Two O'Clock Courage

Heres To Hoping… is the sophomore EP from Connecticut pop-punk band Two O’Clock Courage, who over the past two years have given their all for their band, and have never said die (as sung throughout the album). After touring throughout 2010, members James Davidson (Vocals), Brian Blackmore (Bass), Mike Ruotolo (Drums), Rico Ruotolo and Jay Tyler (Guitars), have come back stronger than ever with their new EP filled to the brim with improved lyrics, awesome vocals and all-around great musicianship.

The EP kicks off with the semi-breakdown in "Call Me Converted", which finds the band reminiscing on their past EP Sequenced From the Bloodstream and appreciating their fans for supporting them over the past year. "Call Me Converted" transitions immediately into "Ruthless '87", which again shows off their love and appreciation for those that support them ("Our friends know all our songs/And they’re still wearing our shows' wristbands"), and calling out those who keep trying to bring the band down. This is the main theme throughout the EP and it becomes apparent within the first few songs that the band as a whole has rapidly improved from their first EP from the crunchy guitar riffs, tight drumming, and Davidson’s improved vocals, which can be compared to Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) and Matty Arsenault (A Loss For Words) at times.

Two O’Clock Courage haven't completely grown out of the synth-infused pop-punk that was found on their debut EP, the synth and dancy elements are used sparingly throughout, although the quintet do take a trip back to the style displayed on the previous EP with the synthy "Brand New Gold", which features some of the best lyrics the band have written, and the heavy pop-punk of "We Were Evergreen Oldboys", which features the heaviest breakdown on the album. It’s this restraint and lyrical growth that make Heres to Hoping… a real step up for the band.

"Late another evening she’s casually faded/Wearing it well cause she’s a lady/Under the sultry matte of summer/And the allusion of Great Gatsby/Saying she’s sick of me, but she’s lying on my floor" comes from the standout track on the EP, "Wyoming", an infectious acoustic ballad different from anything the band have ever done before, that slowly builds up to the full band crescendo and an amazing verse that makes me sing-along and hit replay again and again. The final song on the EP, "Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends", is a song that will become a fan favorite at live shows with an incredibly catchy chorus about following their dreams with a DIY attitude. The song ends with a great slowed-down outro featuring dual vocals, a guitar solo and reference to lyrics throughout the EP, making it the perfect closer. And I mean that, "Once More..." is one of my favourite songs to come out in 2011, if you're thinking about checking out this band listen to this song.

From their enthusiasm about music, to their appreciation of fans, Heres To Hoping… is a mature follow up that tightened up everything good about the band and increased it ten-fold. Whether you love pop-punk, pop, hardcore or just awesome vocals, you will love Two O’Clock Courage’s fiery EP. - Absolute Punk

Heres To Hoping… is the sophomore EP from Connecticut pop-punk band Two O’Clock Courage, who over the past two years have given their all for their band, and have never said die (as sung throughout the album). After touring throughout 2010, members James Davidson (Vocals), Brian Blackmore (Bass), Mike Ruotolo (Drums), Rico Ruotolo and Jay Tyler (Guitars), have come back stronger than ever with their new EP filled to the brim with improved lyrics, awesome vocals and all-around great musicianship.

The EP kicks off with the semi-breakdown in "Call Me Converted", which finds the band reminiscing on their past EP Sequenced From the Bloodstream and appreciating their fans for supporting them over the past year. "Call Me Converted" transitions immediately into "Ruthless '87", which again shows off their love and appreciation for those that support them ("Our friends know all our songs/And they’re still wearing our shows' wristbands"), and calling out those who keep trying to bring the band down. This is the main theme throughout the EP and it becomes apparent within the first few songs that the band as a whole has rapidly improved from their first EP from the crunchy guitar riffs, tight drumming, and Davidson’s improved vocals, which can be compared to Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) and Matty Arsenault (A Loss For Words) at times.

Two O’Clock Courage haven't completely grown out of the synth-infused pop-punk that was found on their debut EP, the synth and dancy elements are used sparingly throughout, although the quintet do take a trip back to the style displayed on the previous EP with the synthy "Brand New Gold", which features some of the best lyrics the band have written, and the heavy pop-punk of "We Were Evergreen Oldboys", which features the heaviest breakdown on the album. It’s this restraint and lyrical growth that make Heres to Hoping… a real step up for the band.

"Late another evening she’s casually faded/Wearing it well cause she’s a lady/Under the sultry matte of summer/And the allusion of Great Gatsby/Saying she’s sick of me, but she’s lying on my floor" comes from the standout track on the EP, "Wyoming", an infectious acoustic ballad different from anything the band have ever done before, that slowly builds up to the full band crescendo and an amazing verse that makes me sing-along and hit replay again and again. The final song on the EP, "Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends", is a song that will become a fan favorite at live shows with an incredibly catchy chorus about following their dreams with a DIY attitude. The song ends with a great slowed-down outro featuring dual vocals, a guitar solo and reference to lyrics throughout the EP, making it the perfect closer. And I mean that, "Once More..." is one of my favourite songs to come out in 2011, if you're thinking about checking out this band listen to this song.

