1.) Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy

If you keep up with my articles, then you know that Fall Out Boy are one of my favorite bands. One of their greatest strengths is lead singer Patrick Stump’s voice. Patrick has a wide vocal range, with some songs (such as “Headfirst Slide”) he features the lower side of his voice. Fall Out Boy’s two latest releases, Save Rock And Roll and American Beauty / American Psycho feature more of his higher vocal range (especially songs like “My Songs”).

You can definitely see the maturity in Patrick’s voice as you listen over each discography, with their earlier sound being more aggressive and Patrick’s words blending together. Not to mention, Patrick sounds phenomenal live.

Songs I recommend: Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet and My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark

2.) Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco

Brendon Urie, the last original member of Panic! At The Disco, is undeniably talented. His voice is very clean cut, which has been reflected throughout all of Panic!’s discography. Like Patrick Stump, Brendon has a wide vocal range. However, I would venture to say that his is even wider. I mean, just check out their cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.

Since Brendon pretty much had free reign over the last record since he was the sole member, his work really shines through and I think that Death Of A Bachelor is one of his best records vocally.

Songs I recommend: Death of a Bachelor and This Is Gospel

3.) Trevor and Matt Wentworth of Our Last Night

Since they’re brothers and in the same band, I’m going to count them as one. In fact, I think that because they are brothers and have similar voices, they really complement each other in their work. Matt sings all of the clean vocals, while Trevor switches between clean and screaming. This works really well with their heavy post-hardcore sound. Trevor’s vocal range leans on the lower side while Matt’s is on the higher side, which really balances this band out to make for a pleasant listen.

Songs I recommend: Sunrise and White Tiger

4.) Parker Cannon of The Story So Far

Parker Cannon’s voice is the cherry on top of this band. Their aggressive sound features heavy guitar, banging drums, and none other than Parker’s yelling vocals. I would say that Parker’s voice sets them apart in the pop-punk scene since they lie more on the aggressive side of the pop-punk spectrum. Parker’s voice has the ability to make you feel angry and pumped up, even if you don’t directly relate to the lyrics.

His softer voice is showcased through songs on their short EP “Songs Of”, where there isn’t any yelling vocals present. It’s almost as if the soft Parker is a hidden gem in the world of pop-punk.

Songs I recommend: All Wrong and Clairvoyant

5.) Derek Discanio of State Champs

State Champs are arguably one of the best bands in the pop-punk scene today. What I love most about Discanio’s voice is that it’s soft enough, but it also has an edge to it. It’s clean cut with some raspy yelling thrown in there to give it some edge.

Songs I recommend: Secrets and Elevated

6.) Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots are a band that have blown up in the past couple of years, and rightfully so. Tyler shows off his talent by singing in many different genres, such as rap, hip-hop, indie pop, and rock while most musicians stay in their preferred lane. His voice is whiney, but not in a cringe-y way.

Songs I recommend: House of Gold and Doubt

7.) Lynn Gunn of PVRIS

Lynn Gunn (short for Lynndsay Gunnulfsen) is hands-down my favorite female vocalist that’s out there today. She’s able to hit some deep, forceful tones as well as keeping things soft and simple. I think she has a really powerful voice that is euphoric just to listen to, especially the “stripped” versions of their songs that feature just Lynn’s vocals.

Songs I recommend: You and I and Smoke

8.) Eddy Brewerton of Moose Blood

Eddy Brewerton’s voice is hard to describe, so I will try my best. It’s very unique, to say the least. There’s definitely a roughness to it that’s more present on their album I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time. Another thing I enjoy about Eddy’s voice is how uplifting it sounds. Maybe that’s just because it’s paired with the upbeat music, but when you really listen to the lyrics you can actually feel your heart being ripped out. This would definitely not be the case if there was a lead vocalist other than Eddy.

Songs I recommend: Pastel and Gum 

9.) Joe Taylor of Knuckle Puck

When talking about modern pop-punk bands, a lot of people talk about Knuckle Puck. What makes KP so great? Vocalist Joe Taylor is one of the many reasons. In their early stuff, his voice can be comparable to Parker Cannon-like yelling, with cleaner vocals coming on their first full length Copacetic.

Songs I recommend: No Good and Untitled

10.) Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade

First off, can I just say that Derek Sanders is one of the nicest guys ever? I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2014 and he was the sweetest. Likewise, his voice sounds sweet to the ears. It hovers on the lower end of his vocal range, which sounds good paired with their pop-punk style and also their slower songs. If you really want to dive deep into the feels, check out “Terrible Things”.

Songs I recommend: Kids In Love and You’re Dead Wrong

Check out my playlist featuring these vocalists below!

The post Jen’s Top Ten’s: My Favorite Vocalists of All Time appeared first on KRUI Radio.

