The mask-wearing, grungy hip-hop/rock band Hollywood Undead is going on tour with Falling In Reverse and American Fangs April 17 through May 25 and if you’re a fan of Hollywood Undead, you and a friend could win the chance to see them live! ShockYa has partnered with Hollywood Undead to give away a two tickets to one winner for each tour date along with one lucky winner receiving the grand prize–a signed drumhead from the band. In order to enter in the contest, go to the official contest page and enter your info. Each pair of tickets will be given in each date of the tour. At the end of  [ Read More ]

Brittany Snow hit a high note last night as she arrived at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards in a dress from the Lela Rose Fall 2013 collection. The ceremony, which was hosted by the actress’ ‘Pitch Perfect’ co-star, Rebel Wilson, was held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Snow and Wilson were joined by some of their castmates, including Skylar Astin, Anna Camp, Esther Dean, Adam DeVine, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ben Platt and Utkarsh Ambudkar, to sing a medley of ‘The Climb,’ ‘Lose Yourself’ and ‘Girl on Fire.’ Snow, Wilson, Camp, Knapp, Dean, Lee and Anna Kendrick also won the Best Musical Moment award for their  [ Read More ]

I sold my soul to AWOLNATION roughly two years ago once I saw Aaron Bruno’s music video for ”Burn It Down”. The video, which featured Sam Ronson and Willa Ford, epitomizes why VH1’s “Top 20 Countdown” and the slim amount of music videos shown on MTV should not become an extinct fad of the 80s and 90s. Developing imagery is key to popularizing a song and AWOLNATION has a knack for conveying just that. The outfit’s latest song,”THISKIDSNOTALRIGHT” will be featured in the new video game, “Injustice: Gods Among Us”, which will be available everywhere April 16th. The video game’s soundtrack will be released digitally on the same day as  [ Read More ]

Describing a band as “selling out” is an overly used expression and it has become more applicable to groups over the years thanks to the accessibility of auto-tune. “Selling out” simply translates to a band adding the “wrong” creativity to its repertoire in order to persist within the fleeting world of the music industry. For the most part, every outfit seeks to transform its sound from one album to the next, but those that do it unnaturally tend to welcome a flood of criticism. So, to those listeners about to slam Fall Out Boy for “selling out” since their “Take This To Your Grave” days, I am prepared to defend  [ Read More ]

With the recent breakup of My Chemical Romance and the reuniting of the Jonas Brothers, the dynamic of sibling bands has been frequently on my music radar these days. Sometimes the family relationship can strain a band and other times, it aids in keeping an outfit intact. Whether the rivalries occur or not, the music industry has undeniably been affected by the in-sync ways of these blood bonded bands. Oasis, The Kinks, Bee Gees, ACDC, The National, Tegan and Sara, Beach Boys, Jackson 5, and The Black Crowes have family connections within them and despite some notable tension (cough, cough Oasis), I believe their nature has been a key factor  [ Read More ]

As a longtime fan of Nine Inch Nails and Paramore, how am I just learning about Ilan Rubin’s one-man outfit, The New Regime? Yes, I am a bit shameful to admit this lack of knowledge to you, Shockya readers, but there comes a time when even the “experts” need to admit fault (insert a sarcastic tone). Rubin’s repertoire includes being the drummer for these two bands as well as for Angels & Airwaves. He is also noted as the youngest person to play Woodstock at 11 years old in The Guinness Book of World Records. At this age, my main concern was blending in with other Juicy Couture wearers, not  [ Read More ]

Kaley Cuoco dazzled in Cresta Bledsoe Fine Jewelry tonight as she arrived on the red carpet for the 48th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards. The ‘Big Bang Theory’ star paired the Pave white Diamond t-shaped ring with fossilized shark tooth with the 18k Double Drop Shark Tooth Fossil earrings with White Diamond Pave Surround. The actress matched the jewelry with a black BCBG dress. Cuoco presented at the ACM ceremony, which was broadcast live on CBS, the same network that airs her acclaimed sitcom. The award show was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and was co-hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, the latter  [ Read More ]

This week, ShockYa highlighted one of the latest musicians to make their mark on the pop/rap/rock scene, Baby E. If you listened to Baby E’s single, “Sugar Don’t Let Me Down” on SoundCloud and loved it, the music video for “Sugar Don’t Let Me Down” is now released! We’ve got the video for you below the post; check it out and see what you think! As we said earlier this week, Baby E is a Florida native who, after initially fronting a Virginia Beach-based metal band, switched gears and has broken into the music scene with his unique combination of genres. Baby E said to Vibe, “I write all of  [ Read More ]

