Sweet Ascent is a rock band out of Lawrence, Kansas. The band is comprised of Jordan Rebman (vocals), Bobby Louden (guitar), Jacob Dorn (drums) and Allex Wilson (guitar). They released their new album, “Take It or Leave It” in early 2018. I was lucky enough to see Sweet Ascent perform at Amityville Music Hall on March 8th and they kicked ass! Their chemistry on stage and pure enjoyment of their craft will keep fans coming back to see them over and over!
Sweet Ascent began their performance with “My Life”, the opening song on the new album. This song was a great way to introduce the sound of the band to the crowd. “My Life” has the harder guitar riffs and deeper vocals that demonstrate the bands “harder” rock side. I especially like this song as an opener because of what the song represents. “Stand up if you’re tired of being held down, and I stand up for you not just myself, I’m living my life the way I’ve always wanted to, my life’s not a commodity a traded good, if you’re with me let it echo through a crowded room, my life doesn’t belong to you.” If this isn’t the song to get a crowd to rally behind the band, I don’t know what is!
Sweet Ascent followed up with “My Wishing Well”, a song from their 2015 EP, War. I particularly liked this song because it highlights the band’s lighter, pop punk side while still maintaining their “rock n’ roll” edge. “My Wishing Well” is made up of hard-hitting, darker instrumentals throughout the verses and a more upbeat, punk sound on the chorus. The lyrics of the chorus even present the sing-along vibe that pop punk songs give off, something that was very evident as the crowd was singing every word with Jordan Rebman; “Whatever happened to hopeless dreamers, or those words that picked me up? I can’t say the grass is greener when my eyes are still glued shut, but if you show me how to make this, I’ll scream it with my lungs and if there’s still a bit of breath left there’s still songs to be sung.”
The band continued their set with “Watch It Burn”, another song from “Take It or Leave It”. I loved watching the band perform this song because it was an absolute head banger. The energy the band put forth while playing this was exciting to watch. The breakdown in the middle of the song was one of the coolest things to witness. Not only was every member of the band head banging on stage, but as I looked around all I saw was a sea of head bangers in the crowd! “Safe to Say” came next, and this allowed Jordan Rebman to show off his vocal skills. Unlike the previous songs that were performed, “Safe to Say” has a much greater emphasis on the vocals than on the instrumentals.
Sweet Ascent ended their set with three more songs from the new album, “Take It or Leave It”. “Bigger & Better”, my favorite song on the album, was the first of the three. The song begins with fast, dark sounding guitar riffs that flows through your body and makes you ready to jump around and go ballistic. The band was able to incorporate another sick breakdown into the set with this song and the crowd couldn’t have been happier. There’s just something about head banging and moshing that is infectious! The set was completed with “Life Without Borders” and “Overwhelmed”. “Life Without Borders” is another song that fans will love to sing along to; the perfect song to transition into the final song of the set! I love that Sweet Ascent ended their set with “Overwhelmed”. This song is by far the band’s hardest song, as the screaming vocals at the end send shock waves through you while you’re listening to it. I am a big fan of throwing a little screaming vocals into any song, so to see Sweet Ascent go for it head on and do it so well was amazing!
“Sweet Ascent has always been a band that isn’t focused on the past, rather one that encompasses the present and is always chasing the future.” This is very evident in their newest album, as it has a darker feel and harder instrumentals than their previous releases. I cannot wait to see what Sweet Ascent has in store for the future! Make sure to pick up a copy of their new album, “Take It or Leave It”, available wherever music is sold!