Myloe

View the page here: http://www.jlsc.com/winners/2012b/finalists.php - JLSC

View the page here: http://www.jlsc.com/winners/2012b/finalists.php - JLSC

Track by Track Review
Empty Out Your Mind

Percussion opens this, and then band launch into a jam that’s part alternative rock, part world music and all progressive in its intent and changes. This is high energy and incredibly cool. It’s a great way to start things in style. There’s a smoking hot jam mid-track where the bass and guitar seem to spar for control. The tune just keeps evolving from there. While this is clearly not traditional progressive rock, there’s zero question in my mind that the title applies. Whatever it is, though, I like it a lot.
Paradox
Bass leads this one out, feeling a bit like stoner metal at first. Then it evolves into something a bit more like psychedelic prog. It’s almost like Nektar blended with early Rush. The verse section is more stripped back hard rocking sound. Like the opener, this just keeps shifting, changing and evolving. It’s another great tune, but has a unique identity from the opener. Really, a lot of this feels a lot like Rush, but not so Rush-oriented as to seem a copy or clone.
In Your Eyes
Dramatic and powerful, in some ways this is more purely alternative rock in nature. In a lot of ways it’s also less rocking than the first two tunes. Still, there are enough twists and turns and off-center things here to keep it in the progressive rock vein.
Sidetracked

This is probably the least proggy thing on show here. It starts with percussion and is more or less a killer funk rock tune. The vocal delivery on this one is arguably the best of the whole set. Whatever you call it, though, this is another great tune on a killer EP. The instrumental jam on this is great and the bass really shines.
Standstill City

Another piece of variety, this has some of that funk still in place, but it’s closer aligned to the alternative rock turned progressive that we’ve heard so often hear. That said, it doesn’t sound like anything else here, but is still in the same general territory. There are some killer shifts and changes and the guitar solo section is another movement here that makes me think of Nektar a bit.
What Is Paradise

Energetic, melodic and very cool, this is another great tune. This is mellower in a lot of ways than the other music on the EP. Still, there’s a smoking hot guitar solo section that’s almost metallic. - Music Street Journal

Track by Track Review
Empty Out Your Mind

Percussion opens this, and then band launch into a jam that’s part alternative rock, part world music and all progressive in its intent and changes. This is high energy and incredibly cool. It’s a great way to start things in style. There’s a smoking hot jam mid-track where the bass and guitar seem to spar for control. The tune just keeps evolving from there. While this is clearly not traditional progressive rock, there’s zero question in my mind that the title applies. Whatever it is, though, I like it a lot.
Paradox
Bass leads this one out, feeling a bit like stoner metal at first. Then it evolves into something a bit more like psychedelic prog. It’s almost like Nektar blended with early Rush. The verse section is more stripped back hard rocking sound. Like the opener, this just keeps shifting, changing and evolving. It’s another great tune, but has a unique identity from the opener. Really, a lot of this feels a lot like Rush, but not so Rush-oriented as to seem a copy or clone.
In Your Eyes
Dramatic and powerful, in some ways this is more purely alternative rock in nature. In a lot of ways it’s also less rocking than the first two tunes. Still, there are enough twists and turns and off-center things here to keep it in the progressive rock vein.
Sidetracked

This is probably the least proggy thing on show here. It starts with percussion and is more or less a killer funk rock tune. The vocal delivery on this one is arguably the best of the whole set. Whatever you call it, though, this is another great tune on a killer EP. The instrumental jam on this is great and the bass really shines.
Standstill City

Another piece of variety, this has some of that funk still in place, but it’s closer aligned to the alternative rock turned progressive that we’ve heard so often hear. That said, it doesn’t sound like anything else here, but is still in the same general territory. There are some killer shifts and changes and the guitar solo section is another movement here that makes me think of Nektar a bit.
What Is Paradise

Energetic, melodic and very cool, this is another great tune. This is mellower in a lot of ways than the other music on the EP. Still, there’s a smoking hot guitar solo section that’s almost metallic. - Music Street Journal

