Few And The ProudStraight Edge hardcore from the fine city of Chicago featuring past and present members of Expired Youth, Plan Of Attack, and Weekend Nachos, Hostage Situation, Double Crossed, Sidewalk, and Hostage Situation. All of which seem to share band members like dudes sharing a smizzie in a gangbang. To my knowledge this full length is the only label released material the band has put out thus far, although I'm sure they've released a demo somewhere in between.
On the press sheet it says these guys sound like Judge, Blacklisted Slapshot but honestly I don't hear the comparisons. If anything this reminds me of Integrity in a way because of the throbbing basslines and the mid paced groove that the band likes to implement but this is far from a Cleveland influenced band. My biggest gripe with these guys is the lack of gang vocals because they would really set these songs off. But the vocalist does have a throaty voice that bulldozes the tracks with his gruff mad man approach.
The lyrics are pretty much what you would expect, nothing really new here but solid nonetheless. There's songs about addiction, friendship, and the straight edge lifestyle. Even though there aren't any crazy catchy choruses or anything they make up for it by writing story like anthems about the aforementioned topics.
For the most part these guys like to keep it short and the point with their song structure. Most of the songs on this 11 song full length average about 1-1:30 minutes long, although there are some tracks that break the 2 minute mark.
The production duties were kept within city limits to show support to the scene. The recording was done by Pete Grossman who also happens to be in the band Left Hand Path. Everything is spot on, the guitars are boisterous, the bass is pounding, the drums are crisp and rich and the vocals were nicely placed in the mix. No quarrels here.
Very cool layout that is printed on matte stock paper with loads of good earth tones. The front cover looks sick as shit with some contrasted stuff going on and a drawing of a herd of long horns "stampeding" through a mountainous valley. The booklet folds open to reveal a brownish layout that reads "A New Era Has Begun" in the same font that appears on the front cover. Inside the booklet looks great, using a great picture of rolling mountains that are in a greyish-blue color with all of the lyrics displayed in an easy to read format.
Rating: 3/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: The Beast and Calloused
Thesis: Very solid album. It has its strengths and it's weaknesses but overall the good outweighs the bad. This is certainly a raucous affair, it's just ashame there wasn't any gang vocals to really up the intensity. If you're a fan of straight edge and Chicago take note.