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Sunday, October 07, 2007
SMOTHER.NET CD REVIEW!
Category: Music
DIY punk band Partly Cloudly boasts rich songwriting and gnarly choruses thoughout their steady "Arm Your Weapons". Strong writing and catchy hooks aside, the group has something to say with smart lyrical content and a great independent spirit that is breathtaking and refreshing. Nice!
- J-Sin
- smother.net
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
INDIE MUSIC REVIEW
Category: Music
CD Review:
Artist: Partly Cloudy
Title: Arm Your Weapons EP
Website: http://www.partlycloudyrocks.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/partlycloudyrocks
Style: Punk Influenced Rock
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
By Senior Writer C.W. Ross
This Lexington, Kentucky based foursome plays a driving rock style of music that's heavily influenced by the band's punk roots.
The band's debut release, State of Mind was released on LIR Records but the band and the label parted ways after some creative differences.
With their new EP the band went back to that DIY spirit having self-funded the entire cost of the EP. The band also has utilized their MySpace site to help their fans get gigs for the band.
The five tracks found on Arm Your Weapons feature driving guitar work that light up the songs like fireworks on a dark night. The drumbeats are rock steady and powerful. The vocals fit the songs well and are filled with bravado.
While the music is more driving rock then punk, it does have punk elements in it.
The band pulls from their life experiences for the song's content. Things like the need to take a stand and fight for what you know is right, and the band's desire to persevere over any criticism thrown at them
Here's the thoughts of band lead vocalist Dave Harms on that subject, "Before we called it Arm Your Weapons, we were going to call it, 'I'm rubber and you're glue' because anytime you put your blood sweat and tears into something, there are still people who can dismiss you...of course will always get negative criticism but this is what we're meant to do. We're just not pop Top40 guys. We like to think outside the box and we grew up listening to punk, and against the grain bands like Foo Fighters. We're proud that we're not like everyone else."
This is a well-done solid release that should garner the band some new fans.
- indie music news
Partly Cloudy - Arm Your Weapons / 2007 Self / 5 Tracks / http://www.partlycloudyrocks.com /
Partly Cloudy has been around for quite a few years. The act was founded by Dave Harms in 1995 and released an album, “State of Mind” on Long Island Recording. This 5 song EP marks their latest foray into punk music. The disc’s opening track is “Helpless”, and it shows the band as a mix of acts, with influences as diverse as AFI, JFT, and even earlier Green Day. The band seems to have a little bit of a classical metal sound with “…But to Me It’s Everything”, but what should get individuals most excited about the band would have to be their use of a very dark and brooding instrumental section that presents itself between the stanzas.
This instrumental section moves in and out of prominence until the chorus, where the instruments give their all and shine brightly. What results is a tempestuous track that brings older styles together with newer; lighter sounds with a heavy, crunchy one, and Partly Cloudy into notice. The hump track for “Arm Your Weapons” is “To The Gods”, and it seems to be a step forward for the band. This is due to the fact that the band links together an early nineties Megadeth sound to the guitars with an emotional, almost Goo Goo Dolls-like set of vocals. The band makes this Frankenstein’s unification work, and is able to really create something that will sell tons of albums while being unique.
The only thing that seems to hold the band back during “Arm Your Weapons” is the production, which is a little too bass-heavy to show the vocal nuances at all points during this album. The band struggles through this and comes up with the very Replacements meets Husker Du sound for “All You Need”. The inclusion of a Goo Goo Dolls-type of vocals for the second straight track further increases the allure of this track. The band is able to vary the sound of “All You Need” from their predecessors with the inclusion of minor amounts of hardcore and seventies rocks styles. Partly Cloudy has a solid sound for “Arm Your Weapons” that ties together five distinct tracks into one cohesive unit. Their unique interpretation of what it is to be a rock band will ensure that they will pick up fans by the barrelful, and that their next LP will be something to pick up whenever it may come out.
Top Track: Arm Your Weapons
Rating: 6.9/10 - NEU FUTUR
"How does one determine partlycloudy form partly sunny? Maybe it's a matter of perspective. In one case, the one I'm about to state, your ears can tell you. It's PARTLYCLOUDY: with a repertiore full of punk-rocking power pop, fast paced downpour of electric guitar and rumbling percussion. Generally a mighty dose of "letting off steam" on the weekend!"
-David Lilly, Louisville Music News - Louisville Music News
"With (partlycloudy's new cd) State of Mind, the band accentuates the pop in their rabble-rousing rock, as evident in such tracks as Misery, Can I get a ride and a crunchy, grooved-out version of Mustang Sally that features guest vocals by it's Grammy-winning composer, soul legend, Sir Mac Rice. Partly Cloudy's barroom rock turns any night into spring break!"
-Leroy Grey - Caffiene Magazine
MELODIC.NET REVIEW!!!
Category: Music
Kentucky based punkrock band Partly Cloudy's idols are without doubt The Clash and other bands from the 70's punkscene.
However, this 5 track EP is more like a crossover between old school punk rock, hardcore and late 90's modern rock, I noticed that these songs sound so much better in the headphones on a loud volume compared to as background music in your speaker system.
One thing about this band is that I feel they haven't reached their final goal yet when it comes to finding their sound but they're definitely on the right direction because songs like "Helpless" and "To the gods" are too good to be lost on an independent release.
They've got potential for sure and I won't be surprised to hear if they're a great live act! - MELODIC.NET
Anti Music Review!!!
