Though the picture featured above would say otherwise, this band is the love child of My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Tim Burton. Since it's October, and Halloween is approaching we HAD to feature New Years Day as our band of the month. They're all but Halloween personified. Along with fellow goth rockers Motionless in White and Get Scared, they always bring a certain level of horror to their music and live shows. But they have frontwoman Ashley "Ash" Costello, and that gives them a little something extra.
Read our review of their latest album, "Malevolence". Or check out our reviews of singles "Kill or Be Killed", "Relentless", and "Left Inside".
A great band takes time to form, and years of practice to get it right. New Years Day are a perfect example of that. They spent the better part of 7 years touring, changing their sound, and rotating lineups before finally finding success in their 2nd album, "Victim to Villain". But prior, they released a slew of demos, singles, and 1 often forgotten debut album that was actually a solid release.
The band started out as pop punk, alt. rock outlet, not unlike Hey Monday or Paramore. Remember being in middle school, or maybe even elementary school, and listening to "I Was Right"? A few of you might, others may not. Those who aren't are probably not familiar with the band's early work. And that's fine, it's like BMTH fans not knowing the first thing about their debut EP or studio album. It had a time and a place, but the band has moved on.
The one constant in NYD is Ash Costello. An entire post just talking about her seems silly, but honestly that's long we could spend praising her. In short, her skills have really and drastically improved since the band's original demos. They flew under the radar for so long, and getting to see them blossom under Ash's command is very refreshing. A bit more girl power in male dominated music genre is always welcomed.
Some may judge based on appearances, and miss out on an incredible band. NYD's 2010 EP proved the band wanted to do something other than cut and dry pop punk. They didn't want to to be in Paramore's shadow forever. So they took their original sound, and mixed in some Freddy Kruger and a little Tim Burton. The whole metal-hard rock-gothic rock bit has become fairly common in several other bands like Get Scared, Famous Last Words, and of course the kings of the macabre Motionless in White. NYD stands out with Ash, being able to play with the "big boys".
The duet between her and Chris from MIW for the band's song, "Angel Eyes" is perfect. Nothing would be better, except maybe a collab between Marilyn Manson and Amy Lee. And let's just take a moment to picture how awesome that would sound. Oo, chills.
If you haven't picked up their latest album, we highly recommend you do. If not because of the band's talents, then because Halloween is right around the corner. You need some music to play at your haunted house or Halloween party, look no further than "Malevolence".