MTV Buzzworthy Blog › Honor Society

Credit: Ruby Summer

The only thing better than being hot and talented is being hot, talented and charitable. Not only are pop-rockers (and thanksGIFing alums) of Honor Society owning the soul-pop music game, but they're doing good at the same time: Honor Society has teamed up with the Salvation Army for the "Rock The Red Kettle" tour. During the day, the guys volunteer in each city they travel to at a Salvation Army location organizing food drives, toy drives and helping serve food to those in need. At night, they melt faces + hearts onstage. Kinda like Superman... or something.

To raise more awareness on all the good The Salvation Army is doing, the boys have created a video that documents their "Rock The Red Kettle" experience and speaks of their incredible partnership with the charity. Shot beautifully in black and white, the video shows Honor Society doing everything from playing a rousing game of dodgeball with underserved kids to standing outside with the famous Red Kettle asking for donations.

If you want to see the "Red Kettle" tour in all its glory, stop by a special Rock The Red Kettle show this Saturday, Dec. 17, at the Universal CityWalk in L.A. with special guests Colbie Caillat, or check out the final show of the tour Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Roxy. And find out how you can do more and give back every day at MTV Act. Charity is sexy, guys. Get involved.

+ Watch Honor Society team up with The Salvation Army for "Rock The Red Kettle":

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Credit: The Trace

The Trace is that band you bring home to mom. They're badass on the outside, but probably great boyfriends supersweet on the inside. And please forgive me for not opening with a line about how talented The Trace are as musicians, but I got momentarily distracted by THEIR HANDSOME FACES.

Moving on to the tunes: Made up of four dudes from Bethlehem, PA, I'd like to call The Trace a pop-rock band because their songs are hooky enough to be pop tunes and hard-core enough to be rock songs. But there's something else floating around in the mix -- maybe it's the boys' heartfelt lyrics, or maybe it's their supertight harmonies, but The Trace possesses a unique quality that sets them apart from other pop rockers.

It's totally possible that this "quality" is actually the fact that these dudes have shared the stage with like, 10 trillion famous rockers. The Trace have performed alongside Hot Chelle Rae, Boys Like Girls, Yellowcard, The Ready Set, New Found Glory, All Time Low, Iyaz Jason Derulo and Honor Society, to name a few.

But it's not all rock for the boys. Ballads like "All In All" show the boys' softer, dare I say in-touch-with-their-feminine side: "I won't go/Until we're safe and sound/With your taste inside my mouth/Just saying, until this moment leaves/There's no place I'd rather be/Will you stay with me?" Again, this was the kind of band you could bring home to Mom! And Dad probably won't punch them out, either.

The Trace's new album The Trace EP is out now.

+ Listen to The Trace.

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Tags All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, Honor Society, Hot Chelle Rae, Iyaz, Jason DeRulo, New Found Glory, The Buzz On, The Ready Set, The Trace, Yellowcard

Credit: mr-gif.com

Here are some things I'm thankful for: Butt-lifting jeans, the Christian Louboutin Fall/Winter collection, and the fact that MTV is rolling out exclusive GIFs on MTV's Tumblr in honor of ThanksGIFing week! It's basically like "Happy every single holiday ever created!" Plus hot guys!

Yesterday, we saw the amazingness that is Joe Jonas in GIF form, and today we get the cuties of Honor Society. The HS dudes look all kinds of attractive while they hold up a copy of their new record, A Tale Of Risky Business. And then there's also sunglasses. Hot guys in sunglasses = #foreverwinning.

Check out a bajillion more amazing GIFs at mtv.tumblr.com, and stay tuned for more GIFs all week long!

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Tags GIFS, Honor Society

Honor Society's following up the 2009 release of their debut album, Fashionably Late, with their second full-length album, A Tale Of Risky Business Part 2, out Oct. 25. Now, dedicated Honor Society fans will recognize the new Adam Blackstone-produced (Maroon 5, Eminem, Jay Z) album's title as a nod to their 2008 EP, A Tale of Risky Business. Well it turns out there was even more risky business to attend to. Seven songs' worth. And we're honored (see what we did there?) to be premiering four of Honor Society's new songs -- "Living A Lie," "One Of A Kind," "Wherever You Are" and "Hurricane" -- on Buzzworthy.

Honor Society's new tracks suggest that the L.A. soul-pop band spent the time between their last album and this one honing their craft and perfecting a more sophisticated -- and more funked-up -- sound. And they reveal the band's willingness to experiment with everything from subtle, nuanced strings and electro textures to amped-up, arena-ready choruses, referencing everyone from Jason Mraz to Maroon 5 to Kanye West.

But let's get down to business, shall we? Listen to four brand-new Honor Society songs, and pre-order A Tale Of Risky Business 2.

+ "LIVING A LIE"

+ "ONE OF A KIND"

Listen to more Honor Society songs after the jump!

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Tags Buzzworthy Exclusive, Honor Society, video

Credit: Kathleen Gilbride

Brace yourselves, laydeeze! We've got an Honor Society update. So, remember how a few weeks ago we lost our damn minds over the band's new song, "Living A Lie"? It's a new tune they've been road-testing on their "Wherever You Are" summer tour. Well, unsurprisingly, while playing to a sold-out Gramercy Theater in New York City this past Sunday, Honor Society's NYC fanbase went bonkers ballistic for the new song, which leans farther away from sugary Jonas Brothers'-esque pop, and closer to an edgier, more rock-centric Maroon 5 vibe. The boys also played "One Of A Kind" and "Wherever You Are," two new songs off their forthcoming album (release date and title TBD, and it's ANNOYING not KNOWING, so get ON THAT).