Category: Music
Partly Cloudy - Arm Your Weapons Review
by Dan Upton
.
Few CDs encourage me to give a glowing review after the first listen. Wait, never mind, few CDs encourage me to give a glowing review halfway through the first listen. Partly Cloudy's 5-song EP Arm Your Weapons is such a CD.
Basically, Partly Cloudy offers a somewhat more creative take on pop punk, creating an infectious sound while getting away from the sound every other pop punk band uses in what is, to be fair, a very crowded field right now. Dave Harms's vocals are a little raw, conveying more dynamics and emotion than the whiny nasal style we're all used to. Most of the vocals are actually sung, although there are places such as the second verse of "But To Me It's Everything" where they drift more into a spoken whisper. There are occasional screams (choruses of "But To Me It's Everything") and gang shouts ("To The Gods" and "Arm Your Weapons"), and again, they feel more organic and like they're there for a reason and less formulaic.
The musicians here also shine, particularly in Kyle Keith's guitar playing. Sure, there are plenty of power chords, and "anybody can play power chords," but even the power chord-driven riffs tend to morph over the course of the songs. Beyond that, there's a great echo-drenched single-note riff that drives "But To Me It's Everything" (yes, I rather enjoyed that song, if you can't tell) and a unusually tasteful solo in a clean tone on the opening track "Helpless." The title track starts off with a riff and guitar tone that wouldn't be out of place on a Queens of the Stone Age album.
In short, we need more bands willing to add their own flavor to sounds, and we need record labels to encourage diversity instead of just signing a dozen bands that sound the same (I'm looking at you, Victory). At least there are some bands advancing the genre, and Partly Cloudy is one of them. Go check it out.
5 out of 5 stars - anti music
music-reviewer.com review!!!
Category: Music
Partly Cloudy is a quartet from Lexington, Kentucky, who have parlayed their recently released five song EP, Arm Your Weapons, into a calling card for an ambitious nationwide tour. The five tracks on Arm Your Weapons are certainly competently performed, yet one gets the feeling that there is more, much more, lurking under the surface.
Partly Cloudy is not lacking in energy, and that energy is tightly focused on each track of Arm Your Weapons. There are a number of flourishes here and there on Arm Your Weapons, particularly on the title track, and plenty of power chords and competently written and executed guitar solos to go around. If there is a song that misfires, it's All You Need, but even in that case it suffers more from a comparison with the other track on Arm Your Weapons than from any glaring deficiency. Actually, All You Need has one of the more interesting guitar solos of any track on Arm Your Weapons; it's more the composition than the execution of this track that perhaps needs some work.
These guys might become really huge if they can sharpen their songwriting skills a bit and get a bit more production guidance --- a funny comment to make about a project like this, but there you are. Partly Cloudy has the talent, the desire, the material, and certainly the fortitude to go as far as they want to go. A little more stirring and a little more time on the burner may make them a household name. - music reviewer.com
Discography
The last single we officially released to commercial and college radio was "Misery Loves Company (I'm Buying Drinks). This was to promote our first album, "State of Mind", on LIR records. Since then we have just released "Arm Your Weapons" independently with commercial and college radio promotion pushing our latest single "helpless".
We will have "helpless" streamed to Tivo, PSP online and will appear in several reality TV shows on several networks including Mtv, E!tv and Oxygen network.
Photos
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![](https://s3.sonicbids.com/image/legacy_band/130119/52434887831765198c4b2f54_original.jpg)
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Bio
There's no moon on the South Dakota highway as a box truck full of music equiptment cruises at a top speed of 60 mph and followed closely by a Toyota Camry full of sleeping musicians. The heavy eyelids behind the wheel of the box truck belong to Jon Harms. His brother, asleep next to him, is about to realize that trying to drive from Sioux City, Iowa after a latenight show all the way to Spearfish, South Dakota for a music festival the next afternoon might have been a bad idea. This realization strikes Dave as he awakens to find his brother asleep at the wheel and the box truck flying down the grassy median of the highway.
Later at the hotel everyone has jokes for Jon, but partly cloudy has learned a lesson from this. You may want to play as many shows as you can, but a little extra attention in planning could save your life. partly cloudy has learned many lessons like this one, but the one lesson they refuse to learn is that you can't make a living as an upstart muscian anymore. After touring to promote "State of Mind", partly cloudy realized that this is the only life they can live.
After parting with LIR due to contrary ideas over the direction of "Arm Your Weapons", partlycloudy recorded and released the EP independently and set up a tour that spans the country (excluding any +15 hour drives).
Hard work and determination along with a few simple ideas about what makes great music, this is the fuel that has kept the PC bus going. partly cloudy knows that you can never work too hard or write the perfect song and you have to stay true to who you really are both in your song writing and your performances. partly cloudy also believes that music should be intense and have a message, but as serious as we are at what we do, we don't take ourselves too seriously.
We have much experience with touring the college circuit. Our first national tour was sponsored by ECAMPUS.com taking us to dozens of colleges. Some included:
Bowling Green State (Bowling Green, OH)
Kent State (Kent, OH)
Rose-Hulman Institute (Terre Haute, IN)
Monmouth College (Monmouth, Ill)
Black Hill State (Spearfish, SD)
Frostburg State (Frostburg, MD)
Virginia College (Huntsville, VA)
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
University of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
Brecsia University (Owensboro, KY)
...and many, many more.
For Booking contact: DreamScapers
Jennifer Bair
jennifer@seethemusic.net
612-216-4124
Links