Between hard rock and a hard place

Music is a staple in American entertainment. Picturing a long car ride without a radio playing, well, sounds like torture. Sometimes certain styles of music get overlooked on first impressions, and music fanatics miss out on amazing musical talent.

Styles of music, such as Post-Hardcore, Alternative, and Screamo, are often disliked at first because they are brash, edgy, and not what a listener would typically expect to hear. However, if given a second, third, or even a fourth chance, these styles of music can grow on a listener and potentially become their favorite styles of music.

Post-Hardcore is a style of music that mixes Hardcore instrument techniques with Punk Rock vocals, and also sometimes light amounts of screaming. Hardcore music usually has a drummer use double-bass beats, which is where the deepest sounding part of the drum is hit twice instead of once for the beat, making the music sound faster. Hardcore drummers also use a lot of "triplets," which is where the drummer's sticks hit the drums in short spirts of three, making a sound similar to machine-gun fire.

Post-Hardcore bands are a dime a dozen, but some of them that are worth listening to are Blindside, This Beautiful Republic, Burden of a Day, and A Day to Remember.

Post-Hardcore may be too much for some listeners. If music junkies want something out of the ordinary, but not necessarily heavy, Alternative bands maybe be the solution. 

Alternative does not have one definition. It is basically music that is out of the ordinary. Often, bands who claim to be alternative have singers with higher voices, use lots of notes on guitar instead of chords, and have a unique element to their music, such as strange lyrics or unique digital sounds.

There are many good Alternative bands: The Almost, Anberlin, Secret & Whisper, and Submission Red are some of them.

"The Almost is one of my favorite bands in the Indie/Alternative rock scene," saidAriel Gonzalez, 17, nursing. "Their music is something that anyone can listen to, and better yet, anyone can connect to. You can see that they are definitely of a religious background which, to me, just makes the band better. The only negative thing that I could say with no remorse about the band is their live sound. While the vocals are hot, the times that I have seen them live (on youtube) the guitarist messed up on the most simplest of melodies. Despite this, I still believe that they are a very influential band and wish them tons of luck in the future."For those who are not looking for softer music, but harder music, Screamo is definitely a good style to check out.  Screamo is a lot like Post-Hardcore music. The only difference is that the vocalist screams instead of singing (shocker).

There are about as many Screamo bands as there are people who dislike this style. Some bands to check out are, The Devil Wears Prada (TDWP), Confide, Becoming the Archetype, Blessthefall, and Underoath.

If one understands what a music style is trying to accomplish, it becomes easier to enjoy that style of music. Like the world, music is constantly changing. Experiencing what is not ordinary is the spice of life, and if peculiar is spice, then listeners will burn their tongues on these styles of music.