Mayday Parade announces new album!

According to Property of Zack, alternative-punk band Mayday Parade announced their new album Monsters in the Closet to release on October 8th, 2013. Panic! at the Disco's new album also drops on the same day, so fans of both bands (like me), are either gonna be really happy or really sad that day.

But most likely very happy.

Here's the album art for the new album!

Hope everyone's having a great Monday!

Till next time xx,

Sierra

(WATCH) Panic! At The Disco's new single: 'Are You Nasty?" (BONUS Mash-Up)

Hello everyone! So I've been kind of M.I.A for a few days, I know. But I'm making up for it now.

If you haven't heard, Panic! at the Disco just announced their upcoming album To Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! to drop on October 8th, 2013, as well as a string of upcoming tour dates (including a handful of shows with Fall Out Boy on their Save Rock and Roll tour).

(source)

The new single "Miss Jackson (feat. Lolo)" is loud and intense. The video is gritty, dark, edgy, and a far cry from Nine in the Afternoon. Our frontman is roaming outside a motel in the Las Vegas desert looking for a darkly romantic "Miss Jackson," portrayed by Katrina Bowden.

After three years since their last album Vices & Virtues (one of the few albums that I enjoy every single track on), three-man band with Brendon Urie, Spencer Smith, and Dallon Weekes, is back with new material. This album has especially personal meaning for the band, taking its title from the book Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and Panic!'s hometown being Las Vegas.

"The songs I was writing came from me seeing Vegas in a new light...when we left Vegas, we were 17, 18 and we were pretty bitter because we couldn't do all the things everyone else could. We couldn't play gigs, we weren't allowed in the bars, so we were pissed off," he said. "But in the past couple years I've visited Vegas quite a bit, and I started doing things I never thought I would do, like going out to clubs, and for some reason that really struck a chord with me. People go there to lose themselves in the moment, and drop their guard, and it hit me in a way. Like, 'Wow, I want to do that. I want to make music like that, that moves people, that's a party, that makes you feel good.'" (SOURCE)

Their single, titled "Miss Jackson (ft. Lolo)", has a very similar sound to Fall Out Boy's first single "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up)."Makes sense, the two bands are similar in style, genre, and are good friends. But in no way is this track a copycat. According to several fans, Panic! has been working on this album for awhile, even before Fall Out Boy's famous comeback.

(While you're at it, check out this amazing mash-up of the two tracks, "Miss Jackson Knows What You Did In The Dark". It's as if they were made to fit together.)

According to a recent interview with MTV, frontman Brendon Urie discussed the meaning behind the song itself:

(source)

'Miss Jackson' is about something that actually happened to me when I was younger. I hadn't really talked about it, and I felt that if I didn't, I would keep thinking about it, it would drive me crazy,' Urie said. 'When I was younger, I would mess around; I'd sleep with one girl one night, sleep with her friend the next night, and not care about how they felt, or how I made them feel. And then it happened to me and I realized 'Wow, that's what that feels like? I feel really shitty.'

I predict that this album will be more amazing than the last few purely because of where the content comes from: the heart. Specifically, the rough experiences of the band's beginnings.

Of course most songwriting comes from the heart anyway, but they're exploring the upheaval of their past and how Panic! has stayed strong through it all. It makes for powerful material. They're coming full circle and it's a nice refresher for bands to revisit their past. I look forward to great things, as I did with Fall Out Boy. Let's hope they don't disappoint.

Sure, it's a newer sound, but that doesn't mean it's bad.

"Miss Jackson (ft. Lolo)" is now on YouTube and available on iTunes. Check it out.

Here below are Panic!'s most recent upcoming tour dates, click here for more tour information on Alternative Press.
Aug 1 - The 92.9 Concert at Copley - Boston, MA

Aug 3 - The Piazza at Schmidt's - Philadelphia, PA 

Aug 4 - Jewish Mother - Norfolk, VA 

Aug 5 - Canal Club - Richmond, VA 

Aug 7 - 12th & Porter - Nashville, TN 

Aug 9 - Jack Rabbits - Jacksonville, FL 

Aug 10 - Jannus Live - Tampa, FL 

Aug 12 - 20th Century Theatre - Cincinnati, OH 

Aug 13 - Firebird - St. Louis, MO 

Aug 14 - Radio Radio - Indianapolis, IN 

Aug 17 - Main Street Armory (94.1 The Zone's Bonzai) - Rochester, NY 

Aug 19 - B-Ryders - Bakersfield, CA 

Aug 20 - Velvet Jones - Santa Barbara, CA 

Aug 21 - The New Starline - Fresno, CA 

Aug 22 - Alley - Reno, CA 

Aug 24 - Gallivan Center - Salt Lake City, UT

As always, feel free to leave comments below!

