations Playlist! Each weekend, different members of our team recommend both old and new songs for our viewers to listen to and enjoy. Check out our Team Playlist and listen to the songs on Spotify while reading everyone’s thoughts! 

Taking Back Sunday - MakeDamnSure
In seventh grade, I sought after more music. I had tasted the alt. scene with Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is…, and The All American Rejects, but wanted something a bit heavier. Enter Taking Back Sunday. On a whim, I asked the friend who had introduced me to the scene to get me more music, and his suggestion was to look up Taking Back Sunday. Of course at the time, the first thing I hear from them is this song, it’s music video all over Fuse. I immediately was set on loving this band. I went and downloaded ‘Louder Now’, but then dove right into their old self-titled and ‘Where You Want To Be.’ If that wasn’t enough to sell me on the band, with songs like “This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know) and “Number Five With A Bullet,” I stumbled across ‘Tell All Your Friends’ with one of my favorite songs, “Timberwoves At New Jersey.” I can credit my love for this scene with a few bands, but TBS’ “MakeDamnSure” made damn sure I stayed in love. - Mike Sheffey (@SheffeyzTweetz)

I Am The Avalanche - Is This Really Happening?
I’ve spent the last few months studying abroad in London and, while I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here, it has made me realize something: There is no city like New York. Cliché as it might sound, New York really does have a distinctive style all its own: a living, breathing  personality that cannot be replicated. And I Am The Avalanche captures this phenomena better than Jay-Z and Alicia ever could. I didn’t think it was possible but I love New York City more than yesterday. - Becky Kovach (@beckystrz)

Envy On The Coast – Suckerpunch *Song is not on Spotify
It’s one of the most nostalgic times of the year and I’ve been reflecting on some of my favorite memories of college. Most of them involved escaping college and one of the best involved Envy On The Coast. There are very few bands that I would drive 11 hours in one day for, but when I heard that EOTC was breaking up, I knew that there was no way I could miss their final show. I had recently gotten a knee surgery and I knew that it would be hard to avoid getting crazy while seeing one of my favorite bands play for the last time, so I wore a skirt in hopes that my dignity would keep me stationary in the back if the risk of hurting myself wouldn’t. As soon as the band came back onstage for an encore with Suckerpunch, that plan went out the window. To this day, I have a torn ACL and a cavity that no band has been able to fill since the last time I saw Envy play. - Alyssa McKinley (@AlyssaOhNo)

New End Original - 14-41
 Because Jade Tree has released some fantastic records. Because we start blind and end up dumb. Because college. Because this song is brilliant and evocative and sad. Because if you haven’t heard this song, you HAVE TO. - Marc Gary Gray (@marcgarygray)

Toh Kay - With Any Sort Of Certainty *Song is not on Spotify
The legal drama between Streetlight Manifesto and Victory Records is well documented, and one of the most troubling parts was the recent cancellation of the Toh Kay acoustic version of The Hands That Thieve. When Toh Kay released the first single and accompanying animated video I was stunned. Streetlight had been one of my favorite bands since the first time I ever heard “Point/ Counterpoint” and I could not wait to hear a reinterpretation of all of their new songs, but as usually happens with Streetlight, Victory Records got in the way and the album was abruptly shelved. While I have heard that the album can be found online, and Tomas has been quoted as saying “there is a Torrent of methods to accomplish this, and Google is your always loyal friend” as well as “If you want to steal our music, that’s fine, because that just means that some asshole who lives in a mansion can’t live in a bigger mansion,” the fact of that the matter is that if I could pay for this album I would, but due to stubbornness not only Victory Records not be making any money, but more importantly neither will Tomas Kalnoky and the rest of Streetlight Manifesto. - Connor Sheehan (@ConnorPOZ)

The Offspring - Turning Into You
 For the last three plus weeks now, I’ve been on a huge Offspring kick, and no matter how hard I try (not at all), I just can’t seem to shake it. “Turning Into You” is a song from the band’s last record Days Go By , an album that didn’t get nearly enough attention as it deserves. Sure, The Offspring are band in the twilight of their career, but they’re still fully capable of writing great songs, and this one is no exception. It has a little bit of a Rise Against vibe at times, but the chorus is classic Offspring, and that’s never a bad thing. Give it a listen. - Brandon Allin (@allinbr) 

Glocca Morra- Ya’ll Boot Hats? (Die Angry)
When I first relocated to Philadelphia, Glocca Morra was one of two bands that I felt that I needed to see right away. I had the opportunity of seeing them at Fest 11 and this song was the song that made me fall in love with this band. If you’re in a bad mood, please put this song on. Within the first few seconds you will have a smile on your face. Every time this song comes on I get up and dance. Glocca Morra is such a fun band to watch and definitely a band worth seeing in a room full of people just as hyped up and sweaty. Listen to this song and see this band, for your sake. - Allison Newbold (@allisonnewbold) 

