To Humans: A Letter For Your Ears

To Humans' Metacognition album Teaser

It is a great honor to introduce some of the best artists that I personally know, and even though I'm barely into the networking game, it turns out that I already have quite a lot of connections with wonderful people.

This post is dedicated to a band named To Humans, a three member band consisting of: Phat Cat Sw!inger's bassist Ace Anderson, son of former Slayer's dummer (Dave Lombardo) Jeremy Lombardo, and lead guitarist/ vocalist Danny Toranzo.

Jeremy, Danny and Ace in a photo shoot for To Humans

Photographed by: Alex Solca

I know the members of this band because I know Ace's younger sister, Nicole. We've been friends since elementary school and I sort of got aquainted with Ace. That was back when he had long hair (haha).

One day on facebook, Jeremy and Ace were asking for volunteers to have a full listen to their newest original album before they were going to release it in June (2014). Being a fan of both original artists and independent music, I volunteered. Little did I know that I would be listening to a fantastic album. It was a priviledge to be given an opportunity to listen to this wonderful art and to be moved by it as well.

The album they sent to me is entitled 'Metacognition'.

met·a·cog·ni·tion

ˌmetəˌkäɡˈniSHən/

noun

PSYCHOLOGY

1. awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.

Of course, you have to listen to the album to get the full implications of this, but the tracklisting is as follows:

1.

Tenacity 05:22

2.

Lion Oil 03:16

3.

People Change 03:24

4.

Antagonism 03:34

5.

Caged Bird 02:32

6.

Isolation 03:41

7.

Too Much To Ask 03:23

8.

Trials And Tribulations 03:19

9.

Puzzles 04:37

10.

Meet Me By The Wall 03:49

From start to finish, the album is collectively, and uniquely well done. It has no implications that it's amateur: the sound is great and refreshing. The first thing that popped into my head when listening to 'Tenacity', was 'Arctic Monkeys'. For those of you who don't know (it's sad if you don't), Arctic Monkeys is incredibly known for its unique style of alternative/indie rock. Just as versatile as they are with rock, so are To Humans. From Arctic Monkeys to Guns and Roses to Jane Jane Pollock to The Shins to Jimmy Eat World to Cheap Trick to The Eagles to My Chemical Romance, To Humans has all kinds of sounds that are sure to attract a lot of demographics.

Their singles, Tenacity (the opening number) and People Change are radio-worthy. Enough to make us wonder who these musicians are, leading us to the rest of the album's wonders.

To Humans' single, 'Tenacity'

Tenacity is a beautiful opener to the album's alternative world. A piece that takes it's time easing us into the often overlooked sounds of solo instrumentals of 'Lion Oil'. Lion Oil dives into the participation of audiences, joining in on the lovely smooth vocals of Danny Toranzo. The gradual staccato of Tenacity and Lion Oil prepare us for the biggest single of the album: People Change.

People Change immediately changes the beat we were used to, turning it upbeat with its mesmerizing guitar riffs and vocals, heartful bass, and heartpounding drums that beats to the rhythm of our already pounding hearts. It's easily a well done single, because it encompasses everything an already famous band has, and To Humans has only started with this album!

What caught me the most with 'People Change' is the lyrics. To me, it explores the idea of change, and how we keep ourselves from changing because of how often we get hurt. The repeating line: "We can't afford to lose, what we've already found" is catchy, but it seems to personify people as one voice, saying: We can't afford to lose ourselves.

To Humans' single - 'People Change'

We slide into Antagonism, where Danny's vocals explore the theme of polar opposites and gratitude. In one line of prose, it captures the spirit of it all: "We can't admire the stars, without the rising sun". I love that even though there's all kinds of sounds and clashing going on, I can HEAR the vocals. One of the problems with independent music that they tend to favor cacophony of sound over vocals/lyrics. In this case, To Humans achieves both.

The chills are best felt at the beginning of Caged Bird. I cannot describe how happy harmonies make me feel when I find them in music. Harmonies are typically the MO of boy bands like NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and 1D, and often looked down on at a glance. To Humans is one of the best examples of breaking that barrier, that traditional vocalities are strengths, not weaknesses. An angsty period within the album, Caged Bird i about acceptance of our circumstances, our 'cage', and accepting that sometimes we can't do much but shout how we feel. This hit me in the heart, because often, we think that feeling horrible is a bad thing, but it's a part of who we are as humans.

It's okay to feel bad, to have bad things happen to you and to let your feelings out. It shows your humanity, and perhaps that you may not be a robot after all.

Isolation is the piece that hit me the hardest. This is the feeling that most creative people feel for about 3/4ths of their life. It speaks about that trapped feeling that we know we are at our lowest point, but don't do much about it. We know the reality of the world, and how cruel it can be, thus we let it nurture our "detrimental thoughts" and "solitude".

Isolation takes a 180 turn in both mood and tone, almost turning into a Mumford and Sons vibe, cooling us down with a reflective and contemplative mood. WHILE STILL holding true to their own unique sound. I think they'll grab a lot of fans with this song.

To Humans have a talent of combining genres together to create pure bliss. Too Much To Ask reminds me very much of My Chemical Romance, with their harsh and raw instances of music and vocals all meshed together. The closest example I can think of is from their 'Black Parade' album, 'Sleep'. It takes its time in introducing everything, but at its climax, it delivers its promise and we're hooked.

Trial and Tribulations is a song that shows To Humans' hard rock side. A good head thrasher, it delivers on all fronts, putting us on a audible roller coaster. It epitomizes the idea of the trails and tribulations that we face every day. What I imagine when I listen to this track, is being in the middle of a battle, in a spacious field that stretches for miles and miles. I actually imagine MCR's 'Ghost of You' video. This endless ride is, perhaps, parallel with the idea that trails hit us again and again. There's no moment in this song where we are given a breather, which strengthens the album's theme as a whole.

To Humans' album cover - Metacognition

Puzzles is full of good advice, and the swanky sounds of the guitar, backed up by the wonderful percussion and meaningful bass, (and the chorus, wow!) gives it a condescending voice. A voice that tells us that assumptions make...well...you know @$$e$ out of us. It's a smug song that makes me think of smirking, like someone knows something I don't. I love the sound of this song because its got that sarcastic vibe that Arctic Monkeys harbor in their songs. The rhetoric of the lyrics, which is basically repeating the same lines without feeling repeatitive (hard to do, by the way), makes us pucker our lips into a smolder face and move our heads to the beat.

We are rewarded with the album's last beauty, Meet Me By The Wall, a peaceful way to end this ride with a promise that they'll be back. It's poetic and heartfelt to say the least, a wonderful addition to this roller coaster of an album...and yet...somehow, it all works.

There's not much to say except:

Well done, boys. I sincerely hope that great things come into your future, because you all have great talent and make one amazing band. 

You can listen to To Humans here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tohumansband

http://tohumans.bandcamp.com/

Search TO HUMANS on Spotify's library.

https://www.facebook.com/tohumansband

https://twitter.com/tohumansband

TO HUMANS ALSO HAS NEW MERCHANDISE YOU CAN BUY HERE: