E.Town Concrete "Made for War" CD
[Ironbound]
I've been a huge fan of this band from way back when, and this thing kind of dropped out of nowhere on me. The band's back on yet another label, this time their own, and this material is significantly more aggressive than "The Renaissance" was. There are also a lot less of the hip-hop influences lingering around, with "Do You Know What it's Like?" and "All That You Have is Not Enough" being among the few songs that really emphasize that delivery. Whether or not this aggressive direction was partially inspired by the unfair backlash that their last record received in certain circles for being much catchier and more "accessible" (if you can really call it that) is beyond me - and don't get me wrong, this isn't as heavy as "Time 2 Shine" or anything, there's still a lot of melody floating around in the songwriting - but the bottomline is that this is not as strong a record in the songwriting department. Towards the end of the disc you've got "What Can I Do?" and the title track (the latter of which's breaks sort of sound like a slowed down "Mandibles"), which are catchier and far more memorable, utilizing singing vocals and whatnot at times. But honestly, while still a really good record, the first several tracks are rather uneventful. The brief "Wide Awake" is interesting lyrically and uses some unexpected dissonance, some of which carries over into the following "The Distance", but the songwriting just isn't hitting me for the first 10 - 15 minutes of the disc. There aren't any bad songs here, I like everything, there are just some lulls, you know? It's not until the sixth track, "Blood", that the record really starts to kick into full gear with a forcefully heavy track that has a pretty brutal chorus and a strangely chilled out break that uses some softly filtered singing - following the laidback "Do You Know What it's Like?" and its bluesy chords and extended lead break (the song drags on a little but is still a nice standout). "A Setup" is the first track that starts to get more creative with its melodic chords, with closer "All That You Have is Not Enough" slowing things down and contrasting dynamics pretty fluidly. They close things out with a bonus in an amusing choice of cover songs via Body Count's "There Goes the Neighborhood", making minor alterations to the lyrics to better suit their own circumstances. The recording is really good. Of course not as solid as the last record as I imagine the budget was lessened, but aside from a few minor gripes I'd cite with the guitar tone (it's a little rough at the outskirts and doesn't feel like it fills the space quite enough unless you really crank the volume) it's cool. The percussions sounds killer, totally smooth and fluid, and I've always loved this dude's drumming, so that's great. The bass parts are still thick, lacking a little definition in my opinion, but definitely filling in the holes nicely. And the vocals are really clear, so I have no gripes there. The layout keeps things fairly minimal with a large, bold photo of brass knuckles on the cover, one band photo, some dirty green textures layered with some text effects, and the lyrics over a straight black background. Looks good to me. The lyrics are a little different this time out, taking a serious turn with some socio-political commentary mixed with the intense personal tribulations and less of a storytelling kind of style, but the content is still pretty lengthy and doesn't repeat much other than the choruses. Everything's definitely more mature, once again, and that's a positive thing for sure. "Color-coded fear to ensure you fall in line when they crack the whip. Do you really trust the things they feed you in the news? Corporations own the networks that help to skew your views. I'm not fooled. I see the moves that you're trying to make..." I don't know. Writing-wise I'd most closely compare this to "The Second Coming" stripped of most of its hip-hop influences, with minor accents of the overt melody and catchiness of "The Renaissance". The latter half of the record is fucking great. Ignoring the bonus track the last five songs on the CD are fucking awesome, it's the first four cuts that create a little bit of a disconnect before things really dive right in. I'm still giving it an 8/10 because I love this band and every time I listen to this I end up loving it by the end because I forget how it gets off to a slow start, so they're still doing plenty right by me. I'm always looking forward to their new material. Always. (8/10)
Running time - 40:32, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Do You Know What it's Like?, Blood, A Setup, What Can I Do?, Made for War]
E.Town Concrete - http://www.etownconcrete.net

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