Review Summary: It's rare that an album can receive rotation in moods ranging from anger and sadness to happiness and contentment.
Daggermouth was a Canadian pop punk/Hardcore Punk band originating from Vancouver, British Columbia. They started around early 2004, quickly building a solid reputation by touring with bands such as Moneen and SNFU. They were signed to Smallman Records and in late-2005 released their debut album Stallone. They continued to tour and in March 2007, released their second album Turf Wars.
Lyrically, Turf Wars comes off as honest and not at all poetic. In a good way. The songs mainly deal with vocalist Nick Leadlay's personal struggles and problems. "Too Late, No Friends" talks about Nick getting kicked out of home, a concept that is nothing new to the music world but the way the band executes it certainly is. The band manages to make the less than happy lyrical content, come off as triumphant and hopeful. "I guess I learned that life isn't always that fair" is the build up to the chorus which is sure to be a recognizable part of any of the bands live shows. "You Do This As A Fad, We Do This As A Lifestyle" tells the story of the murder of a close friend. More sad lyrics that come off as hopeful. "In Friends We Trust," is the gang sung chorus of the song that manages to give the listener chills, which is a rare occurrence in most pop-punk songs.
The instrumental work is tight and each instrument seems to feed off the energy of the other. Turf Wars has a few very short songs (Short, as in clocking about forty seconds) yet they seem like much more than album filler as one would expect; in fact they're welcomed for the fast and to-the-point lyrics, yet still managing to be catchy. As for the rest of the record, it's pretty catchy too, with lots of backup vocals and fast, hard-hitting songs. The record in all honesty seems like the band matured a bit from their last, improving on all aspects and still remaining Daggermouth. The band manages to accomplish more on an album that clocks in just over half an hour than most bands do in a career.
In the end it just feels wrong to rate this album any less than a classic. The deeply personal lyrics have helped many D-Mouth fans overcome their biggest problems (Me included) yet even when life is great, the album still hits the spot. It's rare that an album can receive rotation in moods ranging from anger and sadness to happiness and contentment. Turf Wars is nothing less than a classic in the hardcore genre.
