IVEY - Take This To Heart ALBUM REVIEW
-Ivan "Ivey" Ayala -Lyle Wagner -Christian Murre
Nashville, TN indie pop-punk trio IVEY recently released their forthcoming LP TAKE THIS TO HEART. Having grown up just a few blocks away from the hub and heart of the Nashville music scene, it's helped shape Ivy into skilled, versatile musicians.
Right away, hearing their latest single THROUGH THE KEYHOLE for the first time, I got this rush of indie rock nostalgia from the early 00's comparable to bands like Relient K, Saves The Day, Jimmy Eat World combined with the emo/indie modern pop-punk sound of bands like Modern Baseball.
IVEY - THROUGH THE KEYHOLE
Ivey's Take This to Heart is jam packed full of indie pop-punk tunes that stand out and are an honest breathe of fresh air to the usual chaotic mess that gets lost in the conforming crowd of music. The record was recorded at Dark Horse recording studio in Nashville, TN where the likes of Taylor Swift, Brand New, and Mastodon have all tracked.
The opening track GAMES has a modern NFG feel reminding me of a tune from their Resurrection album, with the weird/awesome combo of clean guitar and double kick drum parts with lyrics that tell a story along the way. Their latest single THROUGH THE KEYHOLE reminds me of a Modern Baseball tune (damn I miss that band) with an indie-rock feel and the super intense lyrical ballast.
SOCO is just a straight "around the campfire" drunk sing-a-long tune, probably while drinking Soco? I hope so. HOPELESS ROMANTIC is a tune that reminds me of an early 2000's pop-punk tune with the straight forward beats, major chord progressions and jumpy feel to the song. Title track TAKE THIS TO HEART is one of the hardest songs on the record and the most similar to modern pop-punk with intense vocal melodies, heavy guitars, breakdowns and thick muddy drum parts.
Immediately following is tune RUNNING AROUND which definitely at first gives that "indie-Nashville-vibe" of a tune, then kicks in hard with a real indie-rock feel, the dynamics of this tune are sick with a ton of ups and downs and every instrument in the song has it's own little take away, even this sick little bass rundown in the latter of the song. RIDE THE WAVE is a straight pop-punk tune, plain and simple, reminds me 100% of early pop-punk bands like Jimmy Eat World or Saves The Day.
LAST TIME gives away and shows off the band's origin with a stripped down bluesy acoustic tune that hammers away on some 7th chords in a clean electric guitar while some heartfelt lyrics pour out of a microphone, it's a nice touch to show the band's dynamic diversity. Rounding out the album is TRADING IN TIME TO INVESTIGATE EXTRA SLEEP which is a heavy tune to bring things back to square one featuring double kick drum, breakdowns, awesome, unique chord progression for the chorus, that jumps into a really "Bee Gees" style of playing near the latter of the song that fades out, carrying the record away.
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