Posts Tagged ‘Guilty Pleasure’

By: Maria Ciezak
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

Pop-punk; not so much an addiction as a guilty pleasure. One of my favorite flavors is Cartel. Some may know the band from MTV’s Band in a Bubble (yes, the channel did play things related to music at one point but that bubble has since been popped). The band is back after a long hiatus with a new single, The Perfect Mistake, which is the perfect solution for radio success, and an epic rebirth. 36 million plays later, an MTV mini-series, and tours all over the world has proven that Cartel has retained the “it” factor.

Their third full length album, Cycles, is full of fun and assertion. Opening track Let’s Go screams: “I’ve got so much left to do but I’ll start with this song,” — It’s a great line to initiate you to the release, proving their communal gaze is definitely focused on the future, and all its potential. I find the quintet of Cartel to be real and rousing. This release could have easily been the ideal soundtrack to a victory lap, for they’ve had the success, and are worthy of celebrations. The rock star life has bitten the boys in the ass many years ago, but the swelling never really went down. Rather than living in the past, the group chooses to go forth, to cultivate, sticking to what they’re superior at; hook-laden contemporary rock. After all, Cycles should be repeated indefinitely.

Their music may not be something new or unmarked, or have its own discrete sound, but in this case, that’s the beauty of it. Their good at what they do and don’t try to dip their shit in sugar. There’s something strangely sexy about albums like these. While there’s the accepted truth that “there is nothing new under the sun,” and that art’s magnitude comes more from how the tale is told than what the actual tale is, there are still degrees of uniqueness within the telling.

Cartel is that crew that upon first listen, not only catches your ear, but earns your loyalty, whether you admit to the public or not. I’m not forcing this band down your throat, I just want you to try a taste. Fun pop punk that lets you unleash your 14-year-old Warped Tour mosh-moves, checkered Vans and all. Have some fun, and give in to your guilty pleasure. Explore where Cartel has been, and where they’re going. Let’s go, Cartel, let’s go.

By: Rob Brayl
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

A slimy Katy Perry has outed some details regarding her new album (due out later this year) and Russell Brand’s behavior regarding their upcoming wedding. Fun times.

On the new record:

“It’s what I said I wanted earlier. We nailed it: It’s roller-skating! It’s ’90s! It’s Ace of Base! It’s Cyndi Lauper! It’s like all these colors and more. There might be some really cool guest appearances by some cool rappers and then some best friends might be appearing. We’ll see! It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be one of those records that is everybody’s favorite guilty pleasure.”

On Russell Brand:

“He’s like a freak, man,” Perry told MTV News at the recent Kids’ Choice Awards. “He’s always buying bride magazines. Every time we go out for breakfast he’s like, can we just stop and get a bride magazine?”

Check out the clip, below.

MTV Shows

By: Rob Brayl
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

Miley: Stop it um k?! [giggles]
Liam: Dude, you got bird sh*t on your head!
Miley: OMG for realz?! In mah extensions? Get it out now, Liam!
Liam: Aiiiiight.

I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for any movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book. So needless to say, I will be seeing The Last Song. I know I know, you probably don’t think I’m that cool anymore. But newsflash: I am. And here’s why–I appreciate entertainment for whatever value it provides. Just because I love some unknown indie rock doesn’t mean I can’t admit to bobbing my head to some Party In the U.S.A. (don’t act like you didn’t)!

Also, there’s something about Miley Cyrus that I like. There, I said it. From a marketing/branding perspective, I understand why she is uber famous–she has an appeal that is charming, universal, safe, and borderline annoying (at least when it comes to seeing little girls in fake wigs at the mall–freaky).

See, the thing that annoys me is when people hate on things just for the sake of hating on them. For example: when I saw Dear John (this post is getting lamer by the minute, ha), there were two girls beside me and my friend John (shout out!) who kept laughing at parts that were not funny at all, and I’m not sure if it was the whole New York pretentious attitude or what, but COME ON–it’s a movie based off a Nicholas Sparks book, HELLO! It’s not trying to be an Oscar-worthy performance or a piece of original art–it’s a cute, family, romantic film, period. If you do not expect to see a cute, family, romantic film, then do not spend your 15 bucks (yes, movie tickets in NYC are outrageous) on the damn movie, you hater!

Watch the girl (and her wet Aussie) many wish they could blast in the face with a waterhose in an interview with Teen Vogue, below.

By: Rob Brayl
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

I think the 62-year-old dude, known as General Larry Platt, deserves some dough! Or a nice retirement home in Miami. Cheesecake on the lanai?! Something!

General Larry Platt, was shot in the eye as a child, attacked by K-9 dogs, suffered beatings, & calls himself a “general of the civil rights movement.” And he ain’t lyin. Check out this photograph of Platt at the age of 16 (on the left, looking directly into the camera) singing during a march in the 1960s.

Platt organized sit-ins in the South and worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery.

He, of all people, deserves 15 minutes of fame and definitely deserves some cheddar (isn’t that what kids are calling it these days?).

Check out The General’s plea, below.

By: Rob Brayl
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

The Climb” by Miley Cyrus is my jam right now. (There should never be guilt in pleasure.)

-John Mayer