Fronted by Layla Brooklyn Allman(Brooklyn Allman), the daughter of the legendary Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers; Picture Me broken stands, as of now, more of an up and coming band. Having already signed to one label and been dropped and then signed to another, many would say they are no longer an Indie band but I still want to put them on here due to their sheer musical brilliance and the fact that I hate to see so much talent go to waste.
That being said, the band is a female fronted hard rock band, their music a far cry from her Brooklyns father's "Ramblin' Man." They started out calling themselves "pop-core" but later music revealed more of an alternative metal, post hardcore sound. Having been playing music together since they were 12 years old, and are now nearly into there twenties now, they mix a unique blend of heavy guitar riffs with Brooklyn's poppy voice and some guttural screams thrown in with a few synth notes. I myself am not a fan of synth in music, but as long as these guys(and girl) don't fall into the synthesizer pop realm that bands like Icon For Hire went towards, Picture Me Broken will still be able to hold interest in the rock and metal world.
Brooklyn Allman, a gorgeous blonde in her own right, has already been voted as "the hottest chick in metal" 2012. She standing along metal females like Laura Nichols of late great Light This City and Alexia Rodriguez of Eyes Set To Kill. Unfortunately, her looks are really her best quality. While she definitely has a set of pipes on her, her voice isn't as polished as Alexa's, her scream isn't as gut wrenching as Laura's. Heck she doesn't even have the intensity of Lizzie Hail of Hailstorm as it seems to falter when she does try to intensify it too much. I can't completely fault her too much for her voice, it works for the band for the most part, but doesn't have the beauty of aforementioned Alexia or even Lizzie for that matter. I guess the best way to describe it is, well, typical; sounding a lot like many unschooled singers out there. Its fairly one sided, a few more simple changes of pitch would be great. Right now it sounds like shes talking more than singing, coming off a little Buckcherry-esque just not as raspy if you will and certainly not as manly. I hate to say it but her scream, while definitely used mainly to emphasize the music, could very well be her best attribute as a vocalist even though later music shows her dropping it out of the bands sound. She tends to dabble in dark, distraught lyrics that seem too adult for a woman her age. Check out the song "Torture" or "Dearest(I'm So Sorry)" for a prime example.
Me being a guitarist myself, I always love to hear a good guitar sound out of bands and Picture Me Broken has that. There are very few simple riffs to be found out of these guys and they're always rocking but I wish I could hear some distinct solos out of them. I know they have it in them because they're already putting together near incredible riffs with solos that fit more as bridges. In the mainstream world, that is typical for the alt. metal/hard rock scene of today but to really stand on their own, they need to do something to set themselves aside from the rest. For the music, a little shredding could go a long way. How hard is it to really allow yourself strut your stuff on the strings? 20 years ago, there wasn't a metal or hard rock song to be found without a solo. Poison, Def Leppard; even AC/DC, Guns n Roses and Led Zeppelin sported the solo, but today its merely an after thought making mainstream music just plain bland. For Picture Me Broken, they're already breaking the mold with a female singer whose willing to scream, why not break through it a little more letting their fingers do some talking? It's just a thought.
In 2010, Picture Me Broken released a full length effort at the ripe old age of 16 and are in the midst of releasing another called Corrupt Me in 2014. In between they put out the EP's Dearest(I'm So Sorry) and Mannequins. In 2011 and 2013 they went quite quiet, having fallen prey to the curse of many hard rock bands today, the loss of members. As of now, the only original member is Brooklyn, having even lost her right hand man Austin Dunn on bass in 2013. Wikipedia actually shows them drummer-less right now. I highly recommend checking out songs like, "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)" with its intense and heavy riff work and catchy chorus, "Live is Evil Spelled Backwards" for its incredible guitar work in the intro and Brooklyn's decent vocal work. “Torture” has some pretty awesome lyrics but basically cements them in the mainstream rock world as it cuts the screams, and "If I Never Wake Again" is simply as beautiful ballad even though it sounds like Allman is having a hard time letting her voice relax enough to pull it off.
Get a glimpse at Brooklyn Layla Allman by reading this 2012 interview at: http://rockrevoltmagazine.com/interview-with-brooklyn-allman/
Check out their music at:
http://www.indiecharts.com/Profile.php?butname=899524124
http://www.ourstage.com/profile/picturemebroken/songs
And the videos for "Mannequins"
"Torture"
and "Dearest(Im So Sorry)" on Youtube.
Me being a guitarist myself, I always love to hear a good guitar sound out of bands and Picture Me Broken has that. There are very few simple riffs to be found out of these guys and they're always rocking but I wish I could hear some distinct solos out of them. I know they have it in them because they're already putting together near incredible riffs with solos that fit more as bridges. In the mainstream world, that is typical for the alt. metal/hard rock scene of today but to really stand on their own, they need to do something to set themselves aside from the rest. For the music, a little shredding could go a long way. How hard is it to really allow yourself strut your stuff on the strings? 20 years ago, there wasn't a metal or hard rock song to be found without a solo. Poison, Def Leppard; even AC/DC, Guns n Roses and Led Zeppelin sported the solo, but today its merely an after thought making mainstream music just plain bland. For Picture Me Broken, they're already breaking the mold with a female singer whose willing to scream, why not break through it a little more letting their fingers do some talking? It's just a thought.
In 2010, Picture Me Broken released a full length effort at the ripe old age of 16 and are in the midst of releasing another called Corrupt Me in 2014. In between they put out the EP's Dearest(I'm So Sorry) and Mannequins. In 2011 and 2013 they went quite quiet, having fallen prey to the curse of many hard rock bands today, the loss of members. As of now, the only original member is Brooklyn, having even lost her right hand man Austin Dunn on bass in 2013. Wikipedia actually shows them drummer-less right now. I highly recommend checking out songs like, "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)" with its intense and heavy riff work and catchy chorus, "Live is Evil Spelled Backwards" for its incredible guitar work in the intro and Brooklyn's decent vocal work. “Torture” has some pretty awesome lyrics but basically cements them in the mainstream rock world as it cuts the screams, and "If I Never Wake Again" is simply as beautiful ballad even though it sounds like Allman is having a hard time letting her voice relax enough to pull it off.
Get a glimpse at Brooklyn Layla Allman by reading this 2012 interview at: http://rockrevoltmagazine.com/interview-with-brooklyn-allman/
Check out their music at:
http://www.indiecharts.com/Profile.php?butname=899524124
http://www.ourstage.com/profile/picturemebroken/songs
And the videos for "Mannequins"
"Torture"
and "Dearest(Im So Sorry)" on Youtube.
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