The Alternative Tone

Emo acoustic goodness Download Here RIYL: Nick Stutsman, Crywank

Arrows Over Athens are releasing their new album entitled “Myths, Monsters & The Maker” on July 16 th  via Take This To Heart Records.  Track Listing: 1. Thirty Years’ Peace 2. Give Me Somewhere To Stand       3. Atlas 4. And I Will Move The Earth 5. Eros & The Vulcan 6. Marathon 490 B.C (Times Have Changed) Preorder it and stream the first song here .  I really recommend these guys. They're a little bit more straight up rock than the stuff I normally cover, but their Paramore goes heavy sound is pretty unique. 

Breath Of An Epoch are a pretty awesome, straight up emo band, whereas Keire Johnson has a more indie feel but can certainly make waves with emo fans. Download Here RIYL: Jazzier emo stuff Highly Recommended 

Endearing twinkly screamy stuff that brings to mind For Cameron, which is always a good thing.  Download Here RIYL: Merchant Ships

Noodly emo from New York  Download Here RIYL: Tiny Moving Parts; Midwest Pen Pals Highly Recommended

McCafferty are one of those wonderfully quirky bands that manage to strike the right chord, even if it's somewhat by accident. Layering DIY beats over acoustic guitars with an underdog attitude, I Hate This Body  ticks all the right boxes. "Skeleton Bones" is a complete jam - catchy as hell and super addictive. "Real Adult" has some of the most endearing lyrics around, and McCafferty 's ability to create such heartfelt, real feeling tracks is something that must not be underrated. You know when you get super excited about a new band? Because you think they're about to inherit the world? Yeah. McCafferty are that band. Listen to this and anticipate more from these guys. If things go right, McCafferty will be the name on everyone's lips. RIYL: The Front Bottoms; Atom And His Package I Hate This Body by McCafferty

  Filbert is a wonderfully oddball indie rock band from Stockton, CA. They dapple in an excellent combination of indie, folk, the odd touch of emo, and the occasional 90s hip hop touch. They sound slightly like if you threw Modest Mouse, The Front Bottoms, Modern Baseball and a bunch of eclectic influences all into one musical melting pot and piled the results high onto a slightly scratched record. Their new album Chronographic is a modern answer to The Lonesome Crowded West with a slightly lighter, more accessible edge. Tracks such as "Collections" and "Between Seams" are memorable in a highly natural manner, and throughout the entire release, the lyrics flow in a likable, "everyday poet" type of way. Chronographic is an album to soundtrack being young and a little aimless, and is a superb release from a relatively new band. And "Headphones" is perfect. Download here  as name your price and thank me later. Chronographic by Filbert ...

This week's guest recommendations comes from Jon Lemay, DJ on Skidmore College Radio, WSPN and general music fan extraordinaire.   The Front Bottoms -  The Front Bottoms I discovered these guys when I saw them open for River City Extension over the summer, and what instantly stood out to be was just how crazy everyone went during their set. Kids were going nuts and screaming every lyric back at them--it was clear that this band meant a whole lot to everyone there. A couple months later, a breakup later, and a lot of listens to their self-titled debut later, and I understand everything. Maybe it's the unique combination of folk and pop-punk. Maybe it's Brian Sella's honest lyrics and quirky delivery. Or maybe it's the fact that this album ranges from really fun ("Maps") to really sad ("Bathtub"). I can't really say, but this band is making waves, and with their full length being released in May, you'd best hop on the boat. Key tra...

Split from two wonderful acoustic emo folks. Download Here RIYL: Acoustic emo goodness Highly Recommended

Tiny Moving Parts ' wonderful album This Couch Is Long & Full Of Friendship  is currently 'name your price' on Bandcamp . It's only up for a little while, so get it quick. It's a superb album which should bounce directly into the hearts of any emo or post-hardcore fans.

Old Gray have posted their new album, the wonderfully amazing, An Autobiography, as 'name your price' on Bandcamp . Go listen and love!

