a clear blurr

A Clear Blurr - Drop Everything
Reviewed by: pstar (12/28/08)
A Clear Blurr - Drop Everything
Record Label: None
Release Date: October 7, 2008

Whether people want to accept it or not, there seems to be a resurgence of pop punk bands everywhere nowadays. I love pop punk music and welcome the revival, but there are plenty of pop punk bands that sound bland and uninteresting. I feel like there are only a few pop punk acts that can pull off the fun and energetic music that we all came to know and love with bands like Blink 182, Sum 41, and The Starting Line.

When popping A Clear Blurr’s album, Drop Everything, into the CD Player I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But before I had time to think, the intro to the first track "Far Away," grabbed my attention and had me moving instantly. "Far Away" was a great choice to start the record with. As soon as the vocals kicked in I thought, "Alkaline Trio?" The singer's voice was very similar to Matt Skiba’s of Alkaline Trio. Just to boot, "Far Way" had a great solo that I was whistling along to in no time.

Drop Everything now had my attention, but was it going to keep it? The next couple of songs, "Make You Happy" and "Way To Hard," weren’t anything new or groundbreaking. The songs were repetitive and had typical pop punk lyrics, but as pop punk songs they delivered what they were supposed to, fun and energy. However, the vocal harmonies at the end of "Way To Hard" were a great addition. Then, "Take Me Away," a fast, highly energetic song in the vain of older pop punk, set the pace again. It seems that A Clear Blurr is very adept at writing intros to songs that grab your attention and are very energetic, but in some songs the energy from the intro seems to fizzle as the song progresses. The next song "My Everything" threw me off because it sounds almost identical to "Make You Happy," I even played each song back to back to make sure I wasn’t hearing things and they really are pretty similar. Now I was worried that the rest of the album was going to sound like more of the same, and that A Clear Blurr would become another bland pop punk band.

As soon as I heard the creative drum beat during the bridge in "Hello" I knew there was hope. By the time I had finished listening to the rest of the album I knew there was nothing to worry about. "Regrets" once again starts off strong in the intro and continues throughout the rest of the song. The singing is the strongest in this track. My favorite tracks from Drop Everything were at the very end. "Forever" is the best track on this album with a guitar riff that’s so memorable it’ll get stuck in your head all day. The middle of "Forever" is what really gripped me. A chorus comes in singing a refrain of "Whoa ohs" that is so good it left me mesmerized. "Forever" can easily take rank amongst hits like "Stay Awake" by All Time Low. The last song "Yes It Is" is a song about the break-up of Blink 182. Blink 182 being very close to my heart, it wasn’t long before I recognized the lyrical references to their songs. I also assume the title "Yes It Is" is a retort to the +44 song, "No It Isn’t". This was a great track to end the album on with memorable lyrics that you can easily sing along to.

So after a solid listen of Drop Everything what is my honest opinion? A Clear Blurr does a great job of writing fun, energetic, and catchy songs, the essentials of pop punk music. While there are a few spots that get slightly repetitive, the band does a great job of getting your attention with their powerful intros and keeping you hooked with their catchy choruses. A Clear Blurr doesn’t reinvent the wheel, or introduce anything new with their music, but they do write great, melodic songs that are consistent and get you singing and dancing along in no time, and to me, that’s all I want from a great pop punk album.

Recommended if You Like
Blink 182; All Time Low; +44; pop punk

aclearblurr.com
myspace.com/aclearblurr - absolutepunk.net

A Clear Blurrr - Drop Everything (myspace.com/aclearblurr)

If you grew up in New Jersey, always in search of the next local show and having a steadily growing rock/punk magazine pile in your room (The Aquarian, Jersey Beat, Rolling Stone, to name a few), hopefully at some point you’ll come across Jersey’s own A Clear Blurr. Hailing from Edison, the band members (om Kenney- vocals/guitar, Karl Pearson- bass, Cole MacDonnell- drums, and Kevin Nicotera- guitar/vocals) bring you a sound that the band has been striving for. Building on the groundwork of other local Jersey bands like The Youth Ahead, Senses Fail, and even a few nods toward The Bouncing Souls, they take the genre a step further. They maintain the ability to match soul-bearing lyrics on songs like “Far Away,” “In the Bedroom,” and “Regrets,” alongside heavily instrument-led songs which have reached a level in their craftsmanship that can be appreciated by any who listen.

