Send "Secondhand Serenade " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Blogcritics |
 The sophomore album titled A Twist In My Story by Secondhand Serenade will be released on February 19, 2008 on Glassnote Records. Secondhand Serenade consists of vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. I listened to A Twist In My Story in its entirety and I really enjoyed the album. In fact, I predict the album will not suffer from the sophomoric blues like other bands and musicians have suffered. A Twist In My Story commences with "Like a Knife" and concludes with "Goodbye." The songs in between like "Fall For You," "Maybe," "Stranger," "Your Call," "Suppose," "Why" and "Stay Close, Don’t Go" continue to twist the story in multiple directions until that last "Goodbye." If you are unfamiliar with Secondhand Serenade’s music, consider these options. First, I prefer not to label bands or musicians, however if you enjoy Dashboard Confessional’s music then you will definitely enjoy Secondhand Serenade. Second, if for some reason you do not like Dashboard Confessional’s music but still enjoy acoustically played music, then you should definitely listen to Secondhand Serenade. The songs played acoustically on the album are "A Twist In My Story," "Pretend" and "Goodbye." Therefore, if you really enjoy Dashboard Confessional’s music and/or enjoy acoustically played music, visit Secondhand Serenade's website or their MySpace page and listen to their music. You can also view live performances at these sites. If it turns out that you really enjoy Secondhand Serenade’s music, make sure you purchase their albums Awake (which is currently available), and A Twist In My Story, which will be released on February 19, 2008 at iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody or any other store that sells their music. If you own a video iPod, I would recommend purchasing the video "Vulnerable" from Secondhand Serenade’s debut album Awake. The video is just as entertaining as its musical counterpart. If you do not own a video iPod but enjoy the song "Vulnerable", make sure you purchase their album at iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody or any store that sells their music. Other songs you will want to listen to on Awake are "Your Call," "Maybe," and "It’s Not Over"....full text |
| Absolutepunk |
| Men that wear their hearts on their sleeves have not died out with Ashley Parker Angel but are represented in the melodic rock riffage of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Vesely who records his original compositions under the moniker Secondhand Serenade. His latest record A Twist in My Story is the follow up to his 2007 debut album Awake. Produced by Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, Angles and Airwaves) and Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, All American Rejects), A Twist in My Story is in league with Vesely’s predecessors Angels and Airwaves and Say Anything. The melodic rock scores of “Like a Knife,” “Stay Close, Don’t Go,” and “Maybe” are scripted with juicy guitar riffs and soaring vocals that saturate every inch of the drum fills. The acoustic guitar melodies of “Pretend” and “Goodbye” project a sunken mood with vocals that reach out into the depths of the darkness. The piano ballads “Fall for You” and “Stranger” blow up into full rock orchestras accompanied by by lacy violins and guitars that ascend and peak before withdrawing and repeating the cycle. The buildups and breaks in the arrangements are shaped by the vocal melodies which are resilient, showing an ability to stand on top of the mountains of layered instrument parts or resound through the hollowed out portions in the scores. Tracks like “Your Call” and “Suppose” form massive rock orchestras along the transitional phrases that connect the verses. Vesely’s vocal rises on the title track penetrate every pore of the acoustic guitar base as a floral of violins swirl around in graceful sweeps and a bass drum vibrates between the intervals. The music keeps to a melodic rock schematic harboring soothing aesthetics and vocals that reach out when nothing is holding them up. The lyrics are about the sorrows and joys that come with being in a relationship. Vesely’s vocals show the desperation that one feels when a relationship is crumbling down to the ground when with all of your might you try to hold it up as if your very breathe is dependent on this relationship surviving. The emo temperature of the vocal arcs are comparable to Dashboard Confessional as the lyrics portray a heart that is being torn asunder in “Like a Knife” with words that implore, “These streets are filled with memories / Both perfect and in pain / And all I want to do is love you.” There is a recurring theme in Vesely’s lyrics that puts the blame on himself for the cracks in the relationship like in “Maybe” when he professes, “I was crying alone tonight / And I was wasting all of my life thinking of you / So just come back, we’ll make it better / So just come back, I’ll make it better than it ever was.” Vesely makes the desperation palpable in the lyrics when he sings them like he does....full text |
| Punkmusic |
| It’s been quite a rise for Secondhand Serenade (real name John Vesely). After eight years of playing in endless bands as a journeyman bass player, Vesely recorded an acoustic demo and quickly became myspace.com’s number one unsigned artist with over 27 million plays. The unsigned part didn’t last long as Glassnote Records quickly took notice and re-released Secondhand Serenade’s self-produced acoustic debut album, Awake. Now, less than a year later, Secondhand Serenade is back with A Twist in My Story. Produced by Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) and Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, All American Rejects), Twist finds Secondhand Serenade playing with a full band for the first time. The results are a stark contrast to Awake. Whereas Awake was acoustic and stripped down, Twist features strings and complex, lush arrangements worthy of a Brian Wilson production. Twist’s pretty arrangements provide an interesting backdrop for its often dark, emo lyrics. The album leads off with “Like a Knife,” a moving song about love gone wrong with Vesely pleading “stay with me” and “without you, I can’t breathe.” He knows he’s messed up and wants his second chance. Vesely delivers the lyrics with such conviction you really do feel his pain (Listen/Download). The ballad “Fall for You” follows a similar theme, with Vesely vowing to fall for his girl all over again and happy they’re not fighting for once. The song starts with just vocals and piano, with the band driving the choruses (Listen/Download). Songs such as “Maybe” (Listen/Download) and “Stranger” (Listen/Download) demonstrate Vesely’s pop songwriting prowess, with endless hooks and choruses that stick in your head long after the last note fades. While Twist mostly sticks with ballads and radio-friendly pop, the band does rock out a bit on “Suppose,” to great effect (Listen/Download). Vesely would be wise to consider exploring more of this side of his songwriting on future releases....full text |
Secondhand Serenade lyrics Music videoclips
|
| |||||||||||||
