~ April Issue ~
 

The Almost
By Neelofer Lodhy, Managing Editor
 

            On April 3, 2007 The Almost released their first album ever entitled, Southern Weather. Ever heard of the band Underoath? Well drummer and vocalist Aaron Gillespie of Underoath, decided to go out and try something new for himself by creating his own band called The Almost.  They’ve already sold many albums, and are doing great in the rock world for coming out and being a new band.

            The Almost consists of members Aaron Gillespie (lead vocals, guitar), Jay Vilardi (guitar), Dusty Redmon (guitar), Alex Aponte (bass), and Kenny Bozich on drums. It is not really known when the band had first formed, but from a few sources it is known that the band was formed some time last year. However, the album was recorded in February and March of 2006, so it has been a project in the making since then.

            It was back on November 7, 2006 that the Almost had released their first song off the album which was played on the Tooth and Nail Records podcast which can be found on itunes. The song was originally called Johnny Cash,  but had been changed to Southern Weather, and for its final title Say This Sooner which later became their first single. Just recently on March 19, 2007, the band released a video for Say This Sooner.
            During the making of the album, front man Aaron Gillespie worked with his good friend Kenny Vasoli of the band The Starting Line. They worked together to record a song featured on the album called Yule Be Sorry. The song was released on a Christmas album entitled Happy Christmas Volume 4, which was actually released on October 25, 2005, so it seems that Aaron had had this project up his sleeve for quite a while now. 

            The Almost’s album Southern Weather, is a pure work of art. It sounds very similar to Underoath. Underoath contains the screaming vocals of frontman Spencer Chaimberlin, The Almost basically sounds like Underoath without the screaming. It is a bit of a disappointment because everyone was expecting something that sounded different, but luckily they saved themselves with their single Say This Sooner, it doesn’t have the same type of instrumentals Underoath contains. One of the songs on the album that does sound like it could be an Underoath song is the second track on the album titled Drive There Now. The song is great, it has awesome instrumentals, and heart melting vocals, it just sounds extremely similar to something Underoath would have done. Other great tracks included on the album consist of I Mostly Copy Other People, Southern Weather, and Call me Back When I’m Honest.

            Although they have just recently put themselves out into the rock world, the band is receiving huge loads of excellent feedback from their fans. Considering that Aaron is the drummer and vocalist of the well-known band Underoath, it must have been pretty easy to get publicity for his band. They’re doing fairly well with tons of tour dates and merchandise to come. The Almost have already landed a spot on this year’s Vans Warped Tour, which could definitely help boost their careers even more. For more information on The Almost, you can visit their myspace at www.myspace.com/thealmost, or www.thealmost.com. Aaron’s other band Underoath is on the Warped Tour as well, so if you attend the tour this year, you might get lucky and be able to see both bands. Their definitely a band you wouldn’t want to miss.