Reviews

Nashville's Apollo Up attacks the post-hardcore genre with a math-pop jump kick right to the dance-punk sternum. There's nothing particularly novel about the style, but it's hip right now and if this is your cuppa, then AU should float your boat. Their neighbors, the Pink Spiders, even turned a similar situation into a major label deal on Geffen.
 
Apollo Up’s sophomore effort, Chariots of Fire, was released on local Nashville indie, Theory 8 Records and consists of 10 songs, punching in at 36-1/2 minutes total, which seems like an ideal length. Any longer and you might get bored, but any shorter and you're likely to miss out on one of their subtle variations on the post-hardcore genre. Though, primarily a guitar driven outfit, each member of the band tries their hand at carrying the rhythm. This three-man hit squad is the rhythm section and they make it work without sounding like Chinese calculus. You could say that they fall somewhere in the "factoring" or “PEMDAS” range of math rock, not too complex but far from boring. The three-piece band includes Jay Leo Phillips (guitar/vocal), Mike Shepherd (bass/vocals) and Jereme Frey (drums) who have paid their dues in a plethora of Music City bands for over a decade.
 
Please excuse my dear Jay Phillips, but the dude even uses arithmetic in his lyrics. Notably on the punk-jangle “No Song” where he sings, “I'm watching and waiting for something to happen/See the signs and cosines, but no signs of action.” On the opening track “Walking the Plank,” there is plenty of sporadic punk shuffles and anthemic chorus work with some “oohs” and “ahhs” for the kids to hum along to. “Even If You Don’t Die” has plenty of sharp lyricism with lines like, “In drawer #3, and filed under ‘C’ was an archive of compromises/Cross-referenced with debts, footnotes and regrets: a history of none-the-wiser.”
 
For a band hailing from the heartland, they’d be right at home sharing any Chicago stage with current “it”-punk bands on Flameshovel or Jade Tree. And while they’re not redefining the post-hardcore scene in any way, they’re certainly a band to keep an eye on in the future. You just might find them touring in support of Ted Leo or A Day in Black and White.