ALBUM REVIEW: Secret Grief - The Sea of Trees

Secret Grief - The Sea of Trees [Triple Deke Records, 2015]

The seemingly sudden renaissance of emo music has been defined by some phenomenal labels. It's hard to see this emo revival reaching the heights it has without the efforts of excellent labels like Topshelf and Tiny Engines. Yet one of my favorite labels that I believe has been underappreciated in this movement is Michigan's Triple Deke Records. Not only does it have possibly the best name in the scene, but it's worked with some killer bands in its short run. The Fever Haze and Wayne Szalinski released to of my favorite under-the-radar albums of 2014. Runaway Brother's moved on to Tiny Engines, and their upcoming album is one of my most anticipated of this year. The first major project from the label is Secret Grief's The Sea of Trees, and the album continues their strong run.

Secret Grief is actually fronted by Triple Deke founder Scott Nelson. The band's earliest iterations were as Tiger! Tiger!, and has been slowly evolving since 2008. Tiger! Tiger! broke up in 2013, and Secret Grief was born. The Sea of Trees marks their first full-length LP, though they've also released a few singles and a split with Runaway Brother to hold fans over. The wait was definitely worth it, as The Sea of Trees is the best release the band's done as Secret Grief or Tiger! Tiger!

I think what makes a lot of emo bands great is versatility. Some bands can get so caught up in twinkly rock that their albums don't really go anywhere. My favorite emo bands incorporate that style into other forms. Versatility is what made The Hotelier's Home, Like NoPlace Is There my favorite record of last year. It had elements of emo, pop punk, hardcore, and folk all throughout to keep things fresh. The Sea of Trees is similar in that regard. On each song Secret Grief blend influences to create a diverse collection of 8 tracks. Opener "Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep" starts with a little bit of a pop punk vibe that reminded me of bands like Say Anything or Motion City Soundtrack. "The Black Horse of Night" and "Faking Orgasms" bring comparisons of post-hardcore acts such as Cursive and Thrice. Brand New's influence can be heard throughout the album, but especially on tracks like "Historical Insignificance" and "Daisy." There's even some more post-rock-y stuff with the way the long closer "Aokigahara" continuously builds to a grand finale.

The band's influences can be easily detected on the record, but that by no means takes away from the end result. Secret Grief mold those influences to create their own sound. The band members are experts at their craft, and create countless brilliant moments on the record. The lead-up to the saxophone solo that ends "Do Not Stand..." is a perfect introduction to The Sea of Trees. The harmonies on "Montauk" are absolutely killer. "Aokigahara" just piles on the devastation and pain until it fades away.

The Sea of Trees is another strong effort from Triple Deke, as well as the already exceptionally great start to the year so far. Hopefully this album will bring some more attention to the band and the label as a whole, as its deserved for a few years already.

4/5

Introducing Billboard Power Rankings

In the previous iterations of this blog, my most active feature was reviewing the top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart. Now that I'm relaunching The Gibb, I wanted to continue my tradition of talking about pop radio along with my ramblings about hip-hop, emo, and indie stuff. I didn't just want to review each individual song this time around, so I decided to do a weekly post in the style of Power Rankings. I developed a formula (which I'll probably explain sometime soon) that awards points based on how high a song charted, the quality of each song, and how many songs crack the top 40. Only the top 20 artists by my metric are included in the rankings. Ties are broken by my own personal preference. Posts will come every Thursday with the release of the Hot 100 chart. This week is the exception; some life got in the way of writing.

BILLBOARD POWER RANKINGS: WEEK OF FEBRUARY 21, 2015


1. Taylor Swift (54 Points)

Taylor Swift is probably going to dominate these Power Rankings for the foreseeable future. She greatly benefits from having three songs in the top 20 of the Hot 100. "Blank Space" and "Shake It Off" have been pop radio mainstays for months and sit pretty in the top 10, while her latest single "Style" continues to climb and reaches #18 this week. Not only does Swift benefit from chart success, but the quality of the songs really makes her a dominating force. "Shake It Off" has been played out for me since it debuted (and I was never that big of a fan in the first place), but "Blank Space" and "Style" are phenomenal tracks. I loved how Swift completely embraced her pop sensibilities on her 1989 album and both tracks are wonderfully produced and written. I love the way Swift twists her public reputation on "Blank Space" in particular (she handles her criticisms here SO MUCH BETTER than on "Shake It Off." Max Martin and Shellback create a phenomenal atmosphere, creating memorable backing tracks without ever grating on the listener.