You can’t force artistry. True musical creations, or any type of art for that matter, are typically launched through pure inspiration, with ideas that are often baked to perfection through sheer, hard work and dedication. Still, many musical artists have opted to churn out songs with a cookie-cutter, assembly line mentality, cramming albums with formulaic songwriting, by-the-book tolerances, and kind of bullish one-upmanship that’s more commonly seen in a corporate - and definitely not creative - environment

But as you’ll hear on “Drop Everything” there is no preset framework for this genre-bending band. They refuse to adhere to any established norm of the music industry. This comes from a band that can that a look at their environment, their peers, and themselves, and find out what’s real and what’s garbage - distinguish between the two, and be able to put it to music.

If A Clear Blurr can keep the bar that high, they’ll have a great career, and we’ll get some amazing music! - Phil Rainone

A Clear Burr will be performing at Vintage Vinyl Records in Fords, NJ on Saturday, October 23 at 7 pm. For more info, visit myspace.com/aclearburr - jerseybeat.com

A CLEAR BLURR
Drop Everything
Self-Released
If you grew up at the same time I did then it was bands like Screeching Weasel, Blink 182, Green Day, etc… that influenced you early on and made you get involved with the punk rock scene. Then something weird happened over the years and true pop punk somehow turned a corner and when it re-emerged it became a bunch of screaming that took over the stages of Warped Tour by storm. However, for the folks like me, you have probably searched high and low looking for a band that embraced their youth, gave you an energetic album, full of catchy hooks and a thumping bass line that made you move, not to mention vocals that spit out the lyrics with a added punch to them. A Clear Blurr is the band you have been looking for. A group of high school seniors that apparently grew up listening to their older brothers punk rock albums have released what is destined to become one of my favorite albums this year. This is everything a good pop-punk rock album should be. Due to their youth, this is simple music without too much experimenting going on. This is the aspect that keeps things a bit more poppy and fun. Note to all the bands trying to be something your not; 3 chords=good music!!! This album as a whole, from the vocals to the music, reminds me a lot of albums like Blink 182's "Cheshire Cat" in that it is raw, a bit more rough around the edges, and all in all just simply good, solid pop-punk music. This is easily a band to keep your eyes on and watch them evolve the way bands like Blink and Green Day did. - guestlistmagazine.net

an you give us a brief introduction to the band members and how you formed the band?
We are a pop/punk and rock band out of Edison, NJ. There are 4 members in the band. Tom Kenney is the lead vocalist and guitarist. He is 16 years old and a junior at Edison High School in Edison, NJ. Kevin Nicotera is a vocalist and guitarist in the band. He is 16 years old and a junior at St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, NJ. Karl Pearson is the bass player in the band. He is 17 years old and a junior at Edison High School. Cole MacDonnell is the drummer. He is 17 years old and a junior at Edison High School.
The band was originally formed about 2-3 years ago. The original members were Tom, Karl and Cole. We all knew each other from school and were good friends and still are. Some of us went to elementary school and middle school together. We broke apart and then started back up again back in the spring of 2007. And we have been going strong ever since.
You have released a debut EP “In The Bedroom.” When was that released and how long did it take to put together?
Our debut EP “In the Bedroom” took us a couple of months to put together. Tom had been writing songs that we had been performing at local shows and we decided to take the next step and go to the studio to see how we would do. We had a lot of people asking us for a cd so we decided to make one. We went to Portrait Recording Studios in Lincoln Park NJ. We worked with Chris Badami - Owner/Chief Engineer/Producer/Mixer and Tom Suhey - Producer/Engineer on the EP. We were in the studio for about 40 hours and we released it in the summer of 2007.
Any current plans on another album release or upcoming tours?

