Pedigree aside, what these two have in common is sheer command of sound. The White Panda specializes in staccato synth beats over popular songs: It’s as if Team 31 managed to book Adele, Ke$ha, and Britney Spears all in one, to name a few. OCD: Moosh & Twist have both the nerve and the ability to rap over samples from Journey in addition to original beats. Some of their tracks are more heavy-handed than others—the first few lines of “Dream On” may have come straight out of a rhyming dictionary—but soon enough the flow catches up with you, and the rhymes are slick.

Want to get familiar with the W.I.L.D. acts before the day of? You’re in luck. The White Panda hosts Mashup Mondays every week—they post a new track on their website, thewhitepanda.com. All three of their albums are also available for download on their site: Cadenza personally recommends “Lazerblow” and “Til the Bromance Ends.” OCD: Moosh & Twist have original videos for almost all of their songs available on YouTube. Check out “City Kids,” “Live it Up,” and “Since Day One.”

Where: Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue
Metro Access: None
How Much: under 21: $11
21+: $8

No branch of social science parties harder than psycholinguistics. It’s a little-known fact, to be sure, but one that can easily be taken advantage of this weekend, when the annual Psychonomic Society conference comes to St. Louis. To satisfy the linguists’ lust for lively lyrics (and alliteration), Off Broadway will feature local indie favorites The Hibernauts, Dear Vincent and Kid Scientist.
Since the release of their 2007 album “Periodic Fable,” The Hibernauts have been showered with praise from the Riverfront Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and rightfully so. Their brand of dynamically catchy pop-rock will get you moving, but there’s no need to worry about overexerting yourself: The down-tempo, deliciously dreary dirges of Dear Vincent will provide a much needed break between The Hibernauts and a dose of beautifully nuanced piano-pop from Kid Scientist, featuring Wash. U.’s very own Joe Taylor.
Head out to Off Broadway this Saturday to indulge in some local-band goodness and rub shoulders with Ph.D.s from around the world.

The best tracks on “Escape the Fate” are overwhelmingly on the first half of the album. “Choose Your Fate” begins atmospherically, adding electronic and choral elements to create a haunting layered effect. The layering feeds seamlessly into “Massacre,” which is blessed with one of the most high-energy guitar riffs in recent memory.

The obvious metal influences fade as the album progresses. The combination of upbeat melodies and darker instrumentation keeps the record sounding fresh, though that too fades. The end of “Escape the Fate” isn’t bad by any means, but it loses much of its originality, particularly with the obligatory piano ballad “World Around Me.” It’s still a record worth picking up—I’d give the first half five stars and the back half three.

For fans of: Avenged Sevenfold, blessthefall, Chiodos
Tracks to download: ‘Massacre,’ ‘Gorgeous Nightmare,’ ‘The Aftermath

One early standout, “New Year’s Eve,” perfectly juxtaposes contrasting elements—the screaming is there in spades and gets equal time with (surprisingly tuneful!) singing. The intro guitar is a satisfying departure from the tumultuous wall of sound Senses Fail usually delivers, and the combination makes for a near-perfect song.

Many tracks, like “Safe House” and “Headed West,” feature no screaming at all and take on a more typical pop-punk tone. The songs are saved by guitar flourishes and involved lyrics, but diehards may not take so well to the mainstream sound.

That said, the penultimate track “Irish Eyes” is a delicious minor-key return to form. This is the first Senses Fail album with Zach Roach replacing guitarist Heath Saraceno, but the band sounds just as cohesive and classic as ever.

Courtesy of Rhymesayers Entertainment

Hip-Hop artist Brother Ali will perform in the Gargoyle on Wednesday night.

Since then he has been climbing the Billboard charts with three full-length albums and two EPs. “The Undisputed Truth,” released in 2007, is politicized, self-aware hip-hop with tracks such as “Uncle Sam Goddamn” railing against the “land of the thief, home of the slave.” You’ve got to give credit to a rapper who seamlessly weaves Biblical allegory, Roman mythology and early American history into his rhymes.

Ali’s most recent album, “Us,” takes a more introverted approach, dealing with topics like drug abuse, homophobia and divorce. Fans of Sage Francis and P.O.S. should be on board, and if you’re into politically and socially conscious hip-hop, this is a show not to be missed.

Mute, originally from Canada, got the crowd going with some serious shredding and rocking oot. (Their words, not mine.) Warped Tour stalwarts Rufio were in top form in a small venue, responding to pleas from the crowd for old songs. The three bands together were a whirlwind of earnest vocals, metal-inspired riffs and intense drumming prowess. Drinks were spilled, elbows were thrown and a good old fashioned punk-rock time was had by all.

Courtest of Thisisboss | Flicker

Vocalist Jason Cruz, of the band Strung Out, gets the crowd pumped up

Student Life: What are the best and worst things about having been together for so long?

Chris Aiken: Oh wow, that’s a great question.

SL: I mean, it’s been almost 20 years.