2. Nicki Minaj (35)

Like Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj benefits from having three different songs crack the charts. "Only" and "Truffle Butter" are solid singles from Nicki's The Pinkprint album (which, it should be noted, is her best effort to date). Both feature Lil Wayne and Drake (with "Only" also getting assistance from Chris Brown). In both cases, Drake and Nicki hold their own but are dragged down by a well-past-his-prime Weezy. Wayne's verse on "Only" is particularly unbearable. Even though both songs aren't great, they're still significantly better than "Anaconda" and "Pills N Potions," the previous Pinkprint singles.Meanwhile, her collaboration with Jessie J and Ariana Grande, "Bang Bang" is still going strong. I don't care much for the two singers on that track, but Nicki has a solid verse, at least in comparison to the rest of the song, which is rather one-note.

3. Sam Smith (33)

After dominating the Grammys, Sam Smith lands at #3 of my Power Rankings with strong showings on the charts for both "I'm Not The Only One" and "Stay with Me." I much prefer Sam Smith as a featured artist on tracks like Disclosure's "Latch" and Naughty Boy's "La La La" than his solo work. I wasn't the biggest fan of In the Lonely Hour as a whole. However, his two singles on the chart are by far the best two tracks from that album, and his vocal talent is undeniable. I wish Smith's music had a little more variety to it, but you can definitely do yourself worse than his perfectly pleasant pop.

4. Missy Elliott (28)

I'm so happy about this. After stealing the Super Bowl Halftime Show from Katy Perry, Missy Elliott managed to have not one, but two of her old hits re-enter the Top 40. Both tracks were low charting, but "Work It" and "Get Ur Freak On" are such classic tracks that they boost Missy to the top portion of the Power Rankings.

5. Sia (26)

I'm still trying to comprehend Sia as a pop star. She's been a veteran of the music industry for well over a decade, has released music with trip hop artist as well as mainstream superstars, and continues to add a layer of artsiness to even her most radio-friendly singles. She hides her face during performances, and her videos feature thought-provoking interpretive dances. Sia is one of the best artists at crafting pop hits, while simultaneously seeming like an outsider to the scene. 1000 Forms of Fear was probably her weakest solo record yet, but still ended up being one of the more essential pop albums of last year. She may not embrace her newfound stardom, but her voice was too powerful for it to remain under the radar for much longer.

6. The Weeknd (26)

In 2011, a young, ignorant Christopher Gibbons listened to The Weeknd's incredible House of Balloons trilogy of mixtapes and bemoaned the state of current pop R&B. "I wish the radio played more stuff like this," Mr. Gibbons said, "The Weeknd just has so much more soul in his voice than clowns like Jason Derulo and Chris Brown." Never did he expect that only four years later, The Weeknd would be represented twice in the Top 40. He would still prefer The Weeknd's early work compared to his more pop-friendly songs, but he would appreciate an artist like him adding some indie cred to the charts. He wouldn't even mind that The Weeknd's biggest claim to fame as a solo artist is a song from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. Christopher Gibbons did not even know what Fifty Shades of Grey was in 2011. He has so much to learn.

7. Meghan Trainor (26)

I enjoyed "All About That Bass" the first few times I heard it. The doo-wop sound was pretty cool and so were the body-positive messages. Then it never went away. Ever. Then I got sick of the song. Then it kept sticking around. It never left. It stayed forever. It's still at #16 after 31 weeks. Then Trainor released "Lips Are Movin" as a follow-up, and it followed roughly the same retro-pop formula as her first single. It also references her first single quite a bit because apparently Ms. Trainor really really wants to turn calling her butt a "bass" into a thing. Also, please never rap again, Meghan. That would be beneficial to all of us, including yourself.

8. Ne-Yo (23)

I've never been the biggest Ne-Yo fan. He's got some absolutely killer work. "Closer" in particular is a jam. But as an artist I've always felt he was a second-tier R&B singer. He's got two songs that cracked the charts this week, the Pitbull-assisted "Time Of Our Lives" and "She Knows" with Juicy J. Unsurprisingly, I much prefer "She Knows" because Juicy J has at least ten times more charisma as Pitbull.

9. Ariana Grande (22)

Ariana Grande will probably never shake the comparisons to Mariah Carey, and despite five top 10 hits this early in her career, she has yet to chart without the aid of featured guest artists (though Zedd on "Break Free" barely counts as a featured artist). This week she contributes both "Bang Bang" and "Love Me Harder" to the Top 40. "Bang Bang" is just a loud mess that serves as nothing more than a reason for Jessie J and Ariana Grande to go full belt-mode. On the other hand, "Love Me Harder" is a wonderful collaboration with The Weeknd that shows a sexier side that Grande hasn't touched in her other singles. It was my favorite track on her pretty-solid 2014 effort My Everything and I wouldn't be opposed to hearing more tracks on that side of the spectrum than the belt-tastic Mariah impressions of her other work..

10. Mark Ronson (20)

I can't think of a pop song in recent years that I've loved more than "Uptown Funk." Not "Somebody That I Used to Know," not "Happy," not even "Get Lucky" touches the magic of this song. Mark Ronson (who helped Mars on his previous career high "Locked Out of Heaven") crafts a near-perfect song out of countless great moments: the infectious background bass vocals, the blaring of the horns, and of course the perfect integration of Trinidad Jame$' "Don't believe me just watch" line from "All Gold Everything." It's an obviously manufactured pop song, but never feels soulless. If no song takes "Uptown Funk" off the #1 spot for the entire year, I'm honestly perfectly fine with that.

11. Maroon 5 (20)

Maroon 5 has two songs charted. One of them is in the top 5 while another is in the top 30. Yet somehow the band just misses the top 10 of the Power Rankings. Why? Because since "Moves Like Jagger" got big, Maroon 5 has just been going through the motions. The band barely seems like an actual band at this point, instead feeling like a solo showcase for Adam Levine's grating vocals. "Animals" is a song about preying on a love interest, but lacks any bite whatsoever that it becomes laughable. On the other hand "Sugar" is a safe-as-milk pop-rock track that sounds a little too close to Katy Perry's "Birthday." The Maroon 5 phenomenon has escaped me for years, and these tracks to little to change my mind.

12. Ed Sheeran (14)

I wasn't a big fan of Ed Sheeran until I heard his undeniably catchy "Don't." Unfortunately, though, that track has officially exited the Top 40. The only Sheeran song that remains on the chart is "Thinking Out Loud," a slow ballad that has hit #2 this week. It's the sort of song I'd expect from Ed Sheeran, unlike the upbeat, poppy singles he had with "Sing" and "Don't." I much prefer Pharrell-assisted, pop star Sheeran (even if his experiments in pop don't always hit, like any time he tries to rap) over his sappier folksy stuff. That being said, I still kinda respect Sheeran's rise to success, since the dude is pretty much the absolute opposite of a pop star.

13. Ellie Goulding (13)

Ellie Goulding has become one of my favorites in pop music the past few years with tracks like "Burn" and "Lights" showcasing her incredible voice. This week, she reaches the top 10 of the Hot 100 with her single from 50 Shades of Grey "Love Me Like You Do." This isn't as killer a performance as those previously mentioned songs, but hopefully this helps secure Goulding as a bona fide star.

14. Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney (13)

Two of the biggest pop stars of our generation collaborated with one of the biggest pop stars of any generation, and the results are... so underwhelming. I loved Kanye's previous track with Sir Paul, the beautiful ballad "Only One." "FourFive Seconds" is just so generic though. It's pleasant enough, but it really never goes anywhere or accomplishes anything, which is shocking for something from three giants like this. For a song about being close to wylin' out, it's just too tame.

15. Big Sean (12)

While Big Sean has always been able to flow well, he's ruined that ability with cheesy lyrics throughout his career. DJ Mustard is my least favorite producer in the music world right now. A collaboration between the two should be a disaster. But by the grace of Yeezus himself, "IDFWU" is an absolute jam. Maybe it's because Big Sean turns his ridiculousness up so high on this track that it becomes endearing. Maybe it's Kanye bringing the best out of DJ Mustard. I'm not going to question it too much, though. All I know is that this is the absolute best track on the radio when it comes to rapping along in the car. If you don't yell along with Sean when this comes on, I don't f-well, you know where I'm going with this.

16. Hozier (12)

I've hated "Take Me To Church" since I first heard it. I'm not a big fan of Hozier's voice here and I think there's a little too much doom and gloom in the entire song. But the song is #3 on the charts, so it manages to weasel itself into the Power Rankings. The performance with Annie Lennox at the Grammys was nice, though.

17. Rae Sremmurd (11)

Rae Sremmurd are probably two of the corniest dudes I can think of. Their lyrics are generally terrible and most of their success comes from the incredible instrumentals provided by Mike Will Made It. I don't care though. "No Type" is too much fun.

18. Nick Jonas (11)

Nick Jonas' first big solo hit is definitely an effort to put his days as "the cutest Jonas Brother" behind him. The song is by far the most interesting thing he's done in his career so far, and his voice is pretty nice here. However, the song as a whole rubs me the wrong way. Lines like "It's my right to be hellish" creep me the hell out.

19. Chris Brown (10.5)

Chris Brown just barely manages to crack the lower portion of the Power Rankings because he technically has two songs in the chart. His collaboration with Tyga "Ayo" is generic DJ Mustard-core at its finest, which means it's sure to stick around on the radio for a while, unfortunately. He also provides hook duties on Nicki Minaj's "Only." Even without his less-than-stellar reputation as a person, Chris Brown has never really been an engaging artist. I haven't been able to tell his last like five or so hits apart from each other. But people are still eating up his R&B-by-numbers formula, so good for him, I guess.

20. O.T. Genasis (10)

"CoCo" is a song that at one point was at #20. This amazes me. 2015 is an incredible time to be alive. I love you all.

Missed the Cut:
Vance Joy, Ella Henderson, Fall Out Boy, Usher (10)
ILoveMakonnen, Flo Rida, Beyonce, Pitbull (9)
Selena Gomez (8)
Lilywood (7)
Jessie J (5)
Tyga, Kelly Clarkson (3)

Gibby's Top 10 Moments of the 2015 Grammys

Beck, Imma let you finish, but these were the most boring Grammys of all time. OF ALL TIME.

Hey everyone, I'm launching my personal blog again. One of my New Years Resolutions was to practice my writing more, and this is a good way of doing that if/when I'm in between assignments for other places. I'll probably play around with the design of the blog more again to include links to other places I work with. Obviously because this is a personal blog, things here will be a little looser than in my more "professional" stuff.

The Grammys happened this Sunday, and as per usual, the world collectively shrugged. The Grammys are one of the least prestigious awards show I can think of, but some of us still end up watching them every year out of some masochistic habit. This year was actually the first ceremony I've actually watched in full, and I don't know how people do this every year. Aside from the various problems that the ceremonies have when it comes to the mishandling of basically every genre of music, it's just a straight-up boring ceremony. There's little variety in the performances, because at the Grammys everybody sings ballads. EVERYBODY. But the negatives of the Grammys have been stated by so many people that I actually want to stay a little positive with this article. Here are my personal favorite things that happened during the Grammy ceremony this past week:

10. They Got Some Awards Right

Richard D. James is looking a little different these days.

The Grammys royally screw up tons of categories. Their choices of nominees and winners for genres like rap, rock, alternative and metal are oftentimes laughable. So when they actually do make a solid decision in awarding an album, artist or song, it's almost impressive. Most of the awards they actually get right are often announced before the big ceremony, so they can get pushed to the wayside. Both Aphex Twin and St. Vincent received well-deserved awards for their incredible 2014 output. Kendrick Lamar's "i" was divisive among fans, but it was easily my favorite of the nominated rap songs (even though Kendrick's two wins seem like make-up awards from last year's Macklemore/Kendrick fiasco). Beck's Morning Phase was the only album nominated for Best Rock Album that wasn't a massive disappointment, so I guess that's a win too.

9. ELO Was Cool, I Guess

This might be the whitest moment in the history of white people.

Yes, I'm well aware that some of these lower entries are reaching a little bit. Coolness be damned, I have a little bit of a soft spot for Electric Light Orchestra. "Evil Woman" and especially "Mr. Blue Sky" are two of the best pop-rock songs in history, and it was kinda cool to see these songs played live. Not even the absolute lameness of Ed Sheeran could ruin a great song like "Mr. Blue Sky.

8. Pharrell's Performance Was... Interesting?

Yeah, let's go with interesting. I'm still not exactly sure what happened in this performance. Pharrell was dressed up like a bellboy. The song was sung in minor for a while. The dancers wear hoodies and pay tribute to Ferguson protests with the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture. There's a gospel choir (though there were a lot of gospel choirs this year). Lang Lang plays piano and Hans Zimmer plays guitar. I'm still not sure what I actually think about this performance, but on a night filled with samey-sounding ballads, somebody doing something actually interesting was a welcome addition.

