I know Vince has enjoyed some of Taproot’s past work; honestly, I’ve never heard a full Taproot album, ’cause I’ve never heard a Taproot song I liked enough to seek out an entire record. And when Vince told us all that we didn’t really need to listen to the band’s new single, “Fractured (Everything I Said Was True),” well, I just decided to take him at his word.

But then a press release went out about the video for the song, and when I (for some inexplicable reason) clicked the link to go the video, the still image that came up (I’m sure there’s a word for that but I don’t know what it is – but the still image that’s just resting on your monitor before you hit the play button on the vid? Yeah, that thing.) was of a trashy-looking chick in her bra, and, well, I’m a simple man of simple pleasures, So I decided to watch it.

Unfortunately, the girl doesn’t have all that much to do in the video, and the song is, indeed, generic radio rawk. But I will share this little story with you: for the first chunk of the clip, I was like, “Why the fuck does the lead singer have a bandage on his chin? Did he cut himself shaving before they shot this? Is it supposed to make him look tough? What’s going on here?”

And then there was a close-up of the lead singer, and I realized he does not have a bandage on his chin – he has dyed-platinum facial hair. So he wasn’t hurt, he’s just a douche bag.

-AR

I know what you’re thinking: Taproot were never the most forward thinking band anyway. And you’d be right. But I rather enjoyed 2002′s Welcome and 2005′s Blue Sky Research because both albums pushed the bands sound forward into areas they’d never been before, dropped the nu-metal leanings and displayed a knack for really solid songwriting. 2008′s Our Long Road Home lacked the polish and rounded edges either of those two albums had; seems that without the major label budget and team of songwriters the band couldn’t come up with something quite as good.

So then Victory Records signed Taproot. I was a bit puzzled by that one too. But for the band that move represents a much bigger support system for recording and distributing their new album, if also an entry into the world of extremely shady business practices. Their new album Plead the Fifth will come out on May 11th, and the new single “Fractured (Everything I Said Was True)” is streamable below. And it’s really kind of meh. It’s an ok Taproot song in that it’s got Richards’ distinct vocals… but otherwise it’s just so generic. Looks like Victory and Taproot are going the rock radio route, which I guess makes sense from a business standpoint but really doesn’t do anything for the band artistically. Oh well.

-VN

… then Taproot are about to get fucked! Welcome to the club!

The news that Taproot have signed with Victory is a head-scratcher, to say the least. For one, the Ann Arbor, MI-based nu-metal turned radio-alt-metal band sounds nothing like any of the other bands on Victory. I believe that a big part of a band’s success on any given label is directly correlated with how psyched the label’s employees are about the project, and this especially holds true for smaller/niche labels. That said, I can’t see the recent college grads that signed on to work for A Day to Remember and Silverstein getting amped up to do menial work for Taproot.

But moreso, haven’t Taproot heard the myriad Victory Records horror stories?

Click to read more…

For a bunch of haters and wise-asses, you guys sure have nice things to say about Taproot whenever we post news about them. So in due diligence, we’re letting you know that the band has posted the new single “Wherever I Stand” on their MySpace page. After failing to live up to Atlantic Records’ commercial expectations after their third album Blue Sky Research (2005), the band was subsequently dropped and was without a label until Velvet Hammer picked them up earlier this summer. The new album Our Long Road Home (due September 16th) was recorded and financed by the band themselves.

Click to read more…

For a bunch of haters you guys surprisingly come out in support of Taproot each time we post news. The band has a new song called “You’re Not Home Tonight” on their official blog, from the album Our Long Road Home which is finished but lacks a record label or release date. Take a listen to the track below. It’s great to hear the band making new music in the vein of what they did on the very good but under-appreciated Blue Sky Research.

Taproot – “You’re Not Home Tonight”

-VN

For a second-gen nu metal band, Taproot weren’t so bad — in fact, their 2005 effort Blue Sky Research was actually quite good, even if it was more alt-metal / hard rock than metal. Maybe I have a somewhat biased love for this band (I spent five years living in their hometown of Ann Arbor, MI), but I’ve always been a fan of Stephen Richards’ voice and layered vocal harmonies (courtesy AIC harmony-master Toby Wright).

In any case, you guys have generally reacted positively to Taproot when we’ve posted news about them here, so it’s worth noting that recording, mixing and mastering are all done for their new album; all that’s holding up the release is the lack of a record label. Taproot parted ways with Atlantic in 2006, recorded this album themselves with producer Tim Patalan, and according to an update from bassist Phil Lipscomb are ready to go once they find a label to put out the record.

Here’s their video from “Calling,” the lead single from Blue Sky Research.

-VN

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