CA: Totally. The best things are all the things you get to experience, all the traveling, all the people you’re meeting, all the fans you’re meeting and being able to play so much all around the world. And then all the worst things are…all the things I just said. (Laughs)

SL: Going off of that, what’s the coolest place you’ve ever played a show?

CA: We played a place in Paris not long ago. We played this boat; it’s like a club on a boat on the river in Paris, and it was fucking awesome. It was so weird, because the boat wasn’t really pitching, but it was definitely rocking. And you’re like on the stage, and you’re basically below the water line, so it really winded you. It was one of those shows where it was pretty hard to play, and you’re like, “Wow, I’m really using all of my muscles!” That was a pretty cool place. We’ve played a bunch of random hole-in-the-wall places and great outdoor stadiums and playing, you know, underneath the mountains in Switzerland, pretty much every scenario. That’s what makes it cool, doing this for a living. We play everywhere; it’s pretty awesome.

SL: Apparently a couple years ago you guys were in Japan for Thanksgiving. Did that end up being weird? Could you find turkey and mashed potatoes?

CA: No, no. It’s funny you brought that up! I remember that tour, being out there for Thanksgiving and being like, “Wow, we’re actually on tour for a holiday. I didn’t think bands did that!” Yeah, I remember us having a sushi turkey. Does that make sense? A sushi-Thanksgiving, Thanks-sushi…something like that.

SL: So “Bark at the Moon” on “Prototypes and Painkillers” was totally sick. Are there any other covers you’d be interested in doing later on?

CA: Aw, thanks. Yeah, we kind of throw ideas around and play a few covers here and there. We sometimes bust out “Hot for Teacher” from Van Halen after like the encore, or we’ll play like Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right to Party.” We’ll do random things…we actually just played Iron Maiden’s “Losfer Words,” the instrumental song from “Powerslave.” We jammed it at practice the other day and played the whole song! Yeah, I mean, covers are definitely fun to do sometimes, but I don’t like to get too wrapped up in them. Playing live I like doing them, I mean I love doing the “Bark at the Moon” cover, that’s fucking cool; I love Ozzy Osbourne. For the next cover I think I’d like to do some random cover song…

SL: Something totally out there?

CA: Yeah, so people are like, “What the—Oh, I recognize that melody, I totally forgot about that song!” We’ll see what happens.

SL: Maybe some Backstreet Boys?

CA: Actually, I’d probably go with En Vogue.

SL: Ooh, well played, sir!

CA: That or Color Me Badd… (Laughs) We’ll stick with En Vogue.

SL: So “Calling” is going to be on the next “Guitar Hero”. Thoughts on that?

CA: It’s incredible. We’re pretty stoked on that, “Guitar Hero” being such a big game. It’s the “Tony Hawk” of its era. It’s cool and it’s inspiring, like how Tony Hawk made skateboarding such a household name so that your mom knows who Tony Hawk is. Where before when I was a kid—well, actually my mom did know who Tony Hawk was…whatever. You know, it’s a really cool game and we’re excited to be involved with it. You know, from seeing my friends and roommates shred on it to me trying to play…

SL: Can we expect you to beat it on expert on the first try?

CA: I don’t know! Maybe. It’s definitely an honor to all of us…It’s a song that we all wrote together, and when we recorded the album it’s the one song where all three of us play guitar, so it’s kinda cool to be all, “Yeah, that’s the song we all fucking wrote and played on, and that song’s in a video game.” It’s a pretty cool accomplishment for being such a high profile game. Yeah, it feels good. To answer quickly: Fuck yes, we think it’s awesome.

SL: Last question, and a very serious one. In 2008 you did an interview with “Exclaim!” in Canada, which proved that Jordan [Burns, Strung Out’s drummer] was the reigning arm-wrestling champion of the band. Is that still true?

CA: Yeah, well, it is, unless our soundman, Matt Sound, Cobra Matt, has taken the title. Because Jordan’s pretty fucking brutal on that one; he’s pretty much the arm wrestling champ, and then Matt came around. I always call Matt “the Mountain Man” because he’s originally from Wyoming so he like rode horses super fast and was all-state wrestling champ and yeah, Matt took Jordan down. I was like, “Yeah! First person I’ve seen!”

SL: I know Angel [Strung Out’s tour manager] is trying for the title.

CA: Yeah, I know Angel’s got some guns, but JB’s got some pretty solid features there. I mean look at his supple butt, his tender thighs, his adorable Adam’s apple, his unmistakable jawline…I mean, these are things I think about daily and nightly…Wait, are you recording?

SL: Yes?

CA: Oh my God, I just totally blacked out. What just happened? Whoa…weird.

SL: And with that! Thanks so much for talking to us.

CA: Yeah, no problem!

The key Bad Religion elements are firmly in place—power chords, harmonized “oohs” and “aahs” and drumming that keeps everything cohesive and chugging along—but the band has moved beyond the formula to create a record that streamlines and updates their sound. The treble guitar on “Wrong Way Kids” and “Only Rain” is pleasantly reminiscent of their earlier track, “The Quickening.”

