Review Summary: If you can cut your brain off for 30 or so minutes, and enjoy some nostalgic punk/nu-metal, then you will definitely dig this album.
I am generally a pretty open guy. If I love something, I usually let people know I feel about it, likewise if I hate something. But sometimes, there are just somethings I don't very openly admit to liking, simply because I get massive amounts of flak for it.
Nu-Metal is one of those things.
On My Ticket Home's second full length "Strangers Only", they combine my two favorite genres (Metal-core and Nu-Metal) to very good (and surprising) effect. The album kicks off with the musical equivalent of a punch to the face in "Spit Not Chewed" and stays with the same level of aggression for the entirety of it's 30 minute run time. Well, maybe I lied a little bit, it does let up for a moment in the song "Head Change", but like I said, it's only for a moment before screamer/bassist Nick Giumenti vocally assaults the listener. In the second single (and third track) "Hot Soap", we get to hear new clean vocalist/rhythm guitarist Derek Blevins sing the woes of mistrust in a relationship, and while he isn't as versatile of a singer as Sean Mckowski was, he finds his place in the band. In fact, the theme of mistrust is a common one on the album, especially with the aforementioned track "Head Change" and track 6 "You All Know Better Than Me".
Let's talk for a minute about the rest of My Ticket Home. With Marshal Giumenti controlling the constant chaos throughout the album with his fun and consistent drumming and Matt Gallucci coming up with some interesting leads (guitar scratching, yay!), they compliment the vocals very well, along with the rhythm and almost non existent bass. All in all, the band themselves prove that they are very capable of crafting chaos fueled punk songs.
My Ticket Home is an interesting band, in that they basically reinvent themselves with each release. They definitely aren't a boring band. If you can cut your brain off for 30 or so minutes, and enjoy some nostalgic punk/nu-metal, then you will definitely dig this album.