Of course, Honor Society also paid tribute to their 2009 release, Fashionably Late, by playing old faves like "Here Comes Trouble" and a killer mashup of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" with the HS classic "Nobody Has To Know."

Check out another photo of Honor Society slaying New York City.

Basically, we're almost but not quite DEAD.

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Tags Honor Society, Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5

This past Sunday at their show at The Roxy, Honor Society played their new song, "Living A Lie," and -- enormous surprise -- it ruled. Honor Society has a track record of putting out irresistibly catchy rock tunes with a pop sensibility, which is probably why their summer tour, (with Katelyn Tarver and Action Item opening), is nearly sold out. Or, maybe it's cause the four members of Honor Society are smokin' hot. Whatever and ever, who knows. We could debate this 'til we pass out and can't use the Internet anymore, so let's not split hairs.

"Living A Lie" is Honor Society's most sophisticated sound to date and leans way more Maroon 5 (which is good thing!) than Jonas Brothers, for whom Honor Society's opened. Driven by an almost nasty funked-out groove, an epic dueling guitar jammy jam and the band's signature air-tight harmonies, lead singer Michael Bruno sings "I don't want to, cause I need you, but I gotta let you go/the surface was perfect but underneath it all, you were living a lie." Yikes. At least he's honest. Also, who's gonna lie to that face? Certainly not this girl.

If you want to hear "Living A Lie" live for yourself, make sure to catch Honor Society at one of their next stops on tour. Go on and do it. We'll wait. Don't be shy.

+ Watch Honor Society perform "Living A Lie."

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Tags Honor Society, Katelyn Tarver, video

You may not know that you know Katelyn Tarver, but let us assure you, you probably do.

If you've ever picked up a copy of Teen Vogue, then you might have seen Katelyn on the cover. Beeeecause she's a model. If you've ever watched an episode of the hit Nickelodeon show "Big Time Rush" (YES, I sometimes watch it... SO!??) you may have seen her play the character Jo (Yep. She's an actress). If you remember the TV show "American Juniors," then you might remember Katelyn's voice, which earned her a place as a top finalist (she's a singer too?? OK seriously, when's this gonna end? My self-esteem is plummeting.)

While Katelyn still pursues modeling and acting, her main focus these days is her singing career. When she first started out, Katelyn was pure girlie pop, but these days she feels a little like Taylor Swift meets Michelle Branch -- country-pop with a little bit of that earthy folk feel Mandy Moore does so well.

Katelyn's set to release her EP, A Little More Free, and she's hitting the road this summer with Honor Society. And, if her prior list of successes is any indication, Katelyn's not far from headlining her own gig.

+ Listen to Katelyn Tarver's new single, "It's Good."

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Tags Honor Society, Katelyn Tarver, The Buzz On

This summer just got a whole lot smarter! The academically inclined young men who make up Honor Society have just announced their "Wherever You Are" summer tour, which is slated to take them... wherever you are. They'll be performing some songs off their upcoming new album, plus classic faves. And, judging from the teaser they've posted on their website, the new songs are going to be full of funked-out synth lines and pealing guitar solos. Hooray!

Honor Society's bringing up-and-comers Action Item and Katelyn Tarver along as openers, so if you go, go early. Check out Honor Society's site for more on the tour, and follow them on Twitter if you want to get in on that. Happy summer concert season!

+ Get Honor Society's "Wherever You Are" summer tour dates after the jump!

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Tags Action Item, Honor Society

(Credit: Getty Images)

Honor Society has released its latest free song, "Pretty Little Liar," from the group's download series The Honor System." And we have to warn you that it's very NPBA (Not Post-Breakup Appropriate)! Seriously, guys. Keep the Kleenex handy if you're anywhere near break-up territory when you're listening to this one. Tearjerker and heartstrings-tugger all rolled into one!

"Pretty Little Liar" is a pretty little ballad about Honor Society lead singer Michael Bruno's relationship with "Pretty Little Liars" actress Lucy Hale. Michael sings over a dreamy, instrumental background: "You should be more like this fire/Take me higher/Pretty little liar, pretty little liar/Don't you lie to me". (And you thought Taylor Swift was gutsy for her song "Dear John" about John Mayer.) Uh, no hiding this one, dudes.

Head over to HonorSocietyMusic.com for a free download of "Pretty Little Liar" and prepare to cry yourself to sleep over a tube of cookie dough. We won't tell anyone.

Tags Honor Society, Michael Bruno

(Credit: Getty Images)

In the latest installment of "Things that make you go "Awww!" we have Honor Society's newest song, "Dancing By Yourself."

"Dancing By Yourself" is the latest song available for free download as part of a Honor Society's weekly download series. Yay free music! Kanye's doing it, Honor Society's doing it, everyone's doing it! Why pay for it when you can get it for free?

"Dancing By Yourself" opens strong with a push of violins and levels out when the drums kick in and Michael Bruno lays down the lyrics. "Cause I won't leave here without you," he sings, "There's a lot of girls but it's like there's no one else/You're a beauty, and you're lonely/Why you dancing by yourself?"

Honor Society's fans on Twitter are loving the mid-tempo ballad, and we're loving that it makes us feel like we're in a "Dawson's Creek" episode, in a good way. Way cute. Like I said, "Awww!"

+ Download Honor Society's new song "Dancing By Yourself."

Tags Alexander Noyes, Andrew Lee, Honor Society, Jason Rosen, Michael Bruno