7. Beyonce Shows Why She's Queen Bey

She might've gotten snubbed in regards to major awards, but Beyonce showed why she deserves to be on top in the closing moments of the show. Her performance of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" was pretty stunning. In a night full of slow songs and featured gospel choirs, Beyonce had the best use of both. The performance is a little too deliberate at times for my taste, but her vocal performance is undeniable. As far as pop singers go, few, if any, can match her vocal prowess.

6. Wait... What's This "Rap" Music???

There were three country acts, two legacy rock acts, and countless pop artists during the Grammy ceremony. Yet one genre was notably absent from most of the show: rap. Sure, Kanye showed up a few times, but he's not really "rapping" in either of the songs he performed. Other than Kanye's presence, the only real reference to hip-hop I noticed in the show until Common showed up was a tribute to Big Bank Hank of the Sugarhill Gang during the In Memoriam segment. I haven't seen Selma yet, but I'm a fan of "Glory." Common's verses are powerful, and I'm happy that John Legend gets to share his talents to people who might not know him outside of the sappy, boring "All of Me." It also provided some variety in the show. Maybe the Grammys should look more into this "rap music" that all the kids seem to be talking about.

5. The Beck Moment We Should Actually Be Talking About

Whether or not you believe Beck was worthy of his Album of the Year for Morning Phase, "Heart is a Drum" is one of his best songs in the past decade. Beck was joined by Coldplay's Chris Martin for an acoustic performance that easily ranked as one of the best of the night. Their voices worked incredibly well together, and the two created some lovely harmonies. While everybody was talking about Kanye's Beck comments in the immediately aftermath of the show, this performance was much more worth the conversation.

4. Annie Lennox Completely Shows Up Hozier

I think Hozier's "Take Me to Church" is an absolutely dreadful song. I think it's an absolutely insufferable overdramatic funeral dirge. I was feeling similar thoughts while Hozier performed the song at the Grammys. Then Annie Lennox showed up and made that song actually interesting for a change. But it was Lennox's cover of "I Put a Spell On You" that really took this performance to the next level. Lennox is 60 years old, and her voice is still as captivating as ever. I hope Hozier took notes.

3. Kanye Keeps The Grammys Relevant

I've always been a believer that pop music is always a better place when Kanye's around. The Grammys were a prime example of this. On a night that got tedious on multiple occasions, Kanye kept things fresh three times. His heartfelt performance of "Only One" gave me chills. I'm not the biggest fan of "FourFive Seconds," but the performance with Rihanna and Paul McCartney still ranked as one of the best of the nights. Then, of course, there was the Beck fiasco (more accurately, near-fiasco). Kanye came incredibly close to stealing the mic away from Beck and repeating the events of the Taylor Swift VMA incident. Kanye smiled and turned around as Pharrell, Jay-Z, and Beyonce were visibly shocked at the events that almost unfolded. I'm not in agreement with some of the things that Kanye's said about the situation since that night. I actually prefer Morning Phase over Beyonce as far as albums go. But without this event and Kanye's post-Grammys rant, people probably would've completely forgotten about this show by now. The Grammys should award Yeezy with a Lifetime Achievement Award for making people actually care about the show.

2. Sia's Lovely "Chandelier" Performance

Sia should've won all the awards that Sam Smith won (except Best New Artist, since she's been in the business for forever now). "Chandelier" is one of the most powerful performances that hit pop radio last year, and the Grammy performance was simply stunning. Sia sang in the background as Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler danced around the room. It was not only a welcome break from the rut of Balladfest 2015, it was a great performance regardless of context. Plus, who knew Kristen Wiig could dance like that!?

1. PRINCE.

Sometimes, the Purple One sees us lesser humans and our silly awards shows and decides to bless us with his presence. He pities us, so he brings us the joy of his presence. He did this with the Golden Globes last month. Likewise, he does so at the Grammys. He does not stay long; Prince is too busy to concern himself with our trivial matters for more than five minutes. He announces one award. He makes his contempt for lesser artists show on his face. It is Prince who truly deserves this award. He deserves every award, no matter what that award is. We know this, and we acknowledge it just as Prince does. Does Sam Smith truly deserve his awards? Beyonce? Beck? Miranda Lambert? No, only Prince.