Run- AWOLNATION

I've been listening to AWOLNATION a lot since I heard them for the first time; they're one of the bands that were popular for what seemed like a second, but I have made them apart of my usual rotation of artists. I saw them live a few years ago at the X96 Big Ass Show, and they put on a really great show; they got the crowd moving, screaming, and cheering after the first song they played. This band are so well-rounded as performers that I think it would be difficult for them not to succeed. AN is a band that knows what they want to do with their music and do everything in their power to make it exactly how they want it.

"Headrest for My Soul" is a song about calling out for help, even if you're not sure if anyone is listening. You just want someone to save you, but nobody is and you're running out of time. This is one of those songs that really seems to explain how my depression and how it makes me feel; I just want some help, but I just keep getting closer to drowning. It's like I'm on a raft in the ocean. They use an acoustic guitar in this song, and that just adds to the feeling of the song by building that more mellow sound around the deeper lyrics. "There's a leak in this boat; someone toss me a rope... There's a leak in this boat; how the hell will I float?"

Run is AWOLNATION's second full length album, and it has a very different sound that what was on Megalithic Symphony. You can still very easily tell that these songs are by the same band, but there is a lot of- what I would classify as- experimenting and I think it really pays off. This is a very well written and produced album; everyone did their job to make the best album possible and that is something that you don't see enough in the music industry lately. This band takes pride in what they do and create music that they should be proud of.

AN has a very unique sound and all of their songs have have a sort of story within them. Aaron Bruno- aka AWOL- (lead singer) has a voice that is unlike all other singers I've ever heard. The way they use each instrument in a different way that allows them all to come together and create the sort Kraftwork-meets Imagine Dragons-meets an 1890s poet sound to their music. AWOL sings/speaks with a certain rhythm that follows along with the beat that is found in the music and it almost acts like another set of percussion. I honestly believe that without their lyrical work, this band would not be as good as they are; by that I mean that a lot of their personal flair and appeal comes from their abstract and slightly crazy lyrics. 

The song "I Am" is a more mellow song, compared to the rest of the album. The lyrics- like with every one of their songs- are absolutely amazing. My favorite part is the use of the piano in the song, because it really does add to the song in a way that changes the sound of the song with its presence and absence. I feel like the line 'only looking up when my head's down" has a lot of meaning; it's kind of going back to the idea that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. You only change what you're doing after you're already in trouble because of it.

I hope that this is just the second of many albums to come, because I feel like AWOLNATION has so much to do as a band, and they still have a lot of room to grow together as a band. I loved how this album sounds like the first album, but it also has that little bit of change that helps you to see that they have changed. They tried something new and different, but they stayed true to who they are as a band. I look forward to what the future holds for these guys. 

AWOLNATION's Website
Buy Run

*I know that if anyone actually reads my blog regularly you have probably heard me say (or read me type?) that a lot of different groups are so unique and different from everything out there, but I really do mean it every time I say it; if you disagree just tell me, I'm pretty open minded.*