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We are incredibly excited to be launching our second Decade feature in celebration of The Movielife’s Forty Hour Train Back To Penn, which was released ten years ago today. Though the band has been broken up for most of the past decade, minus two reunion shows, Forty Hour is a record that many POZ team members and bands that we love hold dear to our hearts. We have commentary on the album via team members Erik van Rheenen, Adrienne Fisher, and guest Marc Gary Gray. Enjoy and reblog to let us know your thoughts on Forty Hour Train Back To Penn ten years later!

Legacy of Forty Hour Train Back To Penn:

2003 was (clearly) a banner year for Drive-Thru Records pop punk, and The Movielife’s album Forty Hour Train Back to Penn (clearly) fits into that category. However, unlike almost any other album in this showcase, this album marked the end of a band’s run, as opposed to the many debut or sophomore albums you’ll be reading about in the next few weeks. Forty Hour Train Back to Penn plays like many of its peers: 3 minute catchy jams about heartache, longing, and let’s face it…girls. With the aid of retrospect, this album feels rather dated. There is certainly an air of sincerity surrounding these tracks, but with so many of their contemporaries striking similar chords (chords…get it? Never mind…), the only remarkable thing about this album 10 years later is how unremarkable it sounds. In effect, this album permanently grounds the band (and, with help from others, Drive-Thru Records) as relics of the early 2000s, a time when boy bands were fading from the spotlight but Kanye and Skrillex weren’t there yet to grab hold of the pop music reigns. It was a time when four unassuming guys from Anywhere, USA could wear their hearts on their sleeves and sell records while they were doing so. Fans of pop punk (myself included) will continue to love this record the way we love playing old NES games on the Wii; we don’t want to go back for good, but we’re glad we can from time to time. - Marc Gary Gray (@marcgarygray)

How Forty Hour Train Back To Penn holds up in 2013:

Pop punk isn’t a genre that ages especially gracefully, but Forty Hour Train Back to Penn holds up remarkably well. That might have something to do with the fact that it’s the last record we got from The Movielife, and with Vinnie Caruana saying “The Movielife is dead” during the Acoustic Basement Tour, waiting for another Movielife record would be as aimless as waiting for Godot. Because the Movielife isn’t around to play these songs, giving Forty Hour Train Back to Penn a spin every so often keeps the songs as fresh as they were ten years ago. Caruana’s open-book lyrics still hit home, and while it’s a shame the Movielife called it quits, at least they saved their best album for last. Hearing Caruana perform some of these songs acoustically really illustrates their versatility, and that translation away from the full-band ethos keeps fans listening. - Erik van Rheenen (@TheVandyMan)

Movielife’s follow up to Forty Hour Train Back To Penn:

The Movielife put out Forty Hour Train Back To Penn in 2003 and, despite praise from the pop-punk community, announced less than a year later that the band was no more. And with that, the cord was cut – no final show, no posthumous B-side releases, no breadcrumbs to feed the fans.

So, to say whether or not the band was successful in following up their final full-length record truly lies in the way that the Movielife achieved closure for themselves and for their fans. In 2008, Caruana brought the songs back to full-band life by performing a set of Movielife songs at Bamboozle and Bamboozle Left that year, with Set Your Goals as a backing band. The decision to play this way was reported as because the other members of the Movielife were not willing to participate in a reunion, yet Caruana wanted to find a way to bring the songs back to life for fans that still loved the records and had been hoping against hope to hear the songs again in a live setting. Caruana also continued playing solo shows on a semi-regular basis over the years, touring by himself and playing sets that consisted of both Movielife and I Am the Avalanche songs.

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blink-182, ATL, TWY, PTV, fun., BVB, Bon Iver Album Sales

Ever wonder the total sales for some of your favorite band’s releases, not just the first week numbers? Some of those figures have been published now, and it’s certainly interesting for some bands. blink’s Dogs Eating Dogs has sold over 100,00 copies, which is extremely impressive considering the band had no label, no physical copies, and only announced pre-orders under a month early.

Kevin Devine Passes $100,000 Mark On Kickstarter

A major congratulations to Kevin Devine, who has raised over twice the funds he had hoped for in his Kickstarter campaign in just over a month. POZ will be posting a fantastic interview with Devine later this week, so make sure to check back for it.

Jonny Craig To Be Sober For First Time On US Tour  

Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me…twenty times? 