The Boston-based alt-rock band, Myloe, is comprised of Fred Mubang on guitar, Alan Hokom on vocals/guitar, Tom Shani on bass, and Zach Mullings on drums. The new album is rather short with only six songs. However, the music is diverse with a solid repertoire of alt-rock vocals, lush guitar melodies, and punchy grooves that gritty, classic, and all-encompassing. There is a limited display of screaming guitar noises and vocals that are difficult to understand are nowhere to be found. "Empty Out Your Mind" is a punchy guitar song with a driving guitar melodies that are somewhat akin to the UK's McFly, but the vocals are more aligned with Incubus. "In Your Eyes" is a good rock tune with lush guitar sounds and vocal harmonies. "What Is Paradise" contains jingly guitar stylings and rock anthem-like choruses that are contemporary and guitar-driven. "Standstill City" opens with punchy bass, Latin-like percussion, powerful vocal lines, and giddy instrumental arrangements. There are punchy, classic, and melodic guitar arrangements that are difficult to describe with some Scandinavian or Celtic-like driven sounds. However, the rock guitar presence is still paramount here. Though, all in all, Myloe creates a short, but powerful release of guitar beauty, vocal prowess, and creative arrangements. ~ Matthew Forss - Inside World Music Review

The Boston-based alt-rock band, Myloe, is comprised of Fred Mubang on guitar, Alan Hokom on vocals/guitar, Tom Shani on bass, and Zach Mullings on drums. The new album is rather short with only six songs. However, the music is diverse with a solid repertoire of alt-rock vocals, lush guitar melodies, and punchy grooves that gritty, classic, and all-encompassing. There is a limited display of screaming guitar noises and vocals that are difficult to understand are nowhere to be found. "Empty Out Your Mind" is a punchy guitar song with a driving guitar melodies that are somewhat akin to the UK's McFly, but the vocals are more aligned with Incubus. "In Your Eyes" is a good rock tune with lush guitar sounds and vocal harmonies. "What Is Paradise" contains jingly guitar stylings and rock anthem-like choruses that are contemporary and guitar-driven. "Standstill City" opens with punchy bass, Latin-like percussion, powerful vocal lines, and giddy instrumental arrangements. There are punchy, classic, and melodic guitar arrangements that are difficult to describe with some Scandinavian or Celtic-like driven sounds. However, the rock guitar presence is still paramount here. Though, all in all, Myloe creates a short, but powerful release of guitar beauty, vocal prowess, and creative arrangements. ~ Matthew Forss - Inside World Music Review

Empty Out Your Mind, the debut release by four man rock group Myloe, includes a total of six tracks. And on these tracks, among other things, they excel at utilizing vocal harmonies. Though a good amount are used, they don’t go overboard with them to the extent that they should fear being labeled as a boy band; instead, they seem to know just when harmonies are appropriate and when to leave them out. These harmonies can be heard best on “In Your Eyes,” where they are used to a greater extent than anywhere else on the album.

There are chunks of lyrics here and there on Empty Out Your Mind that tend to come across as somewhat elusive, but for the most part each song revolves around a similar subject matter that encourages the listener to reconsider their current way of life and thought process. For instance, the album opens with “Empty Out Your Mind” where the chorus goes, "Your eyes they do not see. Your ears they do not hear. You’re going nowhere fast," whereas two tracks later the verse of “In Your Eyes” begins with, "‘Cause in your eyes, all you see is the future. And in your eyes, all you see is the past." The lyrics begin to branch out from there, however. “Standstill City” describes how impractical procrastination and having regrets and a fear of failure really are.

Each song is structured more or less in a roller coaster fashion. The songs build tension until they reach their height of energy both vocally and instrumentally, and then they regress to a slower pace in order to once again commence that gradual climb. Myloe’s instrumentation is playful and experimental, often straying from the original path of the track, which in turn adds an interesting zest. “Empty Out Your Mind,” for example, contains an instrumental bridge that transforms the rock track into one with a reggae melody. But the tune quickly reverts back to its original melody once the bridge merges into the final verse.

