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Jake's Short Reviews #14

Posted 01/28/2012 06:15AM by Jake Oliver as Article

01/28/2012 06:15AM

Whitechapel — Recorrupted

An odds-and-ends sort of thing, with one new track, “Section 8;” a Pantera cover, “Strength Beyond Strength;” two remixes; and an acoustic closer. “Section 8” is quite good, though I’m wondering when Whitechapel became The Acacia Strain, and “Strength Beyond Strength” is suitably lethal. Though you’d be tempted to think the remixes would be weak, as is usually the case, Big Chocolate’s dubstep-tinged take on “Breeding Violence” is strangely effective, and Ben Weinman’s “This Is Exile” sounds like Whitechapel put through the Ire Works ringer. I could have done without an acoustic “End of Flesh,” though. Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Esoteric — Paragon of Dissonance

Is ninety minutes for an album too long? Uhh, yeah, and you’ve only got yourself to blame for inundating the listener with two full CDs of doom. It’s too much for one sitting, and that’s really too bad because there’s some great shit on here, particularly on Paragon’s first half. Individually the first disc would get a pretty high score, but the second’s aimless meandering coupled with the laborious length ultimately dooms (ha ha!) Paragon of Dissonance. Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Banner Pilot — Heart Beats Pacific

If you mixed The Lawrence Arms and Dillinger Four, you’re in the Banner Pilot ballpark. Heart Beats Pacific is a tight punk record that recalls a certain Midwest gloom born of the mundane, funneled through whiskey and beers, and channeled into a driving back-beat and lyrics of both melancholy and uplift. Ya know, just like The Lawrence Arms and Dillinger Four, though maybe not quite on their level. Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Like Moths to Flames — When We Don't Exist

They do what they do and they do it exceptionally well. Kind of like a more harried Devil Wears Prada, complete with the increasingly dark atmosphere TDWP’s been incorporating into their sound. Plenty heavy with a touch of the mild (read: cleans). I’m actually really into this album. Rating: 4/5 Stars

Dead to Me — Moscow Penny Ante

Dead to Me sounds a little like a lot of different punk bands, but seems to find a unique voice within a well-worn aesthetic with plenty of heart jammed into tidy three-minute packages. They’ve grown a lot from African Elephants, which just didn’t seem to rub my little punk pleasure center the right way. I did grow up on this shit after all. Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Shirk Circus — This Band Will Destroy Your Life

Not a bad little combo that mines indie, ’90s alternative rock (bands like the Gin Blossoms come to mind, particularly with respect to the lyrics), and the likes of Samiam for a charming but essentially inoffensive listen. Can be a bit same-y, but running through the album isn’t exactly a challenge as it will likely fade into the background with you intermittently snapping back to attention around the standout parts. Rating: 3/5 Stars

City Lights — In It to Win It

Hey kids, remember Four Year Strong? While not so much a full-fledged easycore band, City Lights do traffic in the same kind of sensibilities that made the Worcester band capture the scene en route to releasing records on a major label. Replete with delicious hooks and more than a small debt to New Found Glory and A Day to Remember as well, In It to Win It is like Chunk! No Captain Chunk! hitting puberty, or something. Whatever, it’s good, so check it out. Rating: 4/5 Stars

Zebulon Pike — Space Is the Corpse of Time

If you were to remove the aimless meandering and grating, atonal noises drenching Corpse’s run-time, you’d have a pretty fine sludge record. As is, kind of a mixed bag. Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

So Is the Tongue — A Child of Divorce

After having my mind wiped clean by Giant Squid’s Cenotes I have been wandering around aimlessly in the musical nether-regions with only the vaguest sense of purpose. Stumbling upon A Child of Divorce, I now find myself further afield of anything resembling clarity. Alt-rock? Post-rock? Fucked if I know. Now where was I… Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

A Plea for Purging — The Life and Death of A Plea for Purging

If you’re at all familiar with metalcore this band’s name must have come up, at least in passing. While often finding themselves as ancillary additions to fans’ discographies, A Plea for Purging nevertheless has always possessed quality musicianship, as well as the ability to write often engaging if somewhat derivative songs. The Life and Death of A Plea for Purging is definitely the group’s most ambitious effort to date, and while not every attempt to stretch the sonic palette works to full effect, enough sticks to make Life and Death a very worthwhile listen. The use of melody and thoughtful lyrics in particular stand out as clear strengths. “Room for the Dead” is an extremely affecting song. Rating: 4/5 Stars