Picture a band that combines the punchy force of A Day To Remember with the riffs and licks of Taking Back Sunday and the upbeat nature and vocalizations of the weird bastard child of Envy On the Coast & SLeeping With Sirens.
Have I caught your attention?
I’d like you to meet Approaching Troy, a pop-punk/post-hardcore alternative rock outfit from Long Island, NY. They recently released their new EP Best Intentions this past August and- I’ve got to hand it to them- it certainly packs a whallop! Catchy poppy riffs with a heavier edge and flecks of electronic flair mark Approaching Troy’s style, making this EP a pretty instantaneous earworm best served up… Well, anywhere: skateparks, your bedroom, your car, and definitely in your garage parties.
We have the pleasure of presenting to your eyes and ears the exclusive track-by-track breakdown of Best Intentions, penned by the band’s vocalist, Jake Salazar. As always, each track is embedded in it’s corresponding description. Sit back, relax, plug in, and don’t forget to press play! Enjoy!
“Prelude”
“Wake Up”
“Wake Up” is arguably one of our favorites off Best Intentions. We like it so much because it really pushed us to evolve our sound and incorporate sounds we never thought of using before. That’s why we chose to use it as the first single. It showed a different heavier side to us without straying too far from our roots. It’s funny because we kept teeter-tottering between releasing this as the first single, or “Sparta” and eventually settled on this song because of how different it was than previous material we’ve written.
“Sparta (This Isn’t Over)”
This one was recorded with a bit more of our traditional approach to it. A lot of what defined our sound in the past is represented in “Sparta.” With that being said, “Sparta” also showcases the more technical side to us. We really had so much fun recording “Sparta;” it’s definitely the song that changed the most in the studio. A lot of ideas flowed in and out of the song, including some electronic sounds that we started to dabble in on this EP- a slight departure from the traditional approach we used on previous recordings.
“DDCM”
We went into the writing process of this song with the mindset that nothing was off limits. When writing “DDCM,” we thought, “What is something we’ve never done before?” And what came to mind was a heavier breakdown. A lot of us were skeptical at first when the idea of a breakdown was first brought up. Some of us initially thought, “Is this something our fans would expect from us?” The writing of this breakdown lingered well into the recording process, and even into the mixing of the song. We just couldn’t seem to get it right, and patch the gap between the pop punk chorus, causing a lot of us to feel like maybe it was the wrong decision. That’s until I went into the studio one last time to finish the clean vocals featured in the second half of it. We look back now and think, this is actually one of the coolest things we’ve ever created, and- personally- it’s currently my favorite moment of the album.
“Star Crossed”
Some of our really early fans might remember this song from back in the day. This song has had a long history with us, and due to the new direction we’ve started heading in, we felt obligated to re-record it with better musicianship and a confident new sound. Re-recording this song brought back a lot of memories from when we demoed it back when we first started as a band, along with some interesting feelings felt when writing it. It’s weird looking at the song from an outside point of view from when we wrote it way back then.
“Dear Sadie (Unplugged)”
“Dear Sadie” isn’t a new song, per se, and was the title song of our last EP, but the version on Best Intentions is absolutely a different take on the song. In this version, the lyrics and meaning are the only two things that really stays true to the original. It was really interesting to be able to put down the electric guitars and replace them with orchestrated parts. This was also interesting to re-record. A lot of feelings were also revisited in the creation of this version.
About Approaching Troy
Approaching Troy is a Pop-punk/Post-hardcore Alternative Rock band with big plans to make their mark on the historic rock scene of their native Long Island and beyond. Listeners can hear the faint echoes of predecessors Taking Back Sunday, Glassjaw, Bayside and Brand New being reborn through Approaching Troy’s creativity and flair for broadening horizons. The reaction from their loyal fans at live shows and the excitement over their first EP, Dear Sadie, is only the beginning.
Since their formation, the band has played numerous shows to adoring fans in the NYC/LI area and has opened up for legends of their genre like Hawthorne Heights, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Patent Pending and The Ataris. Their new EP, Best Intentions, is set to release in August of 2016 and stretches the boundaries of an even more mature sound for the band. Approaching Troy’s mission is simple: Take the band to new heights and new territories, one exciting live show at a time.
Connect with Approaching Troy
Official Website
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