There’s a recent thread on the boards decrying the shitty scenester music that kids today are listening to, including the infamous BrokeNCYDE (which Erik Thomas just wiped his ass with a few weeks ago). Now, I’ve ignored the vast majority of all this stuff for the past ten years, going back to when pop punk first begat emo, and then when emo begat screamo. All those MTV bands like Hawthorne Heights, Story of the Year, Thursday and a thousand others – never really knew what they sounded like, and never really cared. The same went for the majority of the US metalcore/deathcore explosion – I wrote off most of those bands as spastic, me-too copycats who couldn’t find a way to craft their stolen At the Gates riffs into decent songs.
So I had no idea what to expect from this Attack Attack! band, except that I heard that they mix a whole bunch of stuff into one spastic, nonsensical mass. And that hip-hop was involved somehow. And I don’t do hip-hop.
Well, although Someday Came Suddenly does start with a hiphop intro, that’s the last you hear of that genre, because follow-up “Stick Stickly,” as promised, smashes together emo-pop/screamo, metalcore/deathcore chug and breakdowns and dance club techno into one restless and (believe it or not) catchy mix. Of course, if you hate emo vocals (especially autotuned emo vocals, which this album has in spades), then you’ll hate this, and if you hate the kitchen sink approach you’ll be turned off as well, but I find the genre-blending to be actually kind of fascinating. At the very least, it’s something I haven’t heard before.
A lot of you probably think I’m taking the piss here (although maybe not those of you who couldn’t fathom my glowing Gorod review). However, after listening to a ton of emo-pop and screamo bands recently (in preparation for a blog entry to be posted here shortly), I have to say that I don’t mind emo vocals so long as the melodies are appealing, and these are okay. Plus there’s actually a lot of screaming throughout, and it’s unhinged and maniacal enough to actually warrant the post-hardcore tag that so many other emo-pop/screamo bands simply do not deserve. The warbling electronics layered over the screaming, as on the fragmented, lurching “Party Foul,” is also pretty fucking cool. I think I like it because it’s more kitschy and Nintendocore than the electronic symphonics employed by other Hot Topic darlings like Winds of Plague and The Devil Wears Prada. Again, it’s something new.
That all said, a lot of the tracks blend together and there’s really not any strong, cohesive songwriting here – it’s basically the Frankenstein school of composition (and this is coming from a massive Opeth fan). Yet compared with everything else I’ve sampled recently (from saccharine TRL tween-bait like Fall Out Boy to barely aggressive screamo like Thursday or Hawthorne Heights), this is at least the most inspired and eccentric. The maniacal screaming also gives this way more cred and balls than a lot of the other soundalike screamo bands. I will say that the spread-leg, dropped-ass stance that the guitarists use in the video is ridiculous, but then again, so is Amon Amarth‘s synchronized hair-swinging.
So no, I don’t think this is the end of the world, and electronics and haphazard genre-splicing aside, I don’t see how this gets lumped in with boorish rap-metal/crunkcore acts like Hollywood Undead or BrokeNCYDE. Am I going to have this blaring out of my car windows? No, probably not. And would I usually choose this instead of Burst or Memfis or Cult of Luna or any other of the bands that actually deserve the post-hardcore tag? Nope. But I’d still rather listen to Attack Attack! than Hammerfall.
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This is nowhere near as bad as Brokencyde- i actually had it on my ipod for a bit
on Aug 29th, 2009 at 18:29yeah I hope they can find a way to write better songs next go-round, ’cause the overall sound is oddly appealing.
on Aug 29th, 2009 at 19:46Why the hell did I watch that video? Anyway.
I’m not really hearing the “maniacal screaming” you mention. Yeah, there’s screaming, but it’s the same mannered, “professional” screaming that all of these bands seem to use. It’s the kind of screaming you learn from a vocal coach, and there’s no heart in it whatsoever. Go back and listen to the stuff that was being called screamo before the word was co-opted by pop-punks — I’m thinking particularly of Saetia (duh), Jerome’s Dream, Usurp Synapse, that kind of thing — and you will hear some actual maniacal screaming.