Till next time xx,

Sierra

When a filibuster is more than a filibuster

All right you guys, I'm about to get political over here. Brace yourselves.

(source)

Meet real-life Wonder Woman Senator Wendy Davis. She holds a seat in the Texas legislature. On June 25th, 2013 starting at 11:18 a.m. she began her filibuster against Bill SB5, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. This bill, if passed, would shut down all but 5 medical clinics in the entire state of Texas. These clinics do not only provide abortion services, but affordable health care for women, men, and children.
For those who don't know what a filibuster entails, it means she has to stand on the senate floor and talk for 13  straight hours and talk in order for the bill to not reach the governor's desk for him to sign. She is not allowed to stop, either. No breaks, no sitting down or resting, no eating, no drinking, no using the restroom, nothing but talking for the entire time. If she can talk continually till midnight, they cannot pass the bill.
Well, guess what? This superhero of a woman did it. Senator Davis, a single mother and a Harvard law alumn, asked people from all around the nation and the world to send in their abortion testimonies for her to share and to keep the filibuster going. If she was to stop once, she would be out and they could pass the bill.
Armed with a pair of bright pink Nike sneakers, she talked the entire time. Many of her male colleagues would not even pay attention to her. She was constantly nitpicked at the rules, especially when one of the senators helped her adjust her back brace, saying this was in violation of the rules.
BUT HERE'S THE KICKER: a fellow female senator pointed out that she did not sit or lean on anything as this was being done, and the rules were written in male pronouns, therefore they did not technically apply to her anyway! Talk about engrained misogyny.

Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D) (right), also is a woman of note in this whole debacle. She tried her best to make Davis' filibuster count, adding countless support to the cause and in order to extend the filibuster. Most of her male colleagues elected to ignore her as well, in which she responded with the following:

At what point must a female senator raise her hand, or her voice, to be heard over the male colleagues in the room?

You go Senator Van de Putte. You go.

Davis' talk was broadcasted live the entire time, journalists keeping people updated every step of the way.
Then, as she neared the end of the final hour, she was silenced. They claimed she was in violation of the guidelines, mentioning sonograms which were considered "irrelevant" to the topic (which actually isn't irrelevant at all).
She continued to stand, and as soon as they tried to silence her, the people in the gallery screamed.
They could not be silenced. They continued the filibuster themselves.

This is what the gallery sounded like in the last 10 minutes of the filibuster:


When the people refused to move, Representative Mary Gonzales tweeted a picture of a bunch of state troopers coming in to arrest the civil disobedience. Unfortunately, the GOP representatives that supports the bill then decided that the ruckus "interfered with their vote" and they voted AFTER MIDNIGHT, which is in direct violation of their regulation.

Basically, they broke a law to make a law.

During the filibuster:"Oh, sorry Ms. Davis. You have to follow these strict guidelines for your filibuster. Rules are rules."
When they decide to vote after midnight: "Wait, what are rules again?"

The GOP actually changed the date on the books to reflect that the vote was made before midnight, instead of after. Someone caught it before they changed it. Oh boy, aren't you in trouble.

BUT, IN AN AMAZING TURN OF EVENTS:

Our girl Wendy did it! She represents thousands of Texan women and her passion and bravery paid off!

However, this is not the end. What to take away from this incident is this: the government will not hesitate to forward their own agenda by any means necessary, even if that means breaking laws already in place.

They have ignited something they cannot stop.

Change is coming, folks. Especially with several other bills in place, such as the vote on Prop 8 in California, the DOMA equal marriage act, and SCOTUS also passing today a law allowing restrictions on voting based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. In other words, they just flung us back into some of the darkest parts of our past. 

I leave you with this. Get pumped, revolution is on it's way.

Fight the patriarchy.

Till next time xx,

Sierra