The Vacancies: Tantrum

Cleveland!!!!

Reviewed By: Pete

From start to finish The Vacancies new album is a rockin' assault on everything from politics to the price of wine. Including a kick ass cover of one of my favorite 7Seconds songs, "Satyagraha." Anyone familiar with The Vacancies knows they are not afraid to play their music loud and rock harder then most. Their new album, their second on Joan Jett's Blackheart records, absolutely does not disappoint. From the opening track, "Compound" (a :50 second blast) you know you are in for something special.

What makes the band so great is that they know what they are here to do and they don't vary from what they do well. The songs come fast and furious, but are memorable and witty enough to warrant many many repeat listens. The story of a guy stealing a bottle of wine on a Sunday morning ("Below Merlot") flows seamlessly into "Pride" and "Sick Modern Era", two more traditional punk themed songs. And standout tracks like "Believe", "Strummer" and "Distracted" set the pace for one hell of a punk rock tour De force. The Vacancies deserve much more notoriety than they currently receive, but I hope their day in the sun is close. If they keep releasing albums like this, there is no stopping them. Go and buy this record. You'll thank me...or more appropriately, you'll thank The Vacancies. "Tantrum" earns our first 4 star review. Good Work Boys.

The Vacancies' Tantrum

Released 2007

High Points

Compound

Below Merlot

Satyagraha

Believe

Strummer

Coheeed and Cambria: No World For Tomorrow

What did I do to deserve?

Reviewed by Pete

I'm not an obsessive fan of this band, but their previous two records ("In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth" and "Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV etc...") have been very exciting releases. Full of energetic songwriting, fantastic musicianship, and a nearly unnerving lead singer. I tried once to figure out the story line behind this epic space opera, and I very quickly gave up and decided to just enjoy the music for what it was. And they were just two really kick ass rock and roll records - stupid alien war or not. Unfortunately for me, this new album appears to be more focused on moving along and completing the story. There isn't really a stand out song or even a memorable chorus. The music is still extremely well played, but the songs are written and delivered in an almost lackluster fashion. Most of the tracks leading up to the grand finale sound like a shitty parody of Coheed and Cambria but with hints of Van Halen / The Who / and Pink Floyd. With the exception of the title track, which rocks as hard as anything on their previous albums.
The band almost pulls it off with the last 5 tracks "The End I - V." Starting the climax off with an awesome intro in "The Fall of House Atlantic" but, unfortunately they immediately suck any excitement out with the poppy and predictable "Radio Bye Bye". The best track on the album is the last one, "On The Brink." It is a slower more mellow song than the rest of my favorite Coheed songs from previous albums, but it maintains a pretty epic feel. The song clocks in at over 7 minutes most of which is instrumental, and a good one at that. And suitably so the album ends with a 3 minute guitar solo fading out into some organ and noise and then as quietly as the album begins it is over. No one really having been the better for hearing it.
I would also like to note that I pre-ordered this CD for $14 and received a cardbord envelope with the cover artwork and no lyrics or credits or liner notes. Only a note on the back telling me to visit coheedandcambria.com to see the booklet. I'm all for cutting down on paper and all that, but come on...I should have been warned.

There are no standout lines to check out, and so few high points its not worth listing them.

-Pete

Coheed and Cambria's Good Apollo Star IV part II: No World For Tomorrow.

Released 2007

Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre

Perhaps Mr. Bemis has become too real a boy...

But its not all bad.

27 tracks on 2 discs is a lot of "angst" to handle at once, luckily our hosts have scattered a few slow jams and a show tune in for good measure. The lyrics are much less ambiguous then their previous (and superior) release, 2004's ...is a Real Boy, and the freedom and production value seem to allow singer/songwriter/everything else-doer Max Bemis' "psychological unpleasantness" to boil over. He has traded in the metaphors present on their last record and got himself some straightforwardness. Extremely evident on disc one's The Church Channel. The opening line of the song is "I wake up in a room and realize I'm insane again. This is the fifth time straight in a year I've ended up in here..."
The record jumps all over the place, each song a mini-adventure that really has no predetermined destination. There are several constants in the themes of the songs, even if the styles are different from one to the next. Songs about girls, drugs, sex, insanity, abuse, and racism(seriously, listen to Died a Jew. What the hell is he talking about??).
There are some extremely bright points on the poppy "Shiksa" and there are some downright unsettling points such as the stripped down "Spores." An album you don't want to miss, but are truly unlikely to make it all the way through in one sitting, Defense of The Genre could have been great- almost as good as "...is A Real Boy." But it is as if Bemis recorded as many songs as he could and just left them all on the CD. No matter how many different styles of music you play or how many guest stars you have on your record, sometimes you just gotta know when to cut a dozen or so songs off.
Hovering at 2 stars, I listened to the guitar solo at the end of "I Used to Have a Heart" and bumped it to 2.5. Then I listened to the tempo change in "The Church Channel", and I had to go with 3 stars. You certainly won't regret listening to this record, but it won't change your life... well, actually nearing the end of disc 2 you find: "Goodbye Young Tutor, You've Now Outgrown Me." That might actually change your life - in that it will assist in any insomnia you have been experiencing.

Lines to check out:

"So I'll Go Out and Get Crunk With My Friends"

"Maybe Someday we, together, can be the king and queen of all I've Seen"

"I'm Sorry That I wrecked that tour for us, the drugs left me wigging out on the bus"

Reviewed by: Pete

Say Anything's Defense of The Genre

Released 2007

High Points:
Skinny Mean Man
Surgically Removing The Tracking Device
The Church Channel
Sorry Dude's My Bad
We Killed It
Hangover Song
I Used To Have a Heart
Plea

Low Points:
That is Why
Baby Girl I'm a Blur
Retarded in Love
Died a Jew