The Program -
Artificial Unintelligence
The summer before going off to college I went to see a lot of shows. I wanted to soak up the yay urea before I had to go off into the boonies of Massachusetts where I knew I would not be going to many good concerts. One of the last concerts I went to that summer was Beloved and Time in Malta. Those two are sort of a weird pair, because Beloved is really poppy, and Time in Malta isn't except on select songs. I was expecting people (15 year olds) to show up and tear it up for Beloved since they're so catchy. I also expected people (locals) to show up for Time in Malta, because they're a San Francisco band. However, I was wrong on both accounts. By the time those bands came on others were leaving, and it's all because three very popular local bands were playing. One of them I can't remember, another was Only in Dreams who suck yet somehow have a following, and the last band was The Program. I had no expectations at all and I was completely blown away. Their music was catchy and fast and the whole band was energetic the whole set. Their singer was the highlight. He'd jump all around stage or jump in the audience and engage in the usual antics executed by singers who aren't bound by an instrument. He went beyond that though. He was doing flips. He was climbing on the piping that lined the ceiling near the stage and singing upside down. He was all over the place and it was awesome. I dropped 10 bucks for their album
Artificial Unintelligence and my concert buddy and I listened to it all the way back home to the mid-Pen.
The CD sounds exactly like the band did live: catchy, fast, fun melodic hardcore. Think of bands like Strike Anywhere, Good Riddance, and Set Your Goals, and you're halfway there. However, other than just being power chords and octaves melodies with a punk beat and shouted/sang political lyrics, this band is all that...and maybe a tiny shred more. I'll admit that what The Program is doing has done before, but their take on it feels slightly fresh and divergent. I pin all of this on their rhythmic sophistication. Typically a melodic hardcore band will have straight strummed guitar, equally straight bass, and punk beat drums. Now, with The Program, they get into a lot of midtempo grooves that typically propel the choruses of their songs while the verses are more uptempo. Also, the guitar always seems to have a distinctive rhythmic pattern happening that's independent of the rest of the band. One of my favorite examples of this is in the intro of "Precious." The guitar plays a slow ascent while the drums go crazy with a lot of faster accents. There is a slow guitar juxtaposed against a fast, almost weird beat that gives the song its incredibly catchy introduction. It feels as if for pivotal moments like fills or big breakdowns, the guitars lock into sync with the rest of the band to produce that desired headbang one wants from that type of song section, but then in between those sections they're throwing in a lot of cool variations that bely the simplicity of their breakdown rhythms. Also, this look at their rhythmic awesomeness ignores how fun and original some of their riffing can be, and how fun the singing is. The guy's voice is very distinctive. He has a sort of nasal, snotty punk sound and sounds almost like a deep voiced Anthony Green. As if to combat that inclination to be whiny, the singer often drops into moments of deep growling or general hardcore shouting. Only a few times does he really "scream" as we're used to hearing it, and even then he purposefully make his voice much higher than he can control, making it crack and shriek around in a comedic way. This vocal performance just ties in with his on stage charisma that had initially attracted me to the band.
There aren't many negatives about this band other than the fact that this is just a revamping of a style and genre we've all heard before. Their style is very similar to that of Strike Anywhere's plus a few metallic guitar riffs here and there. Also, their songs aren't particularly complicated on a songwriting level. This band is more geared being fun rather than emotional or epic or anything, so you should know what you're getting into when you approach this CD. It's great driving, sports, and concert music, but may be considered a little light by those hoping for melodic hardcore with the dark sounds of Strung Out or the political gravity of Strike Anywhere. No heavy territory is being touched, but every moment on this album elicits a positive reaction and is very, very catchy. If you're interested in following the band now, they are releasing music under the name [url=*http://www.myspace.com/seizethenightrocknroll]Seize the Night[/url]. They have a slightly more hardcore edge now, but it's still great.
Recommended Tracks: Precious, Start Over, Casual Tragedy, AUI
