{"id":32075,"date":"2013-10-02T06:15:41","date_gmt":"2013-10-02T11:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=32075"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:38:26","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:38:26","slug":"teenage-casket-company-still-standing-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/teenage-casket-company-still-standing-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenage Casket Company | Still Standing<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller<\/span>
\n– Managing Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TeenageIt\u2019s been a few years\u2014ok almost seven\u2014but Teenage Casket Company (TCC) is back with a new studio album called Still Standing<\/em>. For their career, these musicians have found a way to meld Punk attitude with Hard Rock melodies and make a hybrid form of music that is some of the best Rock music being composed on the planet today. Still Standing is a welcomed release at a time of stagnation, contrived blather and pseudo-musicianship in today\u2019s auto-tuned, programmed, and antiseptic Hard Rock scene. <\/p>\n

The title track kicks things off, and if you\u2019ve heard TCC before, you know how adept they are at penning anthems. It takes all of a minute into the album and you\u2019ll hear a powerful, uplifting chorus with smart lyrics mixed with adrenaline and bravado. \u201c\u2019Cuz when I\u2019m on my knees I\u2019ll stand my ground!\u201d is the best lyric, perhaps on the entire release; it makes you want to get a TCC tattoo on your forehead. <\/p>\n

They continue next with another energetic call to arms, \u201cFirst Night of Your Life.\u201d Again, like \u201cStill Standing,\u201d it\u2019s about living life to the fullest, never giving up, putting your head down and running through whatever obstacle tries to get in your way. It\u2019s refreshing hearing this kind of music again; TCC doesn\u2019t really sound like any other band today. The addition of swirling keys adds a poppy element to this typically straight ahead unit. <\/p>\n

One of their singles is \u201c(You Only Love Me) When You Hate Me.\u201d Anyone who\u2019s been married or in a too-long relationship has probably thought or maybe even said these words to their significant other. While too melodic for a direct comparison, bands like Nickelback and Puddle of Mud have turned this sort of \u201cI hate love\u201d vibe into chart success. Here\u2019s hoping TCC can do the same, because it\u2019s better than those aforementioned bands\u2019 singles, for the most part. <\/p>\n

Now the fun starts \u2026 the American Psychological Association says that 40-50 percent of marriages in the States end in divorce, and studies show in the European Union, Britain has the highest divorce rate, comparable to that of the U.S. Thus \u201cMake It Through the Night\u201d was born. Wylde wrote the song after experiencing a gut-wrenching divorce, but aren\u2019t they all? Instead of taking the angry way out (here, anyway) Wylde wrote a poignant near power ballad, examining the feelings of isolation, the feelings of failure, and when he sings, \u201cIt\u2019s hard enough to breathe \u2026 tell me how the hell do I sleep?\u201d he\u2019s opening himself up, which is a brave thing to do. The message aside, it\u2019s one of the best ballads the band has ever written and recorded. You can connect with it regardless of your walk through life \u2026 there\u2019s just a lot of meat on these bones. <\/p>\n

They jerk you out of your depressed stupor next with \u201cBest Friend is My Radio,\u201d which you could find on their compilation Best Kept Secret. Again, it\u2019s a fist-pumping ass-kicking anthem, making you feel like you just red-lined Red Bull. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all love and uplift, though. \u201cDead in America\u201d is one of the heaviest, meanest, pissed off songs they\u2019ve ever written. This may be the anti-toxin to \u201cMake It Through the Night.\u201d There\u2019s two sides to every divorce, and with Wylde spitting out \u201cI\u2019m gone and I\u2019m never coming back! Don\u2019t try to stop me cuz I\u2019m so far gone now \u2026 I\u2019m dead!\u201d you may have some insight into the darker side of divorce. If the lyrics and venomous delivery of the vocals don\u2019t depict it enough for you \u2026 listen to the voice mail after the guitar solo. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty damn difficult to find a song you won\u2019t like on Still Standing, which is outside the norm. \u201cTakes a Little Time\u201d has that anger to it, awesome placement of the f-bomb, and melodies catchier than herpes. \u201cWithout You\u201d is a mid-tempo rocker, full of sing along \u201cna na na\u201d passages and visual lyrics like \u201cIt hurts a little stronger, cuts a little deeper, scars a little more.\u201d The Butch Walker\/Erik Turner written cover \u201cGirl\u201d has all of the underrated Butch Walker pop brilliance. Even though there\u2019s a few darker areas on Still Standing, the last new song \u201cKings of the World\u201d has a Goo Goo Dolls brush stroke, akin to the track \u201cRebel Beat\u201d off their newest release. <\/p>\n

They end it all with a remake of \u201cI Believe in You,\u201d updated for 2013. This song is one of the few keyboard-led tracks here, haunting, touching, making you think that just maybe, all of the pain in the songs before still make finding that one person to love is worth it every time. \u201cAll the things you said keep playing through my head, tell me why should I believe in you?\u201d OK, strike that \u2026 this song is haunting as hell, but it\u2019s not \u201ctouching.\u201d They are saying run like hell, kids \u2026 run away before it\u2019s too late. Sage advice and great music. <\/p>\n

On that happy note, TCC have firmly outdone themselves on Still Standing. It has absolutely everything you are looking for in a Pop Punk\/Hard Rock release, and nothing you hate\u2014like vacuous lyrics, repetitive riffing track to track and basically artless wanking. These guys are the real deal. Now it\u2019s up to the rest of the world to finally figure that out as well. <\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nRob Wylde\u2014vocals and guitar
\nSpike\u2014drums
\nRob Lane\u2014bass and vocals
\nDave Kerr\u2014lead guitar<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tStill Standing
\n2.\tFirst Night of Your Life
\n3.\t(You Only Love Me) When You Hate Me
\n4.\tMake It Through the Night
\n5.\tBest Friend is My Radio
\n6.\tDead in America
\n7.\tTakes a Little Time
\n8.\tWithout You
\n9.\tGirl
\n10.\tKings of the World
\n11.\tI Believe in You (2013)<\/p>\n

Online: www.teenagecasketcompany.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller – Managing Editor — It\u2019s been a few years\u2014ok almost seven\u2014but Teenage Casket Company (TCC) is back with a new studio album called Still Standing. For their career, these musicians have found […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":32076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[2317,1103,3860,1391,8121,1200],"class_list":{"0":"post-32075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-rob-lane","11":"tag-rob-wylde","12":"tag-still-standing","13":"tag-teenage-casket-company"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}