We are actually planning on heading back to Portrait Recording Studios in April to finish our cd. We have had such a good response to our EP and people have been asking when we will be coming out will a full length cd. We hope to release it early summer of 2008.
Right now we don’t have an out of state tour planned. We do play all over the NJ/NY/PA area. We were thinking that we may just expand that area this summer but things can change.
You’re using a lot of online services (Myspace, PureVolume, SonicBids, MyYearBook, NumberOneMusic, Snocap, etc.) Are you making any connections with these sites that you wouldn’t have if you used Myspace alone? And would you recommend them to other bands that are starting out?
We actually have an overwhelming response on all the websites we are signed up to. Myspace has to be our most viewed followed by MyYearBook.
All of the sites we are on give us exposure. That is really important. We really just want people to hear our music and to give us a chance. We just figured the more you see us the higher the chance we have of you clicking on us and listening. So our advice is put yourself every where and any where. The more people who see/hear you the higher the chance you will get discovered!
I read that you are all outstanding high school students… do you currently have plans for college, a career in music, or something else?

Right now our plan is this, we all decided that becoming the next big thing in music can be really hard. So we are going to put ourselves out there and give it 200% until the end of high school. That is another 1 1/2 years. Hopefully someone will see us and want to help us grasp our dream of becoming the next Blink 182 or Green Day. If not we all plan on still doing the music thing but attending college and planning another path for our future as well.
To be honest, we all know that eventually even if we do get discovered we have to have the education and tools to help better ourselves 2 years from now and 25 years from now. So no matter what we will be attending college. And that is why we all take school so seriously.
What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment so far?

Well in the past several weeks a lot has happened for us.
We were recently featured on G Rock radio 106.3/106.5 in the NJ area on their specialty show G Rock Rising. You can check out our interview and two acoustic songs we did by going to www.grockradio.com and clicking on G Rock Rising. We had such a good response from that webcast that they played our song “Make You Happy” which is on our EP, on the radio twice.
We just recently found out that the store Hot Topic will be carrying our finished CD in all of its stores this summer.
Direct TV approaches us and asked us if they could use our music in TV commercials for their show “The 101″.
And we were just asked to be on the TV show Fearless Music. It is on every Saturday night at 12:30 am on Fox 5 NY.
But even with all of that going on all of us think our biggest accomplishment is that we all manage to keep it together in school and in life outside of the band.
Any “final thoughts” you’d like to share with the world?
Well, no matter what you’re doing, music or anything else you can’t let other people talk you out of doing what you believe in. A lot of people doubted us and said we would never go anywhere. That there were thousands of kids just like us who wanted the same things. That may be true but it is not going to stop us from trying to reach our goals. So just don’t listen to what other people are saying if you think that you can make it in what ever it may be keep trying and it will happen for you.
And even if we are not the next Blink 182 or Green Day we had the best experience in the world and it has taught us a lot about life in general.
Thanks for asking us to be a part of insidepunk.com,
Tom Kenney
Kevin Nicotera
Karl Pearson
Cole MacDonnell - insidepunk.com

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=37967913 - Jersey Fresh Tv Episode 21

Local rock band sees clear future
A Clear Blurr cites blink-182, Green Day as influences
Hatched in Edison and jumping on the local scene, pop punk band A Clear Blurr is set to release their debut album, "Drop Everything," on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at Vintage Vinyl in Fords.


Kevin Nicotera (l- r), Karl Pearson, Tom Kenny and Cole MacDonnell. Together, they are A Clear Blurr. The members of A Clear Blurr are Tom Kenney, 17, on lead vocals and guitar, Kevin Nicotera, 17, on guitar and vocals, bass player Karl Pearson, 18, and drummer Cole MacDonnell, 17.