You can now stream Donovan Wolfington 's Stop Breathing, out April 13,  here . Bandcamp is out of free downloads right now, so you can head over to the band's label Community Records website  and download it for free. Or whatever. It's a good 'un. RIYL: Brave Bird; Indiemo

This week's Album Of The Week is Plantman 's Whispering Trees . The album, released January 21, through Arlen Records brings to mind the likes of Field Mice and channels a lovely delicate, folk tinged indie rock sound. Also, the band's named after Plantman , Marvel Comics' coolest vegetation animating superhero. So that's cool.

Good old fashioned indie pop revivalists Beach Fossils are releasing Clash The Truth in the coming weeks and "Generation Synthetic" is a jangly, catchy, riff driven early slice from the record. Sounds a little like Real Estate, if Real Estate were a little less in love with life.

It's a super exciting day on The Alternative Tone with today marking the official release of the first ever, The Alternative Tone compilation. As part of our feature on the best up and coming bands of the oncoming year, we're delighted to present 'The Alternative Tone: Bands Of 2013'. Filled with 34 bands spanning across multiple continents and genres, the compilation is suitable for any emo, post-hardcore, pop punk, folk, folk punk, folk, metal, music fan! Oh, and did I mention, it's free? Get downloading! Download Here Tracklisting  1. Annabel - Young American 2. Modern Baseball - Tears Over Beers 3. Brave Bird - Healthy 4. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - Everything Small Is A Small Version Of Something Big 5. Crywank - You Couldn't Teach Me Integrity 6. Walter Mitty And His Makeshift Orchestra  - 101 N 7. To Kill A King - Howling 8. Andy Shauf - Let's Be 9. Into It. Over It. -Where Your Nights Often End 10. Flare Jeans - Me...

Folk punk from England. Download Here RIYL: Ridiculously lo-fi emo kid playing folk. Highly Recommended

Indie rock from Los Angeles Download Here RIYL: The National Highly Recommended. 

I spoke to Joe Franks from music PR company  Well Dressed Collective about his recommendations.  Owen - Ghost Town Mike Kinsella's newest release has some of my most cherished Owen songs to date. I feel like this album covers more territory than some of his previous records because many of the songs have completely different feels and his songwriting and lyrics offer some insight into how the undisputed Godfather of the resurgent indie-emo movement has adjusted to fatherhood and family life. The perfectly picked simple chord changes at the end of "I believe" show a maturity in his sound but he still keep things technically interesting yet catchy on tracks like "The Armoire."  RIYL : American Football, Cap'n Jazz, The Beatles, City and Colour Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - It's a Corporate World:  These guys rule. I picked up their vinyl on a whim at a local Reco...

I asked Eric Osman, the owner of Philadelphia's Lame-O Records , about what albums he's jamming.  Kite Party - Baseball Season Kite Party is a Philadelphia indie band that plays with punk bands. They are one of the best bands around right now, on record and live. This record came out in 2011 and, in my opinion, didn't get nearly enough attention. Check it out and start with "Arizona". Avett Brothers - Four Thieves Gone Who knows? I might be the only one who loves The Descendents, Wu-Tang Clan, and The Avett Brothers. But I doubt it. Point is, it doesn't matter what you listen to as long as you like it. This record was my go to jam for packing records in the beginning of this winter. Listen to "Colorshow". The Dodos - Vister This is an incredible indie album by an incredible indie band that never got the attention it deserved. The complexity of the percussion and songwriting is incredible without being being distracting. Listen to ...

Happy New Year, The Alternative Tone r e aders! To kickstart the year, January is dedicated to bringing you the bands, labels, albums and everything else that are guaranteed to make 2013 an awesome year.  The first feature is The Alternative Tone's label of 2013. As you can see, we've chosen Virginia based label Glass Nail Records. If you've spent more than a few minutes on the site in the past year, you've probably encountered a Glass Nail band or release, as the label, founded in 2012, has put out some of the best quality post-hardcore/emo releases of the past twelve months. Although 2013 has started with the amicable separation of Glass Nail and Cloud Gavin , we expect great things to come from the label in the next year.  Recently I spoke to the owner Kenneth Smith  and a handful of the bands on the label. Read the interviews below and make sure you check these guys out!  _________________________________________________________________ Label ...