I Am The Avalanche To Hit The Studio In May

Avalanche are united once again and will be hitting the studio this May, which makes a fall release ideal for the band at this point. Hopefully we’ll see some more touring soon as well.

Trapped Under Ice To Go On Indefinite Hiatus This Summer

TUI are going on a very lengthy hiatus following world touring up until August. Though the band won’t confirm it, a main source of the hiatus is most likely due to Diamond Youth’s continued desire to be a full time band. 

The Summer Set Stream New Song “Maybe Tonight”

That whole Half Moon Kids viral campaign all boiled down to this. What do you think of the song? And was it worth any sort of wait? 

I Am The Avalanche will begin recording their new record in May, according to Vinnie Caruana. An early-fall release should be likely if the band stays on schedule. More information can be found out here. 

*This review was composed by Adrienne Fisher and edited by Erik van Rheenen

Vinnie Caruana, revered frontman for some of our scene’s most beloved pop-punk bands (The Movielife, I Am The Avalanche), is musically and stylistically working to stretch himself outside his pre-existing boundaries this year. With City By The Sea, Caruana manifests his musical tradition and life ethos in a fresh aesthetic trademarked by his acoustic guitar and a number of other auxiliary instrumental elements. Sonically, he’s crafted tracks that edge on folky but are still saturated with the punk sensibility that Caruana is noted for in much of his work; one could easily liken them to the work of Frank Turner. 

Despite the six-song EP being billed as a solo effort, the songs are all fully clothed, each one featuring much more than just a voice and a guitar. Caruana has already demonstrated his comfort with guy-and-guitar solo work in his myriad acoustic performances, and one can definitely appreciate his effort to add more musical facets to songs with a great skeletal structure.

Opening track “Somehow the World Keeps Turning” packs a pretty heavy emotional punch with a good dose of soul, commencing the EP with an absolutely classic Caruana solo feel. The acoustic guitar carries us through the verses, while the choruses pick up some more instrumental elements in the form of keys and light percussion, complementing the slightly melancholy melodies. It’s a slower-paced way to begin the EP, but don’t mistake the pacing for lack of drive or energy; the desperation at the end of the song is palpable, coming through especially in the vocal delivery: “The war inside my head keeps waging / and somehow the world keeps turning.”

The rest of the EP boasts the same approach, demonstrating Caruana’s unflinching grasp on… something. “To Be Dead and In Love,” a song that previously only existed in live incarnations, is given new legs with the incorporation of several musical layers that thicken the song. In doing so, however, much of the sad-bastard desperation that shines through in the lyrics and dramatic vocal pauses is overshadowed by the inclusion of percussion and keys, letting the instrumental elements take away the song rather than let the emotional aspect drive it. The last two songs on the EP also fall prey to this, specifically in the form of electronic keys that are reminiscent of a church organ; they strike one as inconsistent with the style established over the course of the EP, and feel bossy and intrusive.

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PropertyOfZack spoke with Vinnie Caruana a few weeks ago for a great interview. We spoke about his new solo EP, why he decided to release material now, upcoming touring, future release plans for both solo and Avalanche material, and much more. Check it all out below!

Your solo EP was announced just a few days ago with I Surrender Records and Run For Cover Records and you released a new song as well. We knew you were recording something, but how was the initial excitement behind the song, and release in general, been from fans?
It’s pretty cool man. I’m definitely feeling the excitement from people. People have been coming out of the woodwork, being like “I heard the song. I loved it.” It’s a different feeling when it’s your solo thing, you know? It just feels really weird. I was kind of scared to read what people had to say. It’s kind of different.  Like, “I don’t like Vinnie.” Or, “I don’t like I Am The Avalanche.” So I was a little apprehensive about that. But, it’s been really positive and I’m super excited. 

You’ve done solo shows for years now, but what made right now the time to do this?
I had been thinking about doing it for forever. I’d been talking about doing it and slowly writing it. The Avalanche got done touring in July for the record, and I definitely saw this as a window where I could record original music. I wasn’t going to have a release and not tour in support of it so this is just a nice little window between everything that I’m doing, where I can actually pay attention and put the time in or put the effort in to full support the EP. This is it. I’m touring a bunch from February through the summer. And recording the new I Am The Avalanche record in between solo tours. I sit there… I have this really great woman and she manages everything I do and she helps me to plan my year out. Basically to help me structure a year and to be creative throughout the year. 

