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Month: July 2011

Review: Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American

Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Thomas Nassiff

Only after several years can you begin to notice the influence a record has had. Some may say it takes foresight to know whether a record will become legendary, but there’s no way to really predict something like that. For this Retro Review project, we’re reviewing records that are a minimum of 10 years old – and with Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American celebrating its 10th birthday on July 18, I can’t think of a better place to start.

The “Class of ’01,” not to infringe on AltPress’ phrase or anything, is very impressive. Bleed American, however, might be my favorite record from that entire year, and it would certainly be on a list of my all-time favorites from the genre. Jimmy Eat World does have a sense of early-decade pop-punk on the album, but it’s infused with their now-unmistakable brand of angst-ridden emo, making it a pop-punk sound no other bands have successfully duplicated. Bleed American was the launching point for Jimmy Eat World’s commercial success as well, spawning multiple hit singles.

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Review: Blink-182 – Take Off Your Pants and Jacket

Blink-182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
Thomas Nassiff

How does one begin to measure the influence of a band like Blink-182? You can’t count how many garage bands were spawned after Enema Of The State came out. You can’t put a price on taking a relatively new genre and thrusting it into the mainstream with full force. Without Blink 182 and their peers like Green Day and The Offspring, and a little while later, bands like New Found Glory, where would pop-punk be? It quite possibly would never have even gotten started.

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Review: The Cab – Symphony Soldier

The Cab - Symphony Soldier
AbsolutePunk

sym·pho·ny sol·dier /ˈsimfənē ˈsōljər/
–noun
1. a person engaged in the service of fighting for music they believe in

It hasn’t been an easy journey for pop trio The Cab, a band that originally began as a quintet before signing to Fueled By Ramen in mid-2007. Their debut album, Whisper War, saw moderate success when it was touted to be the next big thing in the industry. However, as years passed, member departures further crippled the public’s view on the group. With the lack of new material to show due to various label disputes, some wondered if a second album would even see the light of day.

Perhaps all of these adversities were just a blessing in disguise. Although members were lost, the driving force behind The Cab still remained. Being relinquished from the clutches of their record label allowed them to finally create the album they wanted to create – and music at this point couldn’t be more grateful.

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Review: Alkaline Trio – Damnesia

Alkaline Trio - Damnesia
Drew Beringer

Alkaline Trio aren’t the first band to trade in the electric guitar for an acoustic one and release stripped down material – bands such as Against Me!, Moneen, and Saves The Day are a few that come to mind. But I can’t think of many bands who’ve released an entire album full of re-worked, semi-acoustic versions of fan favorites from albums past. That’s what makes Damnesia somewhat unique – this isn’t your normal “greatest hits” compilation. There are 15 tracks on Damnesia – 12 “classic” tracks, 2 new ones, and a cover – and on each one the Trio attempts to bring something new to the song through these re-imaginings. 

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Review: The Dangerous Summer – War Paint

The Dangerous Summer – War Paint
Blake Solomon

There’s certainly an obligation here to discuss songs and melodies and all that jazz (pun intended?). But you’ve – we’ve – done that a million times. There are hints of The Starting Line and The Graduate, there are intensely personal lyrics, there’s a certain world weariness that is both refreshing and depressing to hear from a band so young – War Paint has all these things. And it’s good! It’s a very good album. There is no debating that. But of course, there is debating that. That’s all there really is. Especially if you’re one of the listeners who found Reach for the Sun to be some sort of musical epiphany. For you, War Paint might challenge your previously held opinions on The Dangerous Summer. And me? I don’t know – I guess for a few reasons that are none of your business thank you very much, I view War Paint in a vacuum. Its merits are based only on the sounds I currently hear, not the nostalgic ones my 12-year old emo boy heart fondly remembers. Making a connection with War Paint could mean lots of things: but what I hope it means for you is that you’re not ready for this world to be the boss. Liking War Paint means it’s time to stand up, move on and improve.

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Review: Set Your Goals – Burning at Both Ends

Set Your Goals - Burning at Both Ends
Thomas Nassiff

Two years ago, Set Your Goals was riding a high. The group’s 2009 full-length, This Will Be The Death Of Us, was fairly well received on a large scale even though it disappointed some longtime fans of the group’s breakthrough record, Mutiny! That 2009 release catapulted the band to some fair heights and a position as a leader in the new-school pop-punk scene, for whatever that was worth.

Well, if I’m trying to go by Alternative Press’ line of thinking … it must really suck to be Set Your Goals right now. Burning At Both Ends isn’t just a step back from the group’s previous work, it’s a downright embarrassment considering we all already know how good this band can be. On a broad scale, if I was going to pin down one major problem with the record, it would be this: it is super boring.

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