You could easily list Myloe in the hard rock category, though their sound is so melodic they draw similarities to the Foo Fighters. But when the group combines its hard rock sound, that at times verges on punk rock, and juxtaposes it with frontman Alan Hokum’s oftentimes higher voice the band calls to mind parallels between themselves and Bad Religion. Myloe does well to challenge the listener through their use of lyrics, and their instrumentation is strong; their style is carried by thick bass lines, heavy electric guitar, and robust vocals. Myloe has done well for their debut album. They have created their niche, and they have constructed a precise goal as to the message their lyrics convey.

Review by Alec Cunningham

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) - Good Vibes

Empty Out Your Mind, the debut release by four man rock group Myloe, includes a total of six tracks. And on these tracks, among other things, they excel at utilizing vocal harmonies. Though a good amount are used, they don’t go overboard with them to the extent that they should fear being labeled as a boy band; instead, they seem to know just when harmonies are appropriate and when to leave them out. These harmonies can be heard best on “In Your Eyes,” where they are used to a greater extent than anywhere else on the album.

There are chunks of lyrics here and there on Empty Out Your Mind that tend to come across as somewhat elusive, but for the most part each song revolves around a similar subject matter that encourages the listener to reconsider their current way of life and thought process. For instance, the album opens with “Empty Out Your Mind” where the chorus goes, "Your eyes they do not see. Your ears they do not hear. You’re going nowhere fast," whereas two tracks later the verse of “In Your Eyes” begins with, "‘Cause in your eyes, all you see is the future. And in your eyes, all you see is the past." The lyrics begin to branch out from there, however. “Standstill City” describes how impractical procrastination and having regrets and a fear of failure really are.

Each song is structured more or less in a roller coaster fashion. The songs build tension until they reach their height of energy both vocally and instrumentally, and then they regress to a slower pace in order to once again commence that gradual climb. Myloe’s instrumentation is playful and experimental, often straying from the original path of the track, which in turn adds an interesting zest. “Empty Out Your Mind,” for example, contains an instrumental bridge that transforms the rock track into one with a reggae melody. But the tune quickly reverts back to its original melody once the bridge merges into the final verse.

You could easily list Myloe in the hard rock category, though their sound is so melodic they draw similarities to the Foo Fighters. But when the group combines its hard rock sound, that at times verges on punk rock, and juxtaposes it with frontman Alan Hokum’s oftentimes higher voice the band calls to mind parallels between themselves and Bad Religion. Myloe does well to challenge the listener through their use of lyrics, and their instrumentation is strong; their style is carried by thick bass lines, heavy electric guitar, and robust vocals. Myloe has done well for their debut album. They have created their niche, and they have constructed a precise goal as to the message their lyrics convey.

Review by Alec Cunningham

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) - Good Vibes

Myloe is a four-piece rock band out of the city of Boston that is made up of Alan Hokom on guitar and vocals, Fred Mubang on guitar, Tom Shani on bass and Zach Mullings on drums. They incorporate many different styles of rock into their sound. Some of their sound comes from classic rock and some of it comes from more modern rock sounds. It is this combining of influences that helps to shape the band’s music. Recently, Myloe created an EP with the title of Empty out Your Mind that features the band’s unique combination of music.

The newly-expanded six-song EP Empty out Your Mind from Myloe begins with the title track. “Empty out Your Mind” is a track that features a jam band-like quality to it. The quick pace to the track gives it a lot of energy. The song’s lyrics feature a very upbeat quality to them as they tell you to let go of all negativity. The four members of the group work well together to create the song and each member takes a turn as lead on the track. The play between guitarists Mubang and Hokom gives the track a fun, loose feel to the music. And when bassist Shani takes a solo, it is just as strong as any guitar solo.

The song “Paradox” is one of the hardest rocking songs on the Empty out Your Mind EP from Myloe. The track begins with a very strong bass riff from Tom Shani. The riff leads into a song that features an alternative rock feel. The song’s lyrics are sung by vocalist Alan Hokom with such energy that you can feel the emotion in his delivery. The track really shows off the talent of the band as a whole and gives the listener perhaps the best song on the release.

