Sunsets and Car Crashes
The Spill Canvas
One Eleven Records 2003
Hailing from Sioux Falls, SD, Nick Thomas heads up his acoustic outfit, The Spill Canvas, while constructing anthems of brutally honest youthful angst.
At the age of 15, after paying his dues in numerous local punk rock groups, Nick grabbed his acoustic and began to dive into a world completely different from his previous musical endeavors. He began to play assorted local venues simply under his name, Nick Thomas. But after a few successful shows, there was an increasing interest from other local musicians to join Nick on his solo journey. In turn, he tagged an actual band name so that his guest musicians wouldn't feel uncomfortable playing under his name. The project was called 'The Spill Canvas'.
After finishing high school, Nick substituted college with his music. At 18 he had already been on several small midwestern tours, as well as a few coast-to-coast jaunts, gaining legions of fans and recording numerous demos in between his travels.
Finally, in April of 2003, Nick met up with Brad Fischetti-president of aspiring new label, 111 records. The two hit it off, and instantly started working together to build The Spill Canvas empire as big as possible.
Now at 19, Nick has his first label debut release slated for late September on 111. The album is tentatively titled 'Sunsets and Car Crashes'. It combines all sides of the Spill Canvas spectrum to create a sonic, unabashed, melting pot of acoustic based music for every walk of life.
Review:
If you are looking for anything other than passionate vocals, emotional lyrics and chilling acoustic riffs then look else were but if you are looking these aspects in an album then look no further. This album is pure gold to those who love melodic acoustic songs with a touch of vocal energy.
Sunsets and Car Crashes starts off with the powerful but not over dramatic 'Aim, Snap, Fall' which in itself is a song that leaves you wanting more but as a opener for the album it leads beautifully into the rest of the tracks. The next track 'Caterpillars' leaves you only half satisfied and if it was the only song I heard I probably would not of bought the album because this is one of the tracks that I am indifferent about.
'The Tide' is the third and arguably the best song on this album. Deep lyrics grab you so deeply you'll want to listen to it twice just to hear every word while the emotion shown in the vocals is simply stunning. This track was the first I heard of The Spill Canvas and as soon as I was done listening to it I knew I had to buy the album.
'The Tide' seems to round off the introduction to the album and The Spill Canvas seem to take a different approach to the rest of the tracks. 'Your Evil Soul' is a strong track that is well worth a listen with great lyrics and strong dynamics. 'Bracelets' has grown on me a lot and is now one of my favorite songs on this album, some of the lyrics paint such a vivid picture in your head it's truly incredible this is one of my favorite parts in the entire album:
In this dream that I had....
"You can't kill heroes"-that's what we said to them
"You can't kill us"
With our instruments broken before us
And the boys in the line they begin to count to five
And the trigger pulls
The bullets pepper the brick wall behind our heads
** and the smoke, it fills the air
The captain yells to cease fire
And the squad begins to wait and stare
As the dust clears the air, and we're still standing
With smiles on both our faces
We spit their faulty ammo to the ground
and remind them once again
With smiles on both our faces
We spit their faulty ammo to the ground
and remind them once again that you can't kill heroes
One thing I don't like about The Spill Canvas is about 2/3 of their songs are about relationships which gets old after a while and I enjoy this song because, lyrically, it's very different from the majority of this album.
'All hail the Heart Breaker' is an honorable mention and has grown on me since the first few initial listens, probably because I can identify with the song easily. From here on out the album seems to go downhill with interesting but hallow songs except for one track, 'Black Dresses'. 'Black Dresses' is a seven-minute epic that I place right up next to 'The Tide'. Even though it is seven minutes it passes all to quickly for the quality of songwriting that is in this track. Nick Thomas' emotional lyrics drive this song, the song moves quickly along with lines such as this:
Just do as you're instructed and....
Take this razor and cut your palms
I'll do the same until a river of crimson begins to flow
Now drip your ruby red over the casket
A funeral for my once loved youth
It might take a few listens but when the bridge finally hits you it's a moment of awe, imagery combined with driven acoustics and powerful vocals will hit you like a sledge hammer and you might have to catch your breath really quick before you go on.
If this track and 'The Tide' were the only two good tracks on the whole album it would still be well worth your money but the fact is that there are more great songs which makes this album a must have for just about anyone who is open to more than just distorted electric guitars playing power chord riffs. I'm not going to give this album a number rating I'll just say, it's good and this is a band that I think it well worth supporting.
Overall this album is amoung my favorites, it's far from flawless and a few(only a few) of the songs are downright boring but the ones that catch you will really grip you hard. You have it on my word that you will not regret buying this album.