Kenney, Pearson and MacDonnell are seniors at Edison High School, and Nicotera is a senior at St. Joseph's High School in Metuchen. All are honor roll students, and Nicotera is a member of the National Honor Society with a 3.9 gradepoint average.

The band started in 2005 when Kenney, Pearson and MacDonnell were looking for something to do after school. Nicotera joined the band in April 2007.

Members of the band say they want to be like blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge.

"We were all good at something, and all had a common interest in music."

A Clear Blurr started off playing anywhere and everywhere, including benefits and birthday parties. Recently they performed for a dance-a-thon at Middlesex County College that raised money for children with cancer. They donated 50 percent of their merchandise sales to the cause.

They've already played over 100 shows, opening for Revolution Mother, Socratic and Bedlight For Blue Eyes as well as a date on The Vans Warped Tour after winning a local battle of the bands competition.

A Clear Blurr was the name of Pearson's father's band back in the day, but it was spelled with one r. The second r was accidental on the part of Pearson.

"I always thought blur was spelled with two r's," he said.



When they're not performing on stage or in the studio, the guys of A Clear Blurr are what many would consider typical seniors in high school. They play golf, pole vault for the track team, go to other bands' shows, and search for the cheapest gas prices around town.

The band has many influences, including blink-182, Green Day, Jack's Mannequin, Johnny Cash, and Thursday. Pearson said his father also inspires him when it comes to music. Despite all the other bands, MacDonnell said that ACB still finds a way to separate themselves from everyone else.

"We don't scream," said MacDonnell. "We're just normal kids."

But like most bands, girls are the inspiration for their songs.

"Girls are the root of all problems," said Kenney.

The band's manager, Elizabeth Hahn, 29, is the older sister of lead singer and guitarist Kenney. She said that at first, she and her husband laughed at the idea, but after hearing the boys play, she didn't know how to say no.

"I couldn't believe the amount of talent," she said. "Why wouldn't I want to help them? They're all good kids and I'm very proud of them."

Life for the band hasn't changed much since getting together — they still go to work, play sports and hang out with friends. But like most bands, they have a following of young teenagers wearing their shirts and taking their pictures.

"We have stalkers," said MacDonnell. "But our friends still treat us the same."

"I ran my car into a telephone pole trying to get away from someone," Nicotera said as his band mates laughed.

As seniors approaching the next step in their lives, ACB members said they're not making the big decisions just yet.

"They're definitely all going to college," said Hahn. "They're going to apply to schools and play everything out as if they weren't in a band, but if they get the opportunity to tour with Green Day, they're not going to pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

If that became the case, the band said they would all take classes online.

Five years from now, the band hopes that they will have made it big, playing on stage and touring.

"I want to have enough money to go into 7-Eleven and buy every candy bar without putting a dent in my bank account," laughed Kenney.

They want to be successful because to them, music is everything.

"It's life," said Pearson. "It's what we are here for, I think."

A Clear Blurr's "Drop Everything" features 11 self-written and self-produced tracks including "Yes It Is," "Way To Hard" and "In the Bedroom."

Nicotera said his favorite song on the album is "Forever."

"It's upbeat," said Nicotera.

Pearson said he favors "Take Me Away" because everyone contributes "a little something special" to the song.

The CD will also be sold on iTunes, AClearBlurr.com, Myspace, at the band's shows, and at Hot Topic, starting on Nov. 4.

"You'll be giving normal kids the opportunity to follow their dreams," said Kenney.

The band also just finished recording their second album, which will be released sometime in June 2009.

For more information on A Clear Blurr's album release and show schedule, go to www.AClearBlurr.com and www.Myspace. com/AClearBlurr. - Sentinel News Paper

http://rockonrequestmagazine.podOmatic.com/player/web/2008-12-28T10_44_55-08_00 - http://rockonrequestmagazine.podOmatic.com/player/web/2008-12-28T10_44_55-08_00