Since my teenage days of geeking out over the “aggressive” sound of Paramore, I am eternally drawn to female-fronted bands. Hayley Williams assisted in transforming the barely clothed pop artists of the 21st Century into rockers with a “who cares?” attitude. No longer robots in the industry, female musicians have made considerable strides in the professional world and along the way have opened doors to up and coming artists. One newly crafted path led to the Los Angeles based outfit, Stars In Stereo. Consisting of Bec Hollcraft (vocals), Jordan McGraw (lead guitar), Just Siegel (bass), Frogs McCormick (rhythm guitar) and Drew Langan (drums), the rock group has recently released an  [ Read More ]

Lately, indie rock has been imploding the pages of Shockya. I don’t know about you readers, but I am growing tired of hearing about the latest button down, suspender and bow tie wearing bands. So, why not spice up the content a bit with some hard rock music from the two-Grammy nominated band, Skillet. The outfit will be releasing their new album, “Rise”, on June 25th via Atlantic/Word. The album’s lead single, “Sick of It”, will be available on iTunes on April 9th. Consisting of John Cooper (lead vocalist/bassist), Korey Cooper (guitarist/keyboardist), Jen Ledger (drummer/vocalist) and Seth Morrison (guitarist), Skillet garnered success with their 2009 album, “Awake”, which reached platinum  [ Read More ]

New music alert! If you follow Vibe’s list of the top 10 new artists to watch, then you might have seen BabyE’s name. The Florida native and Island Def Jam artist was originally in the metal scene before changing gears and striking out on his own as a solo artist with a rap/pop/rock aesthetic. Here’s more about Baby E: “It is impossible to put Baby E in a musical box, his mix of rap, rock & pop music creates its own lane. Raised in a trailer park near Pensacola, Florida, baby e eventually moved to Virginia Beach to pursue his music career. Starting as the lead singer of a local  [ Read More ]

Partial to suggestions from Rolling Stone and bands who originate in the south, it was only a matter of time till the Austin based rock group, Courrier, graced the pages of Shockya. The Texas natives dropped their sophomore album, “Cathedrals of Color”, on March 12th and have recently been featured in the Mumford & Sons’ cover issue of Rolling Stone. The outfit did a photo shoot for the magazine at Gruene Hall, which is the oldest continually running dance hall in Texas. You can check out a behind-the-scenes look of the Rolling Stone feature here. As a dedicated hard copy owner of the magazine, I took a liking to the  [ Read More ]

With the exclusion of Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, female artists vocally dominate my list of favorite musicians. My gender bias can largely be credited to my love for Janis Joplin, which began in my teenage years. The legendary singer/songwriter set a precedent for females to widely perform without any vocal restraint. Clinging to this uninhibited style, I seek out contemporary artists with a similar demeanor of creating imperfect music. To my surprise, there still is a plentiful amount out there today; they are just overshadowed by the auto-tune clan of Britney Spears, Ke$ha and Nicki Minaj. Sifting through that mess, I present you, Shockya  [ Read More ]

“The Host” is premiering in theaters this Friday and for those who are just as excited about the soundtrack, “The Host. Choose to Listen.” as they are the film, Rdio has the soundtrack–the entire soundtrack–streaming for free. The album, which was released this week, features new music by Ellie Goulding, Skylar Grey, Active Child, and The Dirty Tees’ mix of Imagine Dragons’ hit “Radioactive” and is produced by Alex Da Kid and “The Host” author Stephenie Meyer. Take a look at the track listing and check out Rdio to listen to the soundtrack. You can also listen to the soundtrack right here on ShockYa! Just take a listen with the  [ Read More ]

Age is just a number. The teenagers of One Direction are currently devaluing this expression, but 19 year-old British singer/songwriter, Jake Bugg, reaffirms it by proving talent is talent and no number can stop an artist from being considered legendary. Widely established in the country of better music, the U.K., Bugg will be releasing his self-titled studio debut album in the U.S. on April 9th via Mercury Records. In the fall of last year, the youngster released his EP entitled, “Two Fingers” and just recently dropped his newest single, “Lightning Bolt”, on March 19th. Influenced by iconic musicians and storytellers such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Johnny  [ Read More ]