This band is made up of former members of Grade and sounds a lot poppier and more straightforward. It's not that bad, but it's nothing special either. I really like their emphasis on vocal harmonies, but the songwriting isn't that catchy or anything. I don't know... there are some cool rock riffs and nice dual guitar harmonies, but it's just not doing anything for me. For the most part it's a bunch of those typical palm-muted rhythms and octave chords, as well as some less than necessary upbeat metal riffing. They kind of remind me of a more pop punk version of the first Fairweather record, but not as heavy, and certainly not as memorable. It basically sounds like the same song over and over for just over a half-hour. "Walking Clothed Foot" is a bit more rocked out and uses thicker chords, so it stands out slightly, but then in "Never Let You Go" there are some terrible toned down ska riffs or something during the verse. Intolerable. They basically end up sounding like a boring Fat Wreck Chords band. In fact many of these riffs sound like they were recycled from the second rate bands of the mid-90's Fat Wreck catalog. The recording isn't that bad. It definitely sounds better than the last Grade record did. The drums are still a bit too taut for my tastes, but the bass presence is good and the mix is really clear. I'd turn the vocals down a bit and do something to the guitars... I'm not sure what. They either need to be thicker or they need to drop back and let the bass handle more of the low-end. But it sounds okay. If the songs were better I'd be digging the sound just fine. It's early, but this one's a real contender for worst album cover of the year. What the fuck were they thinking? Some idiot prom queen looking girl is on the front decked out in a shitload of makeup, huge earrings, a black dress, and huge puffy black wings, with a shitty computer-generated halo over her head. Awful. Simply awful. And then on the back cover the band is very unenthusiastically posing and sort of looking at the camera at the same time as they look down and stomp on said puffy black wings, crushing them into a basement floor. Lame. This is damn near inexcusable. Inside the booklet things get better, it's just plain. I like the colorful live band photos, but they waste a lot of space on printing the lyrics in a very large font. The lyrics are as lame as the layout, complete with typical subject matter and more forced rhyming than I've seen in a long time. "Why am I even here and why should you even care the way I felt today? If I had a quarter for every time I heard you say. Looking forward to seeing you to seeing you. I heard you were leaving and I heard you were never coming back and now I can't relax. If I had a quarter for every time I heard your name this feeling's not the same. Looking forward to seeing you to seeing you." These lyrics are "somehow hollow", indeed. But despite all of my criticism this band could kick some serious ass. They're just boring me right now. If they work on their songwriting they could very well blow me away in a year, but who knows?
[Victory]
Running time - 35:13, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Walking Clothed Foot, Introduction to a Tragic Dream]
Victory Records - http://www.victoryrecords.com
