Framing Hanley Savor The Moment

Tennessee's Framing Hanley have evolved from their humble beginnings in 2005. Named after a close friend who died in a car accident, the band began to take off around 2006 and with the help of former Creed bassist Brett Hestla solidified their place by being picked up by the Silent Majority Group in 2007 and then recording their debut album at the end of 2008.


Entitled, The Moment, the album is packed to the gills with massive radio friendly tunes that should be the soundtrack to every tweens life right now. The Moment is a combination of crunchy metal riffs, soaring ballads, over emotional vocals, and songs that are so precise and sharp they could slice steel. It's a bit Creedish at times, but that shouldn't come as a surprise knowing the bands history. If you take that Creedish base, throw in a few sprinkles of emo and hardcore ala Pete Wentz you basically have the ingredients that make Framing Hanley who they are.


The Moment is one of those records where you can imagine thousands of people holding up lighters and phones while going nuts to every song. It's a record that shows Framing Hanley clearly have the knack for writing the big heavy rock song with choruses that even your grandmother knows. It's a massive hard rock album that's totally geared for cross market perfection and it achieves it with songwriting that has been run through the super computer or gargantuan hit writing (Microsoft edition). One listen to "Alone In This Bed (Capeside)," and you'll get the point; it's a song that soars on it's chorus to superstardom and it never comes back.


Framing Hanley are a young band that have snowballed into one massive potential hit factory. Their album, The Moment is an emotional hard rock rollercoaster that while sounding a bit like everything else is destined for big things. If you love album oriented rock then Framing Hanley will be your new favorite band and The Moment will be your new soundtrack.

The Bigger Lights Suffer From Fiction Fever

There are melodies, there's being melodic, and then there's The Bigger Lights. This group of kids look like they are barely out of middle school but create harmonies that are far beyond their years. Sure, they're pretty much the latest emo band on the block, but they do manage to find enough out there to make themselves sound just different enough to separate themselves from the pack. Their six song EP, Fiction Fever is packed with syrupy songs that are sweet enough to draw ants, melt school girls hearts, and still find room to generate enough energy to power Yulee.

Fiction Fever is addictive stuff that's difficult to fault because of how stupendously euphoric it is. In listening to the six songs that make up this EP one has to wonder if The Bigger Lights did nothing but eat bags of sugar, candy bars, and drink six packs of Red Bull while they were recording it. People can't be this upbeat all the time naturally; it's just not possible. Even their slowest song, "Romance Is A Slow Dance," is overflowing with youthful enthusiasm.


Loaded with vigor and a hydrogen fueled zippiness in their tunes, it's hard to see The Bigger Lights slowing down any time soon. Fiction Fever's soaring and vivacious songs are  impressive and will puzzle scientists and radio programmers for years as they try to figure out how The Bigger Lights put them together. Until that day, this group of kids from Virginia will continue to crank out small nuclear reactions created with harmonies and pure sugar. If you're a fan of the genre I would highly recommend The Bigger Lights as a welcome addition to your collection. If you're like me and have just listened to the Shearwater record then I recommend Fiction Fever to bring you back to life.