BLACKTOP MOURNING (BUY CD HERE NOW)

BUY "NO REGRET" NOW! IN ALL THE STORES, FROM BLACKTOP MOURNING "TO GO" ONLINE STORES, AND IN THE MAIL!...

THIS IS WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT "NO REGRET"..... "I’ve been composing for a seven-piece band for a lot of years with all of us working together, and that’s complex enough. Max is composing for a 20-piece band that only has four people in it and doing a lot of that himself." ADAM DURITZ
____________________________________________________________ ________
Dated January 15, 2007 Greenwich Village, NY
FROM ADAM DURITZ at COUNTING CROWS.COM (blog)
---------
"So today is a big day for me. My new record company, Tyrannosaurus Records officially goes online today. I’m hoping you’ll all stop by and check it out. The address is www.tyrannosaurusrecords.net We’ve put up some videos and some music and some photos too so there’s stuff for you to see from our artists. The Blacktop Mourning album was co-produced by their songwriter/lead guitarist Max Steger and The Devil And The Bunny Show (a charming, and extremely handsome, production team made up of Immy and me) and mixed in KC by Ed Rose.... --adam duritz

penseye.com says: You might think the success of Blacktop Mourning is mind-boggling. Rightfully so; after only two weeks of their music hitting MySpace in late 2005, Blacktop Mourning was signing a deal with MTV. By the six month mark, their songs had been played on 12 MTV shows and the band had been selected as an "MTV Featured Artist." All of which artists ten, twenty, even thirty years their senior can’t attest to. The mere mention of an artist being summoned by MTV, is cause for bragging. An even bigger thrill might have been when Counting Crows front man (and one of the greatest singer/songwriters of this generation) Adam Duritz asked them to be on his label, Tyrannosaurus Records. Duritz even offers back up vocals on a few songs off their highly acclaimed album, "No Regret" (now available). Blacktop Mourning’s humble and positive outlook on their music has everyone talking about them as the band to watch in 2007...but I’d like to add 2008, 2009, 2010 and well, let’s just say they’ll be the band to watch for a very long time. Humble even when Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records, called Max Steger (18) "one of the best guitar players I’ve ever seen." You can’t help but feel you got a good thing going when that happens.These guys from Chicago are barreling through the tunnels of rock like a stolen freight train; with an outcry of punk and pop anthems as they trample city after city with an ingenious sound not found in any band today. Why is this? Blacktop Mourning combines fierce drum-beats with clever, almost surreal vocals and songwriting…just to start. Another reason Blacktop Mourning continues to remain strong, is their youth; which some people may view as a negative. In fact the knowledge of trends, the internet and value of word of mouth, known only by the "MySpace generation", makes us realize we are dealing with some truly intelligent artists. Many people want to discard the power of the web, but the tens of thousands of kids forwarding along their songs "Halfway to Midnight," "My Only Heart," or "Another Day", with the subject line reading, "Check this out!" (which someone sent me), is the kind of influence that makes you have listen to Blacktop Mourning. Rarely do we see a band with this much charisma, originality and artistic vision, so early on. If you haven’t been listening, now might be a good time to start. Read their XXQs to find out why…[see blog for interview]www.ROCKEYEZ says, ".. a killer debut that reaches out to music fans, has to be added to your collection..."
Brian Rademacher ..www.ROCKEYEZ.com
Rating: 4.5 stars/5
Children of the night have awaken and its "6AM" the opening track for this amazing band from Chicago, a blend of rock and alternative that smacks you between the eyes. I love these boys as they push the limits with hooks and melody above simplistic typical alternative sound.They’re young yet they seem to have the perfect balance between rock and alternative for success. The music is driving and hits hard and enjoyable to listen to. BLACKTOP MOURNING is produced by Adam Duritz (COUNTING CROWS), Max Steger and David Immergluck, with Duritz adding background vocals on four of the tracks.There is a multitude of great tunes but one of harder hitters is "My Only Heart" it has aggressive guitar by Max Steger and with the vocal pipes of Joe Levand who drives this track home it could reach out to the metal crowd."These Times Call" returns to the more AOR style and if these boys had the same gimmick of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE they would put The ROMANCE on a back burner. There are not just a few good songs on "No Regrets" this is a CD you can listen to from start to finish without skipping tracks.You can hear the influence of Adam Duritz of the COUNTING CROWS on this phenomenal ballad "Hardly Recognize", Levend totally shines and shows the versatility BLACKTOP MOURNING possesses.Listening to the last track you would figure that there should be at least one filler track, not here. "As Time Crawls By" is still slamming just as good as the first track. This is a killer debut that reaches out to music fans, has to be added to your collection. And you think these guys are just another pop band check the licks on this track by Steger…. Who’s your daddy….Get it!!!
ABSOLUTE PUNK.NET SAYS......ABOUT "NO REGRET"
Blacktop Mourning - No Regret Posted on 05-09-07 by FallonRules
Producers: Max Steger, Adam Duritz and David Immergluck
