Features
Amber Bettis
Music Journalist, Social Media Manager
United States of America
Current editor at Unsigned & Unleashed, blogger and social media manager at Open Our Eyes.
United States of America
Current editor at Unsigned & Unleashed, blogger and social media manager at Open Our Eyes.
Features
AssociationsAcoustic/IndieFind Them On:: Facebook | BandcampFor Fans Of:: Modern BaseballOne of my favorite things to do is find bands through other bands. Another of my favorite things is Sailor's Mouth, so when they retweeted a link to Associations' new EP, I immediately had to listen.It was a great decision.
We Love YouEmoFor Fans Of:: Foxing, Have Mercy, Jimmy Eat WorldFind Them On:: Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter(photo credit: Errick X Easterday)I had every intention of writing a glowing, coherent feature on We Love You, a band from Marion, Indiana. I turned on their latest release, pulled up Tumblr, and then the last track, "Repair", happened.
Soundtrack To SleepPost-hardcore/EmoFor Fans Of:: Brand New, Seahaven, JawbreakerFind Them Here:: Facebook | Bandcamp"Sad, but in a hopeful way" states Soundtrack To Sleep's Facebook description. Nothing could be truer. Combining the post-hardcore noise of the DC scene with a healthy dash of Seahaven-esque ambiance, STS stands out like no other.
FisherHuntermenFolk-RockFind Them On:: Facebook | Bandcamp In honor of my favorite NFL team, The Seattle Seahawks, making it to the Super Bowl two years in a row, I decided to showcase a band from the area. A quite exhausting search led me to FisherHuntermen, the indie rock effort of Jeremy Wingfield.
Blogs
by Amber BettisBy now you've all heard of the recent accusations against musicians you might like, or hate, or once liked but are now ashamed of it. This is not a piece naming names. This is not condemning this band or that one, or telling you not to listen to a band when a member does weird shit.
It is currently 3:25 AM, the day this piece is due. I have a caffeine headache because I'm attempting to cut my beloved Coca Cola from my diet. It's finally warm enough in my room (it's 3 degrees right now in Tennessee) for me to roll up my sleeves, though I'm under a mountain of...
For the next two months, Open Our Eyes will be featuring each of our music bloggers' all time favorite albums and why they are special to them. Words by Amber Bettis "So now tell me how your story goes. Have you ever suffered?" La Dispute is not my favorite band, as anyone with ears to...
Interviews
Mike Kruger (third from left), bassist and founding member of your favorite band's favorite band, Charming Liars, sat down with U&U and answered some questions for us. Check the exclusive out under the read more.U&U: You've told many publications where the name Charming Liars comes from.
Late Night Fiction is one of those bands that, when you first hear them, you want everyone you know to listen to them, too. You need the world to know about this band. Their music is so straightforward, so honest, that you can't help but want to curl up in the melodies and live there forever.
After seeing Pass Away on Brand New's Instagram, I ran as fast as a virtually could to their Bandcamp page- Brand New does not endorse crap bands. They just don't- and the songs I found were, to borrow a line from Almost Famous, incendiary.
When I was first starting music journalism, I picked up a book of Lester Bangs' work called Mainlines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste. In it, he calls Charlie Haden (the legendary bass player, natch) "hypnotically inventive", and I am lifting that phrase straight from the pages of that worn copy to describe Andrew Accardi, lead singer of ROBBERS, Shone, and a pretty fantastic artist.
Album Reviews
by Amber BettisAlbum: DealerArtist: FoxingRelease Date: October 30, 2015Dealer, the latest offering from Foxing, is a sequel of sorts to 2013's The Albatross, at least musically.
Review by Amber Bettis. Artist: Angel Du$t (Baltimore, Maryland) Album: A.D. (released June 10th via React Records) Do you find yourself yearning for the punk of yesteryear? Do you waste wishes from a genie trying to recreate 70's and 80's punk in its heyday?
by Amber BettisAlbum: Spit at the SunArtist: BanquetsRelease Date: October 9, 2015Grab you best black clothing, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to a funeral. The deceased? New Jersey’s favorite Banquets. The band have released their last album, Spit at the Sun, and ended their career on the highest of notes.Spit at the Sun feels like it's seeped in goodbyes.
by Amber BettisAlbum: Clear a Heaven So This Earth Can BreatheArtist: Broken Field RunnerRelease Date: July 24, 2015Tony Bucci is an artist, in the Da Vinci sense of the word. He has crafted an album that has the perfect balance between social commentary and personal problems, full band works and acoustic slow-burners.
Review by Amber Bettis. “Blacking in and out in a strange flat in East London/somebody I don’t really know just gave me something/to help settle me down and to stop me from always thinking about you”- so begins “Recovery”, the musically optimistic opener of Frank Turner’s major label debut, Tape Deck Heart.