Stadium

It’s nice when things make sense sometimes. I mean, how the hell can I not like Stadium, considering that these guys have a pretty distinguished pedigree — guitarist/vocalist Jeffrey Stilwell, guitarist/vocalist Ramzi Beshara, bassist Stephen Henderson, and drummer Clay Jasper have all been in badass H-town bands, namely almost-heroes Little Compass and the awesome The Record Time before that. In-between the two, Beshara and Stilwell were also in The Maria Project, and Stilwell ended up in The Shallow Tide. All in all, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that I like this band.

The best part, really, is that with this band, all these guys seemed to have done something that beats the hell out of their previous efforts. I have yet to see ’em live, but just from listening to their debut EP, Change of plans, we’re coming home, I’m utterly blown away. They meld anthemic, roaring Jimmy Eat World-esque emo to Burning Airlines-ish post-hardcore, and they do it with a nice sense of restraint. I’d always liked The Record Time and Little Compass, but they never really quite hit the mark, y’know? Both bands burned too quick and faded out, in typical H-town fashion, before they really hit their potential.

These guys have gotten off to a heck of a start; I hope they stick around longer than their previous bands. No word yet on any plans for a new album/EP, but they’ve been playing a ton of shows lately, so I’ve got my fingers crossed.