With the next track of “In Your Eyes,” the band slows the pace down just a little while not losing any of the energy from the track of “Empty out Your Mind”. The track begins with a very strong guitar riff that is quickly joined by another guitar part to help create a song that has a very commercial feel to it. The track builds to the full band feel and proceeds to create a very commercial track. Like “Empty out Your Mind” before it, “In Your Eyes” contains lyrics that have to do with perception. However, in the case of “In Your Eyes,” the song takes the opposite approach to the lyrics as they describe a person who has a very pessimistic view of the world.

Myloe slows the pace down quite a bit with the track “Sidetracked”. While the rest of the release features a rock feel to the music, “Sidetracked” has a feel that is a lot closer to soul music. The combination of soul and rock on the track makes for a very interesting sound and really sets the song apart from the rest of the CD. The song also gives the band the chance to jam and show off their talents as individual musicians. The drum solo from Zach Mullings is rather impressive. The energy level comes back up just a bit with the song “Standstill City”. On this track, you get to experience some of the blending of styles that Myloe does in their songs. The rock and Latin influences on the track will instantly make the listener think they are listening to something from Santana. The jam band quality in the music feels like something from Santana’s musical history.

The Empty out Your Mind CD from Myloe comes to a close with the track “What is Paradise”. The final track of the EP is another track that has a jam band feel to it with some alternative rock influence mixed in. The song is a great way to bring the EP to an end. - Matheson's Entertainment Blog

Myloe is a four-piece rock band out of the city of Boston that is made up of Alan Hokom on guitar and vocals, Fred Mubang on guitar, Tom Shani on bass and Zach Mullings on drums. They incorporate many different styles of rock into their sound. Some of their sound comes from classic rock and some of it comes from more modern rock sounds. It is this combining of influences that helps to shape the band’s music. Recently, Myloe created an EP with the title of Empty out Your Mind that features the band’s unique combination of music.

The newly-expanded six-song EP Empty out Your Mind from Myloe begins with the title track. “Empty out Your Mind” is a track that features a jam band-like quality to it. The quick pace to the track gives it a lot of energy. The song’s lyrics feature a very upbeat quality to them as they tell you to let go of all negativity. The four members of the group work well together to create the song and each member takes a turn as lead on the track. The play between guitarists Mubang and Hokom gives the track a fun, loose feel to the music. And when bassist Shani takes a solo, it is just as strong as any guitar solo.

The song “Paradox” is one of the hardest rocking songs on the Empty out Your Mind EP from Myloe. The track begins with a very strong bass riff from Tom Shani. The riff leads into a song that features an alternative rock feel. The song’s lyrics are sung by vocalist Alan Hokom with such energy that you can feel the emotion in his delivery. The track really shows off the talent of the band as a whole and gives the listener perhaps the best song on the release.

With the next track of “In Your Eyes,” the band slows the pace down just a little while not losing any of the energy from the track of “Empty out Your Mind”. The track begins with a very strong guitar riff that is quickly joined by another guitar part to help create a song that has a very commercial feel to it. The track builds to the full band feel and proceeds to create a very commercial track. Like “Empty out Your Mind” before it, “In Your Eyes” contains lyrics that have to do with perception. However, in the case of “In Your Eyes,” the song takes the opposite approach to the lyrics as they describe a person who has a very pessimistic view of the world.

Myloe slows the pace down quite a bit with the track “Sidetracked”. While the rest of the release features a rock feel to the music, “Sidetracked” has a feel that is a lot closer to soul music. The combination of soul and rock on the track makes for a very interesting sound and really sets the song apart from the rest of the CD. The song also gives the band the chance to jam and show off their talents as individual musicians. The drum solo from Zach Mullings is rather impressive. The energy level comes back up just a bit with the song “Standstill City”. On this track, you get to experience some of the blending of styles that Myloe does in their songs. The rock and Latin influences on the track will instantly make the listener think they are listening to something from Santana. The jam band quality in the music feels like something from Santana’s musical history.

The Empty out Your Mind CD from Myloe comes to a close with the track “What is Paradise”. The final track of the EP is another track that has a jam band feel to it with some alternative rock influence mixed in. The song is a great way to bring the EP to an end. - Matheson's Entertainment Blog