The Felix Culpa - Sever Your Roots
Rating
RIYL
Brand NewAs Cities Burn
The Republic of Wolves
So Long Forgotten
Release Date
01/23/2010
Label
N/ATracklist
1. New Home Life2. Our Holy Ghosts
3. The Constant
4. Roots
5. Escape To The Mountain, Lest Thou Be Consumed
6. The First One to the Scene Of An Accident 7.Unwriting Our Songs
8. Mutiny
9. Rum And Cigarettes
10. Because This Is How We Speak
11. It’s Raining At Indian Wells
12. What You Call Thought Control, I Call Thought Control
13. An Instrument
14. Apologies
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You can add The Felix Culpa to the list of bands you need to check out, but the Chicago, Illinois four-piece isn’t new – they just haven’t released anything for more than half a decade. That works to their advantage, though. It gives them a chance to reinvent, and then reintroduce themselves as whatever they please. On Sever Your Roots, they wave hello to the world as the best current band doing the Brand New / As Cities Burn sound, emerging with talent that is ahead of that of their musical peers in similar bands. The album is solid for the most part too, hopefully indicating the end of enslavement to cheap Thrice or The Receiving End of Sirens knock-offs for post-hardcore fans.
Sever Your Roots is, at its most basic, a medley of melodies and meanings. Sometimes it lacks an apt melody, but no song is left without a genuine message or story to tell. The track listing confirms as much: the bulk of it is well-written, with numbers like “The Constant,” “Mutiny” and “It’s Raining At Indian Wells” thriving on powerhouse ear-candy choruses. A few songs are trip-ups, though; “Our Holy Ghosts,” “Because This Is How We Speak” and “An Instrument” are built on tacky and somewhat unmemorable melodies. But even then, the emotion in them can still be felt – the kind of emotion where you don’t have to understand the lyrics to understand the desperation and angst they were written in. With the exception of the closer “Apologies,” which is awkward when it bellows, “So come on, come on baby / Jump in, jump in with me,” over a tune epic enough for the second coming of Christ, no track passes by without blaring feeling and passion as powerfully as any band can.
The lyrics are sung and played in such a manner for a reason. The Felix Culpa have some deep thoughts to communicate, and this album is their voice. When the very first lines of opener “New Home Life” are already pondering: “To we, the nearly departed / When we leave this world behind / Will we look back on the mess we left… / Or will we carry on with songs whose words absolve us of ourselves,” you know to expect more than the average protocol for lyrics. And good God, they deliver!. “Peace be still, my son find peace,” “The Constant” counsels like an ancient spiritual, “I built all these bridges from rotted beams / to narrow the span between reprieves.”
“Escape The Mountain, Lest Thou Be Consumed” moans about the human condition: “We’re twice fit to be sons of hell / And we’ve trained up our sons so well / To live our misfortune and fame / It’s such a shame, we’re all the same,” but looks to the metaphysical as a source of hope when it confidently proclaims, “We are so much more than we touch.” “The First One to the Scene Of An Accident Always Gets Blood On Their Hands” is a similar rocker about finding purpose beyond the material things of the world, and the wild “What You Call Thought Control, I Call Thought Control” is downright arresting when it screams, “There’s violins at the Vatican, our kings were crowned by thieves / So I’ll ask you Thomas, what do you believe?” in a grand moment thick with skepticism and a call to reevaluate.
It’s the transcendent themes The Felix Culpa is willing to tackle, and not so much the savvy post-hardcore sonic, that make Sever Your Roots something extraordinary. In an era starved with lack of direction and purpose, the world could sure use some bands that are willing to stop whining about women and start addressing bigger picture questions. It might take some time for the scene to get to that point, if it ever gets there at all. But if it does, you can count on this Illinois band to be among the leaders of the pack. Sever Your Roots is one of the most important albums of 2010 – don’t miss out on it.
--Matthew Tsai
Comments
Dallas, Texas
Good Shit.
Washington, DC
I listened through this album. It was good, but I just got bored with it. I don't get all the hype.
"Standing still is where we've gone wrong" - The dingees
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London, UK
I'm liking it after two listens but need to give it a few more to really tell
Currently listening to:
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster - Exegesis
Suspyre - Suspyre
Hot Water Music - Exister
7 Horns 7 Eyes - Throes Of Absolution
Coopersburg, PA
I know what you're saying but this is an album that needs about four or five spins to really appreciate. After a few listens, I liked it, but also thought it was boring and a little too much to take in for me. Over time though, I couldn't get enough of it, and it has become one of my favorite albums so far this year.
San Jose, CA
It took a while to grow on me because the way the instruments are done on some of the songs are unconventional and interesting (see: blaring bass on "The Constant"). It's definitely not the album of the year, but it is some very solid post hardcore.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
Illinois
i saw these guys with tfot, pretty awesome live band. i love "an instrument" the best.
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