Review Summary: It's pretty good if you don't expect them to be U2. Just kidding. Who's U2?
Switchfoot is a band that most people write off as a boring, typical mid-tempo rock group that “had a few good songs” and had seen its glory days come and go already. Unfortunately, most of these people glance over what the critics say about their albums and automatically base their opinions around that without listening to the album at all—well, perhaps the first thirty seconds of a few of the tracks.
The truth is, Switchfoot has only evolved into something a little bit better with each album. They started out as a three-piece indie band from San Diego in the mid 90s (yeah, total surfer dudes) and released their first three albums on a Christian label (yeah, I said it) which, while each had a few promising gems within, were mediocre. Their fourth album, The Beautiful Letdown, was picked up by Columbia Records in 2003 and the hits “Meant to Live” and “Dare You To Move” were played so many times a day on local radio stations I wanted to stick a needle in my arm and embrace lethal injection. Over two million copies of that sucker were sold, and this was Switchfoot’s fifteen minutes of fame, so to speak. In 2005, their darker and more densely layered Nothing is Sound was released, and by this time the three piece was a five with the addition of guitarist Drew Shirley and keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, who joined the team on the last album. That album was similarly successful and sold over a half million. The single “Stars” had some moderate airplay, but the short-lived popularity was already dwindling. By 2006’s rushed Oh! Gravity a year later the buzz was over and the album sold less than a quarter of what The Beautiful Letdown did.
Now, most bands make a few samey albums spaced three to five years apart and break up. This band has always been at work even after their popularity died. In 2007, Switchfoot parted ways with their mainstream label Columbia records to become independent again and work on an album at their own pace. This required building their own complete studio, starting from scratch, and throwing out all the old leftover demos from their previous albums. As they wrote and recorded new material, over 80 songs were possibilities for their next record. They narrowed it down to 12 for their 2009 fresh rebirth that was Hello Hurricane. There was a new vibe in the air; a feeling of freedom and maturity. The beats were punchier and the melodies were natural. The majority of rock listeners thought that Switchfoot had faded away without significance eight years ago. Little did they know that this band is only truly beginning. With Vice Verses, the band already had the studio set up and the concept in mind with the number of songs demoed going from a happy-go-lucky 80 to a concise 15 or less. This IS the album the band has wanted to create for their fifteen years (and counting) career and it is definitely their strongest.
The most signature thing about Switchfoot has always been Jon Foreman’s writing. Personally, this is what really turns me on to them. Sure, they never really belt out a great guitar solo and their songs are always structured similarly to the verse-chorus-verse formula but this guy’s writing and singing… is something else. He means it when he sings it, and for that I admire him. It’s the farthest from being pretentious as I can fathom, really. The lyrics are always introspective, passionate, and brutally vulnerable and honest. He has soul, and this time around his rhymes are amongst his best.
The album kicks off with some swirling feedback and the main riff of “Afterlife” crunches through the speakers. Foreman sings with a sense of strong self-assurance about apathetic people who don’t do anything to change their lives. It’s a pretty good start, but the chorus isn’t as strong as I expected it to be. However, some decent guitar work in the solo keeps it from being boring. The Original follows, offering more of a laid-back approach from the last song but the energy is just as rockin’. It’s so punchy! This song features some of the best guitar playing Drew has ever recorded. Do I hear some actual soloing going on there? It’s about damn time. On the next track, the verses just seem to roll off his tongue. Jon Foreman seems to have some sort of problem where he blames himself for everything. It’s like on every record, man! On “Stars” from Nothing is Sound, he recites “Maybe I’ve been the problem, maybe I’m the one to blame…”, on “The Sound in My Mouth” from the Oh! EP he sings “I am the crook who robs me. I am my own adversary. I am my enemy, and my mouth is an army” and on “Mess of Me” from Hello Hurricane it’s “I am my own affliction, I am my own disease… The sickness is myself.” This time he’s talking about “I am the war inside. I am the battle line. I am the rising tide. I am the war I fight.” Calm down, Jon. Maybe it is someone else’s problem, not yours. Anyway, you can’t really help but smirk and nod your head up and down to this one. It keeps the momentum going and the first three tracks are the heaviest and most energetic intro on any Switchfoot album. The power is temporarily put on hold, however, when the music segues into the single Restless, a chilled out, soul-searcher that’s bound to steal some CCM airplay. It’s pretty good. The next song, a mid-tempo pop-rocker The Blinding Light is a bit of filler you could say. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not horrible, but besides the verses and the chorus there really isn’t anything else there. Hey boy, the almost four and a half time length could have been narrowed down to three.
As the middle of the album approaches, Selling the News bombards the typical structure of a Switchfoot song with slam poetry in the verses which is nearly rapped out. This song is a definite highlight of the album. It’s a flat-out attack at the mass media and how corrupt America has become, which always gets brownie points from this reviewer. It reminds me of the dark themes of the desperation of society on Nothing is Sound mixed in with the anti-materialistic points of Oh! Gravity. It’s definitely the type of song you got to read the lyrics to a few times for the message to sink in. Some cool electronic noise at the end fades to the somber guitar notes of Thrive, another solid ballad. This one is really spacey and full of reverb and it works perfectly for what they were aiming for. Of course, it would have been nice to hear the guitar ring out for a minute without Jon singing the chorus again, but whatever. Before you have a chance to think about it, Dark Horses rapes your face off. Nah, but the energy is fully gained again and the riff to this song is legitimately badass and the verses and chorus have the best melody on the album. I’m surprised this song wasn’t placed near the beginning of the album. The segueing between Dark Horses and Souvenirs is awesome and I wish it was used in more of the album. The nostalgic melody of the guitar kicks in and Jon cranks out some of the most heartstring tugging lyrics he’s ever written, at least to me personally, about remembering the simple times of past friendship, youth, and love. It sparks memories of my own best friends and family, so well done boys. You made my eyes water. Rise Above It is an unlikely track ten. Like, it’s another fast-paced rocker that everyone’s not going to notice because of the number of other fast-paced songs on here. It’s a shame, because It’s good though. Rise above your boring suburb, kids! Screw the system! Yeah! The most solemn song of them all, the title track, is placed after it. Vice Verses just features Jon, his acoustic guitar, and a lot of cool reverb that echoes back and forth throughout the song. Some interesting lyrics here. I can just imagine Jon sitting by the beach at night with a pen and paper watching the waves hit the shore. It’s very moody. Where I Belong is the album’s epic closer, and seems to bring the album together as a whole. It’s the band’s longest track to date, ringing up an almost seven minutes. Nonetheless, they don’t have *** on Pink Floyd. Anywho, I love the feel of this one even though it is musically pretty simple. The only thing I was ticked off about is whenever the climax reaches when Jon screams “So let’s go boys, play it out!” only a half-assed rhythm-y guitar solo is played. I was expecting like some wankery, man! What gives? The album closes beautifully with lyrics from Afterlife reprised and chanted, much like what they did with Hello Hurricane. When it is over with, it feels significant. That’s what I love about it. The Switchfoot guys are like brothers, and I can’t wait to see what else they can do together in the future.
