I’m not quite sure what Daryl Palumbo’s girlfriend did, but that motherf
ucker is pis
sed. I mean, it’s evident that she’s cheated on him, but that can’t be the only thing that’s irking him. It’s probably that he’s just highly emotional, or he’s playing it for the record. But if he is acting, he’s doing a da
mn good job of selling it, and making me worry for any girl who may become involved with him.
The lyrics on
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence mainly consist of Palumbo telling us how he plans on killing his girlfriend. Sometimes they tell us what exactly it is she did to instill so much rage into him. Such as on, easily, the angriest song of the album, “Lovebites and Razorlines” where Palumbo screams:
“You ***ing whore/Shut up and swallow my pride for me/Move closer and drive further/Suck on the end of this dick that cums lead/But first I’m coming after you all”
Palumbo also has some great one-liners here and there. In the opening song “Pretty Lush” he offers some good tidings to everyone for the upcoming holiday season by proclaiming
“I wish you a broken heart/And I happy new year”. However, Palumbo is no shallow figure, only singing about his own broken heart. He often finds times to be quite profound, and even call out the big man upstairs. In the title track, he sings about poverty and asks the world
“Children shiver in the river/Where is our god now?/Does he watch over all in El Segundo?”.
Palumbo’s lyrical content is perfectly matched by the band’s instrumentation, and it also fits the name of the band perfectly as well. Personally, when I first heard the name “Glassjaw” I immediately thought of a clear glass jar hitting the ground in slow motion and the chaos that caused this occurrence.
The bass and guitar are usually in drop D tuning, for the fast-paced angrier songs. The guitar riffs can be fast and heavy though for a few songs, they’re slow and tender, though nothing really stands out on it’s own as different from the other songs. The bass riffs are usually very good, and at multiple times a little of what sounds like a slap technique is used that sounds exactly like glass hitting the ground. One great example is in the bridge of “Piano” where the music stops, and then just the bass can be heard, until the guitar comes together, and they combine to create the instrumental highlight of the album, because in the end, the band truly is Palumbo’s vocals, and the rest of the band is just there to complement him.
Speaking of Palumbo’s vocals, he is without a doubt in my mind, the best vocalist in post-hardcore. He’s got a wide range from shouting at the top of his lungs to a tender and heartbreaking vocal performance on the album’s bonus track, and he can switch between these at the drop of a hat. Every yell he belts out is so full of anger, insecurity, and so much more, it’s amazing and hard to describe.
One of the most beautiful moments of the album is at the climax of the title track, where Palumbo starts screaming unintelligibly and then after a few seconds screams
“This is what it’s like to be alone/This is what it’s like to be alone” with so much intensity and emotion once it me, I was paralyzed. And after this scream, a little bit of soft sobbing can be heard and it’s hard to feel anything other than amazement at what he’s able to do with his voice.
It may have taken a few listens to really get into this album, but after finally understanding all that goes into Palumbo’s vocals and lyrics, it has become a favorite album of mine. The guitar and bass may have some nice riffs, and the drums may have a few good beats here and there, but in the end Glassjaw is all about Daryl Palumbo, and Daryl Palumbo
is Glassjaw.