For some, that description alone would be enough to have them running to their locally-owned and chain bookstores to purchase this novel, with its girth of nearly 600 pages and its eye-catching cover art. Be still, my AU (alternate universe, a phrase used in fan fiction) heart. However, for the nonbelievers, I’m willing to be a little more persistent and convince you to give this gem a fair shot.

Rainbow Rowell has a been a fixture within the young adult genre for a couple years now, thanks to her breakthrough bestseller Eleanor and Park: a sweet, intelligent, and bitter novel about an overweight outsider and a vaguely popular Korean boy with a love for comics falling into the confusing and enrapturing throngs of first love. Her follow up, Fangirl, while not met with as much commercial success, was still received with critical acclaim. Focusing on a young woman named Cath starting her college career as a creative writing major and facing difficulty moving away from her works of fan fiction to more original material, Fangirl acutely observed the inner anxieties of a talented writer finding her niche in her work and in her life. More importantly, however, the novel introduced two fictional characters that the protagonist wrote about, named Simon and Baz, about whom readers were dying to read more.

However, this demand for more Simon and Baz left the author in an interesting situation. You see, Simon and Baz are characters that existed within a book series within Fangirl: Cath wrote fan fiction about “The World of Mages”, a famous book series that, on the surface, sounds very similar to our own magical boarding school series, Harry Potter. So in Fangirl there were TWO stories involving Simon and Baz: the canon “World of Mages”, and Cath’s fan fiction about them. So, instead of writing either of those stories, Rainbow Rowell decided to write the “World of Mages” as she would have written, arguably writing fan fiction for a series within her own novel where the protagonist writes fan fiction as well. I know, it’s all very meta. And, on paper, it sounds like a complete mess.

So Rainbow Rowell should be commended for how well she’s able to pull it off.

Carry On begins as Simon Snow, our main character and Chosen One, the most powerful Mage in the world, is headed for his final year of training at the Watford School of Magicks. Needless to say, he’s feeling a little anxious about it: he’s going to be stuck with his roommate Baz again for another year (Simon is convinced that Baz is a vampire), there’s a prophecy that the head of the school is pressuring Simon to complete, and there’s a nasty creature that looks like an eleven year old Simon running around and sucking the magic out of areas of Europe, creating pockets of dead air where mages can’t use their abilities. It all sounds like a lot to unpack, as Carry On is kind of an alternate universe to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and at the beginning of the novel it’s a little alienating for the reader. But once Rowell figures out how to unpack all that backstory and is able to introduce the other lead characters, Carry On hits the ground running and keeps its addictive pace going until its rousing conclusion.

Part of the reason Carry On is able to work past its issues and, ultimately, step out of the shadows of its obvious inspiration, is because of how talented of a writer Rainbow Rowell truly is. Although she is frequently compared to John Green, I would argue that she is an infinitely stronger writer: she has an ear for witty, hilarious, and heartfelt dialogue that doesn’t feel staged, she knows exactly when to throw an emotional gut punch or plot twist, and her characters are three dimensional, lovable cast members, even if their archetypes are lifted straight from classic fantasy (i.e., Simon’s best friend, Penny, starts out as a Hermoine Granger stand in, but quickly becomes a feminist witch fighting for equal opportunity for mages of all races, colors, and sexuality who I would actually prefer to have by my side over her counterpart). Rowell is also really fantastic at creating tension in situations, whether they be of the personal or more epic variety.

That’s another reason why Carry On excels and becomes, in my opinion, one of the best things to come out of the young adult fiction genre in a long time. While the novel certainly has its magical plot to resolve, Rowell loves her characters, and they drive the narrative instead of being dragged along by it. Because of this attention to character, to their personal traumas and explorations of identity, she’s created a truly subversive version of the “Chosen One” literary trope: Simon is someone who doesn’t want the power he has and is dealing with his bisexuality; Baz struggles with being a pariah within his own family even though he didn’t being his differences onto himself; Agatha, the seeming damsel in distress, discovers her own agency and is decisive in a way that most other characters, in any fantasy setting, wouldn’t be able to bring themselves to do.

And don’t even get me started on the kissing scenes. I was literally hugging the novel and giggling over it. Don’t underestimate Rowell’s ability to evoke the reader’s own memories of first love.

Despite these strengths, Carry On does sometimes buckle under its own ambitions. The world simply cannot be as fleshed out as other fantasy projects: she didn’t have over fifteen years to develop it, after all. And while its breathtaking pace is mostly a positive, its conclusion does come a little too quickly and tidy. But for a novel that gets almost everything else right and, along the way, changes the game of young adult fiction, I believe those offenses can be forgiven.

A goofy, subversive, and fantastical treat.

Grade: B+

The post Bound and Proud: Book Review- “Carry On” by Rainbow Rowell appeared first on KRUI Radio.