Release Date: May 15, 2007Seems like lately, bands that were once huge adult-alternative radio fixtures are being hailed as "scene icons". From the resurgence of Third Eye Blind and the utmost praise for Goo Goo Dolls, those guys you see on late-night compilation commercials are now labeled as inspiration for today’s big bands.Most recently, Counting Crows’ frontman Adam Duritz has been getting loads of praise from artists like Dashboard Confessional (who featured him on their last album), and now with his recent new-found success in the music world, he has just started up his own record label. Called Tyrannosaurus Records (T-Recs, get it?), Duritz’s first signing was Chicago’s Blacktop Mourning, which gained a lot of notoriety on MySpace and earned themselves a contract with MTV to feature music on their programs, all before they were even signed.Now after only a couple months from being signed, the young pop-punk band is preparing to release their terrific debut, No Regret, which is a perfect title for such an album, full of edgy pop hooks and powerful emotion. The band - consisting of 18-year old guitar prodigy Max Steger (who also co-produces the disc), is destined to be one of this year’s next big breakthrough acts. They have a sound that is familiar to fans of bands like Fall Out Boy (circa 2003), Yellowcard and The Academy Is..., and with Duritz’s seal of approval, they are likely to take off about as quickly as they came in.Beginning with the piano-led introductory track, "6AM," the album shifts into what it predominately exceeds at, pure energetic, hard-egded pop-punk. "Halfway To Midnight" is about finding redemption, and uses layered vocals by Levand to convey somebody arguing with themselves, while reeling in the listener with distorted guitars and fast-paced choruses. The anthemic "Future’s Gone" blends acoustic rhythm with bombastic guitars, while "Don’t Defend" goes for an old-school pop-punk feel in its choruses, while using lots of piano and acoustic guitars (matched by Steger’s endless distortion guitar)."My Only Heart" is a darker, moodier and all-around heavier number (and one of the album’s finest tracks) where Steger and Nystrand battle back and forth with each other, with guitar hero Max breaking into a nifty blues-inspired rock solo. From there, we are led into the soaring and upbeat "These Times Call," where Levand goes from crooner to bitter middle-finger saluter. It’s the album’s most pop-punk inspired number as a whole, and like all their songs, doesn’t use traditional verse-chorus-verse methods to reach a quick result; the band takes their time to get to the core of their songs (most songs are over the four-minute mark), which make them stand out from their peers."Your First Crime" is another anthemic blast, full of breezy musicianship and power chords to make your hair stand on end. "Hardly Recognize" is a slow-moving ballad (the lone one on the album) thats displays a sincere pallet of feeling and accompanied by Duritz’s vocals (he lends his distinctive chops to three other songs, as well), makes it one of the album’s most moving cuts, despite the Richard Marx-like cheesy guitar solo sandwiched in the middle.The sounds of deep, chest-thumping drums and indie-rock guitar make the skeleton for the energetic "Another Day," which is then followed by the first-class and moody "Buried My Eyes," which doesn’t stand out particularly, but is still catchy enough. The album closes with the 6 minute 41 second epic "As Time Crawls By," which is mostly used to showcase the musical talents of this young band (especially the extraordinary skills of eclectic guitarist Steger), as Levand has taken the album to display his impressive vocal abilities.With all the production dones very well by Duritz and producing partner David Immergluck (along with the band’s Max Steger), these newcomers sound like refined pros, and there is no doubt that they will be one of the year’s most buzzed about bands. The musicianship is tight and clean, with pop-pun hooks backed by blues-inspired riffage, the lyrics stay away from typical pop-punk cliches and they bring atmosphere to each song, changing the personality of each tune presented. And standing at 45 minutes long, the 11 tracks that make up the disc are neither less or more - they fit the length just right.Easily one of 2007’s best releases, for fans of pop-punk with flair and edge attached, look no further than Blacktop Mourning - you’ll have no regrets after hearing these young talents. And be sure to thank Adam Duritz for one more item of praise after you’re done.
____________________________________________________________ ____ NEW!! NEW!! NEW!!
ALL MUSIC GUIDE REVIEW
of Blacktop Mourning’s “NO REGRET”
This is the inaugural release from a new label founded by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, and it features a band that he discovered on MySpace. Blacktop Mourning is led by guitarist and songwriter Max Steger, who is something of a guitar prodigy and started his career playing in Chicago blues clubs at age twelve and was eighteen when this album was released. Interestingly, you’ll hear precious little blues influence on “No Regret”; instead, Blacktop Mourning have managed to harness the noisiness of post-hardcore emo and wrestled it into a pure pop sound that features plenty of tight, razor-edged guitars and chugging metal riffs but always seems to have its heart in soaring melodies and multi-layered harmonies. Imagine if the Rocket Summer had been raised on Spitalfield and Promise Ring, and you’ll have some idea what to expect. The album’s opening track,"6 AM", is also its most perfect, a three-minute anthem that could be used as liturgical music in the Church of Power Pop. "Don’t Defend" features both a solid wall of buzz-saw guitars and handclaps on the chorus, and unless I’m very much mistaken I think there may actually be a string section on "Your First Crime". And "Hardly Recognize" is a ballad that is simply drenched in sumptuous harmony. This is one of the most exciting debut albums by a rock band in years. - [ALLMUSICGUIDE at ALLMUSIC.com]

"LISTEN TO BLACKTOP MOURNING"
Eighteen-year-old guitar prodigy Max Steger leads this Chicago quintet, which is the first group on Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz’s newly formed label. He discovered the band on MySpace. Duritz says it’s a "Rock/Pop Punk band," but I beg to differ: It’s poppy emo with punk lyrics and a rock n’ roll soul. The vocal harmonies don’t hurt, either. "6AM" is the disc’s piano intro before cascading into "Halfway to Midnight," a charge of emo pop. Likewise with "Another Day." The music and vocals remind of Taking Back Sunday mixed with The Academy is . . . (the straight-forward rock of "My Only Heart") and a little bit of Blink-182 (the pop punk of "Future’s Gone" and "Buried in My Eyes"). Steger’s guitar prowess is on full display throughout, either with killer riffs or solos (the hard-rock guitars with a punk-rock feel on "Your First Crime"). The gritty, screeching guitar parts on the punky emo tune "These Times Call" seal the deal.