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 01:38“…Amon Amarth’s synchronized hair-swinging.”
This does include just about EVERY long-haired metal band out there – they all do it, intentionally or not.
I still consider this music to be “Hot-Topic-core”. No more, no less.
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 05:26Don’t mention Thursday in the same breath as any of this shit. They play post-hardcore (in Fugazi At The Drive-In sense of the word), and actually give a shit about the music they make.
Those other asshats (the band you’re reviewing included) all make shit music and just want teen groupie.
And great end to the review.
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 09:29fuck this… oh, and FUCK THURSDAY…
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 10:53Sounds terrible. and Amon Amarth’s synchronized windmilling is absolutely awesome and more metal than the faggoty postures and guitar tossing antics of these baboons will ever be.
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 11:02@ grist: ok I will check out those bands. still preferred the screaming in this to the other emo-pop/”screamo” bands I’ve heard. although to be fair (and as I said in the review) I have barely paid attention to the genre aside from the first three Zao albums. Not even sure they are considered screamo or not.
@ PizzaClaus: sorry if Thursday are a fave of yours but nothing I have heard from them impressed me. Maybe they are significant from a historical perspective but I was expecting a lot more. I listened to their first and most recent albums.
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 09:37I’m not saying you’ll like those bands (of the three I listed, Saetia is the only one I still listen to), or even their vocal style — I just think it’s a more “sincere” approach than what’s been going on recently.
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 10:33Absolutely genius review.
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 12:00genius, I dunno about that (and am curious to hear why you think so) but glad you found it entertaining! I wasn’t even intending on reviewing this but as I was listening to it I started jotting down notes and there you have it.
since then I have put the album on three times and never made it through because everything is so fucking disjointed. shame.
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 12:11You want “real” screamo? Listen to One Eyed God Prophecy (their only full-length) or Orchid (especially the Chaos Is Me Lp)
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 12:22Ha ha ha. I’m really surprised this one didn’t get ripped to shreds here.
I actually dug the song Stick Stickly (the one they have the vdeo for) but something just won’t let me purchase this.
It just somehow seems too trendy, and I hate to be a snob, but it does sound like a mix of everything that’s popular right now.
Oh well I better take back some street cred and go listen to something underground…..now where’s my Benea Reach cd?
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 12:39Hey it’s cool. Common Existence (the newest Thursday) blew me away.
And for more tr00 Screamo check out some Neil Perry, A Days Refrain, Yaphet Kotto,, and City Of Caterpillar (all of those bands have long since broken up).
on Sep 1st, 2009 at 22:26There should be a U.N. summit to discuss just how wrong you are. The mighty Hammerfall tread all over this hair-over-one-eye screaming about my girlfriend tossery, both in terms of metal and hair. *rinses out ears of this tween garbage*
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 01:50I would rather have New Kids on the Block blasting out my car windows than Hammerfall, at least you could claim irony if someone called you on it.
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 08:44I prefer any powermetal or metal of any kind over this,and having seen them live,I shudder to think of it ever happening again(my gf’s kids are into them).And synchronized anything isn’t bad by any means,hell it just means the group has a better rythem than most.Many great Hammerfall memories windmilling to Hammerfall and Dewscented.
Still,for the kitchen sink approach,nobody beats Crotchduster,and a decent ripoff is The Forgotten Archtype(sp?).They mix so many genres and successfully,I love them.That and the humour is great.
on Sep 4th, 2009 at 14:00Very interesting and fair review. All I know of this band is the video for “Stick Slickly” and I couldn’t get over how gay it was…though the second time I watched it later on I was like “man, this band has some good breakdowns…” Now I’m wondering if maybe I would like the actual music better if it wasn’t combined with a cheesy video featuring faggy-looking guys in tight pants with bad haircuts doing awful dance moves.
I am actually going to give this band an honest second look, JUST BECAUSE OF THIS REVIEW
on Sep 8th, 2009 at 23:35Just found this site and im loving it already
on Oct 23rd, 2010 at 15:53