Lead by ex-Catch 22 lead vocalist and guitarist Tomas Kalnoky, this is Streetlight Manifesto's debue full length on Victory Records. The rest of the six person lineup hail from either One Cool Guy or from Catch 22. So it isn't really a surprise that this album sounds like a follow up to Keasby Nights.
The Pros:
The Horn Work: Not surprising from ex-One Cool Guy guys but still impressive. Not that the indivitual horn parts are particularly good, but they way they are combined makes for great melody.
The Lyrics: Thomas doesn't take any queues from Ezra Pounds. If he wants to say something he says it. He fits one hell of a lot of lyrics into a song and he gets them to sound great, and managing to give a fairly clear message in the process, which is a step up from his Keasby Nights days.
The Anthems: It feels like every song has a great memorable sing along line. Though it doesn't really matter. Go to one of their shows and you will find most of the people singing along to every word.
The Cons:
The Guitar Work: The guitar fits most places, but is never very complicated or original. Not a big con though because it does fit.
The Vocals: I love the vocals but I know they aren't for everyone. They are raspy and out of tune at times. But you don't need the best of voices to sing at these speeds. It does fit the music and the backup vocals I have no complaint with
Repetition: With great anthems come great repetition. Because of the strength of the anthems, you don't notice how repetitive some of the songs are until you listen to the cd 20 or 30 (or 50 ) times. Its worst in The Saddest song and probably best in Point Counterpoint.
The CD:
It starts with a measured horn intro and then the drums break in to draw you into a skapunk mood. The CD doesn't let up for long until track 9, but we will get to that. Everything Went Numb hits you with a combination of melodious horn work and Thomas's breakneck vocal stylings. Throughout the album his speed and flow rivals many rap artists.
Then we move through a harder song on tack 2. This song may be a nod to their label, Victory Records, because it has a very hard intro. This song really shows off the skill of the drummer but is probably one of the weaker songs on the album.
From there it moves into Point Counterpoint, probably the best song on the album.
Point Counterpoint starts with an acoustic guitar and the words Ive Got a Gun in my Hand. This slow intro from a dying character leads to horn and bass driven story about a guy lamenting life and his arguments with a girl. The lyrics sound good but the best part of this song is the arangement which shows how much you can do with such talented musicians.
If and When We rise again is another pleasing melodious anthem song, this time with a slight polka influence. Some of the best individual horn work on the album can be found on this track along with some of the best use of backing vocals, especially when there is a round towards the end.
From here, the cd goes into a somber bass intro with Thomas singing in a reserved pop-punk manner. It threw me off at first but works well with the rest of the song, which is an anti-suicide song. The lyrics are great and this rivals Point/Counterpoint for my favorite song on the album. The pop-punk feel of the song isn't something I expected from the band, but like every style he's tried, Thomas pulls it off very well.
I'm skipping We are the Few and only mentioning Failing, Flailing because it has one of my favorite lyrics of all time (and you say your lifes a bore/ and I cant quite disagree/when you judge your life by the pieces of shit that inhabit your tv). Not to say they are bad in any way but they are good for reasons already mentioned, they have great arrangements, anthematic choruses and breakneck verses.
Here's to Life is a cover of an Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution song. Of course, since Thomas headed that band too... I don't really know if it counts as a cover. It's a ode to his favorite authors whose lives ended a bit to early. It's not a surprise that he brought it over (though I prefer the BOTAR version with a part with a female vocalist) because they song is a great work of melody and lyrics.
After that it is A Moment of Silence/A Moment of Violence which are more or less one song. AMoS is a loser's anthem with Thomas telling losers that he know show they feel (I've never met a loser that I didn't see eye to eye with). It might come off as false humility if you have neer seen pictures of old Catch 22 preformances. Thomas looks like a band geek in those pictures, and I for one am very glad he was.
The pen-ultimate song is The Saddest Song. I can't really say anything about this song that isn't true about the other songs on the album. It's anthematic with great horn interludes and quick, good lyrics.
Wrapping things up is The Big Sleep. It's a war song with some great lyrics about the futility of war and beautiful arrangement.
I know I gave it cons, but they really only show themselves if you really disect the album. There is only one way you can not like this album and that is if you really can't get around his vocals or you are tone deaf. This is an album anyone from Metalheads to Potheads will enjoy. I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like this album.
5/5
