New BruisesThese guys hail from Tampa, Florida and it definitely comes through in their sound. They feature the Lippincott brothers who played in Mid Carson July a few years back. They play emotional punk rock that seldom breaks out of the mid tempo range with a strong emphasis on their lyrical content that is geared towards commercialism and apathy. Now I’ll admit I’m not real into the emotionally charged punk rock scene, but when it’s done right its good. I don’t exactly like emo but I love me some Texas is the Reason. I tried for the death of me to get into this band because I was really feeling what the band had to say in their lyrics as I was looking through the booklet and the paragraph one of the members of the band wrote about his views on what punk rock is to him had me setting my expectations high. So right off the bat, big thumbs up to the band for having something worthwhile to say over music that is typically used for crying about girls and how boring the suburbs are. But as I was listening to the album the music just did nothing for me, it left me quite bored. Throughout the 35 minutes (12 tracks) I was listening to this album I couldn’t help but to be distracted easily by outside forces, I mean they can write some good catchy parts but overall its just lacking something. There isn’t that one song, chorus or hook that would keep me listening, and I feel that holds true for anyone that listens to this type of music. As the bio sheet points out, they do have slight similarities with bands like Dillinger Four and Jawbreaker, Fugazi however I just can’t hear it. The song titles are actually quite intelligent and witty though, I especially liked the opening track, "Homogenized For Mass Consumption Or How My Youth Was Watered Down And Sold." The production is where it should be, considering it was recorded at the same studio bands like Hot Water Music and Against Me! recorded at. The layout is pretty snazzy actually, simple but effective with a nice choice of colors. The lyrics are easy on the eyes and as I had mentioned earlier in the review there is a paragraph by a member of the band which gives some insight to the band, I wish more bands did that. It’s usually only used for discography type cd’s or reissues. This isn’t my cup of tea so take some time and check em out, you might find something you like.
Rating: 2/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Hell Is A Highway (connecting Tampa and Orlando), Homogenized For Mass Consumption...
Thesis: Emotionally charged punk rock with good social commentary. Usually a cd loses points because the music is good but the lyrics are sub-par, well this is the opposite. Great lyrics, but the music, while not bad doesn’t do it for me. Just missing something.