Review Summary: Nails ups the runtime with their third LP, but don't sacrifice their no frills, nothing but meat approach to songwriting
At this point in Nails’ career, it becomes harder and harder to believe this this project began as a kind of “on the side” outlet for former Terror guitarist Todd Jones. Not only does his current band shake the wallet chains off his aforementioned old one, but Nails have worked their way up as one of the leading bands in hardcore with only two albums, and only one of them clocks in past 15 minutes. Perhaps a reason why Nails has become so prominent in the hardcore scene is because of their total lack of indulgence, providing albums that people can listen to in their entirety while in the break room of their miserable food service jobs. But within those 15 minutes is “the money riff” and nothing but the money riff, leaving listeners full and satisfied despite such a bite-sized runtime. Nails pushes the runtime up a bit with this 21 minute third LP. Although one probably cannot listen to it start to finish while on break at Burger King, You Will Never Be One Of Us has Nails giving us another short, focused, and wholly satisfying release.
The band’s previous LP, Abandon All Life, somehow managed to attack with even greater ferocity than their debut record. Although the album absolutely rips, some were left complaining that the album doesn’t “stick” as much as the first and it wasn’t as memorable. This new record will surely please anyone who made that complaint about their previous record. Todd and the band focus more on hooks than ever before, expertly constructing their bite-sized songs with catchy choruses and precisely placed breakdowns to keep things coasting along without a hitch, and by “coasting” I mean plowing full-bore into hell. Nails’ use of breakdowns is something to be admired, as these segments break up the intense speed and create a level of contrast that’s incredibly important in extreme music, as blasting and nothing but blasting can become monotonous and cause an album’s signal to slowly fade over its runtime. Not to mention that these breakdowns are sure to get a pit going if you’re lucky enough to see this band slay live.
On You Will Never Be One Of Us, Nails lets their metal influences shine more clearly than ever before. This causes the album to be less chaotic than previous releases while being more technical and precise. While many listeners will like this new direction, some may be left missing the more chaotic hardcore-based sound of before. This shift to a leaner and more focused approach may also make this album seem less intense than their previous work, but still, a slightly less intense Nails album still makes most bands’ albums sound like nursery rhymes in comparison.
The album’s closer “They Come Crawling Back” is easily the most ambitious thing they’ve ever undertaken as it is eight minutes long, which is very long by most bands’ standards, not just Nails. Thankfully, the band’s writing is sharp enough to apply their “nothing but the money riff” approach to a song of this length. After a cold black metal-esque opening riff, the band rages into a buildup that leads to one of the most mosh-friendly verse/choruses on the album. We’re eventually treated to an absolutely torturous breakdown complete with a harsh, upstroke raking of the strings. Unfortunately, after a fantastic doomy bridge we’re left with a second breakdown that pales in comparison to the first. While it will certainly get a mosh going, it isn’t that unique of a breakdown, nor is it uniquely heavy. Nonetheless, Nails was able to execute an eight minute song successfully, as well as another short album that leaves listeners with an “I just ate a massive steak” feeling of satisfaction.
Nails hits the mark once again by unleashing a short, concentrated burst of metal and hardcore that eschews indulgence (save for the eight minute track) in favor for immediacy and a no frills, catchy approach to songwriting. How the band will change (or not change) their sound in the future remains to be seen, but until then we have another 20 minutes to add to the half-hour of gratifying extremity and rage that is the Nails discography.