From their enthusiasm about music, to their appreciation of fans, Heres To Hoping… is a mature follow up that tightened up everything good about the band and increased it ten-fold. Whether you love pop-punk, pop, hardcore or just awesome vocals, you will love Two O’Clock Courage’s fiery EP. - Absolute Punk

t’s been a while since I’ve gotten myself the interest of writing another album review. Last time I wrote the review to Aaron Gillespie’s recent solo worship album, Anthem Song, where there you saw a lot of my religious sides. There you also saw how deeply I was into the music. So today I have decided to get myself back on that field of album reviews. This review, however is not based on a Christian album or anything.

This review is based on Two O’Clock Courage’s recent released EP, Here’s To Hoping. the band is from their hometown of Trumbull, Connecticut. Two O’Clock Courage features five men such as James Davidson on vocals, Brian Blackmore on the bass, Enrico Ruotolo and Jay Tyler both on guitars and Michael Ruotolo on drums. With these five group of men, made a band who called themselves, Two O’Clock Courage.

On May 20th of 2011, the band released their new EP, Here’s To Hoping. I’ll be honest, at first I truly didn’t care at all. I didn’t care that my friends liked their music until just their second time I saw them live I changed my mind. Why? Because the first time I saw them live, I was disappointed to how many times they blew out the power during their set but the second time I was surprised by their performance. A few days later until today (June 21st) I thought of some of their music from the new EP they played live. I looked back at the exclusive acoustic video their recorded for us(which may be viewed here) and was like, “HMM guess I’ll give them a second chance and fully check them out.”

So I bought the EP listened to it as many times as possible to write you this review. Here you will read about my top three favorite songs that I just can’t get out of my head at all.

‘Call Me Converted.’ As I listened to the track, I remembered being told of the lyrics being based on a best friend who passed away. So I looked up the lyrics to get a better understanding. It was a very depressing song as I listened and read the lyrics along the way. I thought of Davidson as he sung the following verse:

I’m swallowing my pride, the hook and lines, and it tears me up
I feel the sinker in the pit of my stomach at the thought
I get tears in my eyes, just writing this, and I don’t give a fuck who knows it
I wanna tell you that I’ll have them sing for you as loud as they can,
It’s the least the crowd and I can do
We are the unanimous sky you will spend the rest of your long life under
Our reign won’t ever be denied, I wish you could help me sing this

Which there you can feel the love he had for his dear friend. I’ll admit for a band like Two O’Clock Courage, they sure have brought me tears as if I just lost a friend as if I was in their situation. Words cannot describe how much emotions you can feel from this. Though I am totally wrong on that though. Davidson had told me it was about the band’s original vocalist, Alex, who gotten himself into a car accident causing him to become paralyzed. When you look up the lyrics to a particular song, you get a much better understanding of the band or artist and this truly changed my views on them even more.

Their next track, ‘Ruthless 87,’ played after the first. It was a catchy song to my ears. To me however the song sounded like a response to their haters as a part of the song sung:

Cause this is the resistance and it’s futile to resist this
Our friends know all our songs and they’re still wearing our shows wristbands
(You said) “We’re nothing without you” – but you’re nothing but bad for business
And I don’t give second chances, did you actually think you were gonna win

I say it was about the haters that the band received basically because of the one part, “But you’re nothing but bad for business.” Which before that they spoke of friends(which may also refer to fans) singing to their songs live and showing up with wristbands they bought from their merch table. There in the chorus at the end brings out,‘And I don’t give second chances, did you actually think you were gonna win.’ So that’s my break down of the track.

Now as we skip on over to my last favorite song of the EP, ‘Wyoming.’ Which is actually my favorite song of all time by these group of men. Hearing the song, it was for sure a big definite that the track was based on a girl. To make this all as simple as possible to the meaning of this track, Davidson was kind enough to break it down to me saying, “Yes, she did remind me of something out of the 1920s like The Great Gatsby. I think the idea behind this one is, just that I wanted the people I said I cared for to really know that they didn’t leave me, that they’re still in my bones and I still think on them.” Crazy, that’s for sure but this track – I truly loved.

So to my readers and fellow listeners of rock music. I got a few final words to say. This was definitely an EP to buy and check out. This is definitely a five-star rated EP. Their music has changed my thoughts on them. From loud annoying crazy guys to warm hearted dudes who love music. Perhaps this could become my summer anthem? Who knows. Maybe it will become one of my favorites. However, Two O’Clock Courage has become one of my favorite local band in Connecticut. I do truly recommend that you check it out and buy this EP on iTunes NOW for only $6.93. So what are you waiting for? Go get it on iTunes! - NoiseTrend