Review: "Someday Came Suddenly" by Attack Attack!

So I ended up hearing these guys at an Escape the Fate concert I attended awhile back and their set was so good I ended up picking up the album. Honestly I haven't been able to put it down since, definitely some of the best new music I have heard in quite some time.

The thing that really makes Attack Attack! work and separates them from other bands in the metal genre is their fusion of dance beats. From the first break down in "Stick Stickley" to the synthed intro of "Catfish Soup" the band really shows off it's unique sound. It definitely adds a certain appeal to their music, giving it a fresh hook that a lot of bands are lacking these days. With the inclusion of auto-tuned singing mixed with their heavy metal riffs and screamer lead singer you get something that is pretty solid sonically. In fact I found the whole album solid as a whole and haven't really stopped listening since I saw them.

Still with such positive sound there are a few flaws. One is the writing, which is very simple and overly Christian. I have no issue with the religious significance of it but if you dissect the words they begin to sound like something you would write in high school and come off as trite or cliched. They definitely could heighten the concept some and more depth to their lyrics. Also i have small pet peeve with song titles that have nothing to do with the song itself (for example "Bro, Ashley's Here").

What definitely makes this band is the execution of the mixed styles, it definitely comes off as their strongest asset. You might question if the concept could hold up for a second album but honestly you won't really think about that cause you'll be too busy rocking out to this one. I recommend this to anyone looking for a taste of something new in a genre that is slowly becoming stale with "Me too!" bands. Strong hooks, choruses that will stick in your head for some time, and those crazy dance beats will definitely infest your mind quite some time.

4 out of 5 stars Very solid album

Review: "Take It How You Want It" by Self Against City

So i figured i would do something a little obscure for my first review...try not to go with something obvious and also this album is new to me. I happen to run across this band while listening to my Pandora station and thought they were interesting. And so i took a listen to an EP they released in 2005. The band is called Self Against City and the EP is titled "Take It How You Want It".

So right off the bat you can tell they come from the emo school of rock. The singer has that tenor voice that a lot of these bands have, but at least it's not sung from his nose. Actually it's a pretty decent voice and he uses it well. The music also has a very Mayday Parade feel to it, simply power cords and picked chords that come together quite nicely. Nothing too crazy or technical but it is arranged well and compliments the singer.

Interestingly i find the writing style of the lyrics refreshingly simple, especially from this genre. Yeah it's still your high school diary type subject matter, but it's not couched in obtuse metaphors or ridiculous imagery. It's actually pretty down to earth and straight to the point, you can definitely tell what the song is about without having to analyze every word for meaning

The problem I find after listening to the 6 songs on this album is that nothing really stands out for me. Nothing has a really strong hook that keeps you coming back for me, no song makes you wanna put it on repeat over and over again. As a whole the album is nice, but it's not going to wow you by any means. Also if your not really fan of this type of music, this won't really convert you. Granted the album is four years old but it still sounds like an also ran to me. It's the kind of music you listen to once and then kinda put it into the rotation. It's good in that I like it, if it comes on during shuffle or something I'm still gonna turn it up and listen, but nothing really jumps at me and says "You want to listen to more of this album!"

If your a fan of the genre or looking for something in the emo genre I recommend giving this a listen, especially since you can pick it up on itunes for 4 bucks. if your taste dies lie this way then I would suggest passing this up as there is better music out there to cut your teeth on. I think I'm gonna still Giantbomb's system and give this 3 out of 5 starts. It's a little bit of okay my friends...