Album Reviews
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Comeback Kid Turn It Around
Comeback Kid has proved in their album that they really are the Comeback Kid. They gave true blood and guts hardcore a comeback and put all that hair gel and multiple belts music to shame. You just don't hear hardcore like this anymore.
Released in march of 2004 on FaceDown Records, Turn It Around is the definition of true hardcore. The band is from Canada, which makes them all the better. The lyrics include real in your face thoughts, ideas, views, and frustrations but CBK leaves plenty of room for sing a longs. The vocals are nothing short of intense. The drums and instrumentals as a whole just pound away as the tracks go on. The album itself is less than twenty five minutes long and it seems like even less as you listen to it. There are only two ways to listen to this album: In your car, hands at ten and two, going nuts while keeping your eyes on the road and your speed within 3 miles of the limit - Or in your bedroom, blasting louder than your cd alarm clock was made to play while jumping off your bed, desk, walls, pets anything you can find. Be careful of windows and fragile objects when listening to this as CBK takes no responsibility for these happenings.
AlexisOnFire Watch Out!
This album is a catchy little melodic-core album by our friends AlexisOnFire. If you found yorself unimpressed with their last release, you may very well life this, and visa versa. There's a whole lot to sing a long to in this album which always makes for a good time seeing them live. But for when you are alone, the cd itself has a production value I've seen accomplished very few times with bands of such stature. This makes for a very pleasurable listening experience no matter where you are or what mood you may be in. Watch Out almost has a poppy sound to a few of its tracks and it's hard to believe they haven't made i on the radio or the tube more often since its release. The melodies are nothing to thumb your nose at and the vocals are pretty damn impressive as well.
The great thing about this cd is there are very few to no rough spots. In other words, you won't have a problem popping it in your cd player and just forgetting about it. All of the tracks are worth listening to and none of them are worth the effort it takes to skip to the next track even if it's not one of yor favorites. AlexisOnFire has a sound that very few other bands I've heard share. They are definetly onto something here and it is just a matter of people picking up their album and giving it a shot. They have everything you can ask for, the hardcore community roots with the sound that pleases everybody. If this album is a forewarning of things to come from AOF, then we are all in for a treat... and world domination.
Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Another cleverly-titled release from Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who Love Bad News is the band’s sixth album and has clearly been their ticket to mainstream. They have always and will always be a hard working band, having formed in Seattle about ten years ago and having almost an underground cult following up until now. Modest Mouse brought some friends on board for this project including such names as The Flaming Lips which helped spice up the album quite a bit.
Lead singer Isaac Brocks' vocals stay true to his trademark that makes the band who they are. The lyrics are nothing less than we would expect from Modest Mouse. Listening to this album front to back could be equivilant to taking a college course of some sort I'm sure. We should check and see if we can get it accredited. I like to call their lyrics "intelligence-core" because they make you think, they make you use your brain, you are forced to translate to the deeper meaning of each and every line. They lyrical styling of this cd is more appropriately compared to poetry as Isaac's one-liners are worthy of anyone's AIM profile.
The instrumentals are not a note less amazing than the lyrics they lie beneath. The band has done it once again with a 16-track record having not two songs sounding anything alike. The music does wander into a bit poppy-sounding territory on a few songs but they stay true to their hippie/classic rock/funk/mellow/indie roots for the most part.
Modest Mouse has never been known for a clean and healthy lifestyle off and on the stage, but this record, according to Isaac is their chance to show the world that life is behind them. Songs on the record, especially The Good Time Are Killing Me, make direct references to the band's current views on the matter. If this album is any indication of what happens when Modest Mouse stays clean then let this be living proof that you don't need drugs to create a masterpiece.