This is coming out with I Surrender Records, which you’ve done with Avalanche, and now Run For Cover as well. Was there a reason you decided to add Run For Cover and Jeff into the mix?
You know, Run For Cover is, I’d say, among our peers and among our circle of friends, as far as people in the music business and people in the more touring community. They’ve done a lot of good things for a lot of our friends and peers. We got to tour with Jeff when Avalanche took Hostage Calm on the U.K. tour. Jeff came along and I got to know him. We actually started talking about it back then. I knew that doing the vinyl with Jeff would be a really good decision. I know that they work hard to distribute and to advertise their product. They did a really good job. The amount of vinyl that we sold in the last two days is staggering. I know that I made the right decision for the job. 

The last Avalanche record came out years and years after the first one. But with this solo EP, you went in, recorded it, and did same thing with the Peaced Out release. Is it nice to have been able to get something done within a six month span and give it to your fans.
Oh yeah. All these different releases definitely reflect on it. Not officially releasing any music in like five years was crazy and really killing me. This is definitely a result of that. Just going and trying to be as prolific as I can be. 

Is the first song that was released indicative of the rest of the material? 
I think it’s a good representation. I think it was a good solid song to lead with. It kind of varies; the vibes and the dynamic kind of vary and come in and out. Not every song sounds the same. But I think this is a good overall tone to set and to assure people. People who watch me play are probably familiar with the song called “To Be Dead In Love.” That’s a song I’ve been playing for a few years and that’s on there. People think they already know it. The difference between that song and this song is pretty drastic. That’s pretty much the realm that we’re in right now with this EP. 

To support it, you’re headlining along with Geoff Rickly on the Acoustic Basement Tour. You did a good amount of dates for the Basement this summer on Warped Tour. Are you excited to take it on the road in its first year? 
Oh yeah. It’s the most perfect timing. This EP was a thing where we were trying to figure out when the release date was going to be. We got a tour about the tour and it was February 1^st. It was like, “That’s right around the release date, and this could be amazing.” And it all worked out really well. Now I have an EP coming out four days into the tour. The fact that it’s with Geoff too… It’s pretty special to me. Me and Geoff have toured all around the world together. It’s really nice to go and do our thing again together. Everyone else on the tour is close friends. We all were on Warped Tour together. I was actually not on the part that Geoff was on this summer, I missed out on that. But all the other guys, I toured with last summer. Its pretty killer and I think it’s pretty ideal for my situation as far as releasing this EP and having a cool tour to go out and do. 

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I Am The Avalanche will be releasing a new full-length in 2013. Check out a tweet from Vinnie Caruana below by clicking “Read More.”

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The Acoustic Basement was one of PropertyOfZack’s favorite stages this past year at Warped Tour, so it is an honor to be sponsoring a satellite run of the tour this February alongside Warped Tour and Full Sail University. Geoff Rickly (Thursday), Vinnie Caruana (I Am The Avalanche), A Loss For Words, Koji, and Brian Marquis will all be playing the tour. Check out the banner above and the dates below by clicking “Read More!”

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It’s that time of year. Our friends in Man Overboard have announced the Lost Tape Collective Holiday Show with I Am The Avalanche, Seahaven, Citizen, Daylight, and Alan Day (Four Year Strong) at The Theatre Of Living Arts in Philadelphia, PA on December 15th. Check out extra details and a message from the band below by clicking “Read More.”

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Vinnie Caruana will be releasing his debut solo EP via I Surrender/Run For Cover Records in early-2013. Check out a press release for the news below by clicking “Read More.”

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New Found Glory have added Transit and I Am The Avalanche to their New Jersey date for their Sticks & Stones Tour. Check out details and the band’s full routing below by clicking “Read More.”

Related Stories:
New Found Glory Add Date To S&S Tour 

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Peace’d Out, Vinnie Caruana of I Am The Avalanche and Steve Choi of Rx Bandits’ new band, have released the first of three behind the scenes videos for their debut EP. Check out the video below by clicking “Read More.”

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Vinnie Caruana of I Am The Avalanche will be recording a new solo EP in a few weeks. Check out a tweet from Caruana below by clicking “Read More.”

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It looks like Vinnie Caruana of I Am The Avalanche will be recording his debut solo record in October. Information regarding a record label and touring plans have not been confirmed, but should be soon.

PropertyOfZack is stoked to be teaming up with East Coast Collective to give away a pair of tickets for the final day of the 2012 Long Island Fest. I Am The Avalanche, Daylight, Sainthood Reps, and Turnover, among a few other great bands, are all playing the festival. The contest will end on August 17th, so find out how to enter below!

To win two tickets Long Island Fest you must do each of the following things:

• “Like” PropertyOfZack on Facebook.
• “Like” East Coast Collective on Facebook.
• Write on POZ’s wall: I’m entering to win the LI Fest contest!