Singer Greg Graffin busts out of his vocal comfort zone on tracks like “Someone to Believe” and “The Resist Stance,” opting for a higher range with a greater emotional payoff. As always, the lyrics are worth a close listen. Intricate wordplay shares the stage with an insistent political message.

Love old Bad Religion but want a new twist on it? Never listened to them before but feel like political punk is for you? Grab “The Dissent of Man.”

for fans of: Rise Against, Anti-Flag
tracks to download: ‘Someone to Believe,’ ‘Ad Hominem,’ ‘Pride and the Pallor’

Hair metal is the greatest thing ever to come from the ’80s.

I can make this statement with some objectivity, having been born in 1990. Nevertheless, the truth stands: glamorizing hard rock with spandex, enormous hair and sick riffs was the best idea ever. Whether or not it stands the test of time is another issue. Ratt took off in the early days of the sleazy Sunset Strip scene with first-wave hair metal bands like Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe and Twisted Sister. Now on their seventh album, Ratt has overcome years of hiatus and drama over their lineup to return with an album that, while modernized, doesn’t stray far from well-loved clichés of the genre.

The album kicks off with “Eat Me Up Alive,” where yowls and harmonized vocals line up with exceedingly typical metal signatures: screaming guitar solos, chugged power chords and the same three-chord verse progression. Nothing about the first track or the album itself is terribly innovative, but it is clearly modernized. Ratt’s sound is darker than typical hair metal, and the blues influence that made them famous in the early days is clear in their chord progressions. The chorus is a catchy bit of pop-metal glory.

That said, “Eat Me Up Alive” also boasts one of the most emotionally confusing guitar solos that I have ever come up against. The beginning is just sad. Really and truly sad. If you can bend a single note, kids, then you can be in a metal band. In my notes for this article I was ready to write the album off right at that moment until I was blindsided by some of the most beautifully enunciated shredding in metal history. Nothing can save sloppy technique: this solo is simple but technically well-done, fast and clean, and the final flourish of harmonized bends transitions back into the song proper in a way that few solos deign to do. I know that this song will be fantastic live. If any of you wonderful readers want to second that opinion, I’d be much obliged to have you come to their show with me once the tour kicks off.

Unfortunately, the first track may also be the best. There’s nothing inherently wrong with “Infestation,” just that very little about it will hold interest. “Best of Me” sounds awkwardly similar to Def Leppard’s “Photograph.” A shrewd move, to be sure, but one that even the laziest connoisseur of metal will catch. By contrast, “Don’t Let Go” may have lifted lyrics directly from Augustana’s “Boston.” Honestly, if “Chinese Democracy” had turned out anything like this I would have been thrilled. However, classic sound from a smaller name just doesn’t cut it. The obligatory power ballad, “Take Me Home,” plays with a strangely atonal minor guitar and bass interplay before blossoming into luxuriously mid-tempo choruses. You get the feeling that if these songs had been originally released in the ’80s and had had time to grow on us, they would have been insanely popular, à la “Welcome to the Jungle” or “Every Rose has its Thorn.” Classic rock radio and its devotees will love the album. The rest of us may be better off sticking to the old stuff or waiting for further innovation.

For fans of: Def Leppard, early Van Halen, Quiet Riot
Tracks to download: ‘Eat Me Up Alive,’ ‘Look Out Below,’ ‘Garden of Eden’

(Ray Mickshaw | Fox)

Well, it’s finally over. Just a few weeks ago, Fox pulled the plug on its venerable series, “24.”

So, while this season hasn’t been its strongest, Cadenza felt a tinge of sadness when we learned the clock was finally winding down. Actually, one of us felt that way; the other did not. The two writers were at odds with each other, and they had to find a way to settle their differences. We suggested pistols at dawn, hot dog eating contest at night. Then we realized we should just let our writers write. Here’s what they came up with.

That’s not entirely true, but it plays into the conservative values of the show. Dad appreciated the right-wing overtones, there was just enough violence for my brother, it satisfied my penchant for subtitles, and Mom thought Tony Almeda was extremely attractive.

Now that the show’s being cancelled, it’s coming under a lot of fire from folks who never spoke up in previous years (I’m looking at you, Adam). I’ll be honest: Many aspects of “24,” particularly as it pertains to torture, civil liberties or lack thereof, and the position of the United States in the world at large, were troubling at best. But it was really entertaining. Jack Bauer became a nouveau-Batman, using sweet gadgets and his own superior skills to put bad guys in their place. Every season brought new challenges, villains and weasly politicians who didn’t have the guts to do what was (debatably) best for this country.

Watching the show proceed in pseudo-real time gave you a sense of playing along, with a choose-your-own-adventure style, though it also made you acutely aware of just how much TV you were watching (a full day’s worth). Simplistic and culturally insensitive, “24” nevertheless gave us a comforting sense of right and wrong in times of uncertainty.

While I regret that the show will be no more, at least we can look forward to the recently green-lighted “24” and just how much it will lift American’s spirits.

Adam Rubin offers an alternative opinion on ’24′.