Review Summary: Dr. Acula has officially made "party" a genre.
Dr. Acula isn't exactly respected 'round these parts, and with good reason. They started as a joke band who lifted their name from an episode of Scrubs and their song titles from Goosebumps novels, and played an immature style of grind/deathcore. One EP and two LP's later though, the band is set to release
The Social Event Of The Century on 420, and it looks like DA might actually be on to something here.
And that something? ***in' partying.
The album kicks off with the title track, and its apparent form the start that DA might be taking themselves a bit more seriously. The vocals are still all over the place, but are done with a modicum of skill and diversity, unlike the monotonous embarrassment that "Below Me" was. The guitars are still relatively basic, but some sweeps and solos are thrown in every now and then for good measure. The drumming is simple, but it provides a solid backbone for the music. The samples are still here, in greater numbers than before too. Its a good thing that more often than not, they are well placed and amusing, with numerous nods to Family Guy, The Boondock Saints, Step Brothers, South Park and... Christopher Walken?
The track "There's No Glory In Fame" presents possibly the best breakdown in DA's career, headed off with a sample from The Boondock Saints that sets the tone perfectly, and will definitely coax a smile out of the most elitist metalheads. "The Music Video Game Olympics" follows literally the same formula with a sample of South Park before a breakdown, but thats where it ends. (relatively speaking, all the songs here sound somewhat similar.)
The longest track on the album, "The L Train To "High" Street" is, not surprisingly, 4 minutes, 20 seconds long, is about smoking weed, and features samples of someone hitting a bong. It also happens to be a pretty damn fun track, incorporating some rare clean singing behind the screaming. The instrumentation is also probably the best on the album, which in the big picture isn't saying much.
Much of the album is immature, but its becoming clearer that Dr. Acula is learning to balance plain immaturity with
fun, and that's where this album really excels. Kick back, pop this on, and crack open a beer or seventeen, maybe smoke a joint or six. It's almost a sure thing that
The Social Event Of The Century will put a stupid drunken grin on your face at least once or twice.
Recommended Tracks:
Show Stopper!!
New York, California, and Nowhere In Between
The L Train To "High Street"
There's No Glory In Fame
