Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Cast Before The Break - As Your Shoulders Turn On You

Release Date: 03/??/08
Genre: Alt-Rock

Thank you Absolutepunk for giving this a low score, yet giving it a good review. I was confused, but they said recommended for fans of Moving Mountains, and I still consider MM a new band. So if newer bands are getting compared to MM, well I gotta check them out.

Review: "Onward, Love" has the typical twinkle guitar noise that I love, kind of like Giants, but it gets softer in the sunnyway. Once the vocals kick in, my first though were "Yes!" Is it pretty? It doesn't need to be. I think it fits in well, but then the rest of the song went 2 more minutes with just instruments alone and sometimes I feel like it needed something extra. The next song "From the Earth, at a Crossroad" is rocken and it doesn't seem all that special, but the change of riff right before the chorus is so badass. On top of that, they actually finish the song with a memorable bridge. I don't remember the words, but i always love bands that make me feel that the songs aren't structured, so that last part was a big "we're making this shit up!" feel and I loved it.

Same can be said for "Agnosia," the song has a structure, but the ending makes the song memorable because it just lets go of everything. "Just hold me. Just take me now, maybe this time I will."

"Understanding the Universe" is the highlight of the album. I can't say for sure if the lyrics applies to me, but long after the song is over, scattered lines from this song resonates in my mind. The second verse is like "wow." then the two build up to the bridge and you just know the song is rushing to some amazing place. But I'm bothered by the female vocals here, it just doesn't feel unified at first, but when the male vocalist returns and he's just pouring his emotions out, nothing in the song matters anymore. the chanting of "This is far too heavy for a child to take" intertwining with the emo-ish "and i remember what it's like to be in love." Very chilling. Currently, it's my song of the year. Most likely will end up in my list at the end of the year.

"Cerca Trova" is great. It's hard to follow up the last song, but it does. It was kinda nice to hear the band rock the fuck out. The ending song, "Relying on a Respirator" is mainly acoustic and it's really good, but because it's the ending, I could do without the last acoustic line. Just have it end with the fade at the MMm mmm mMMMM mmm. Why does the line "Why am i dead" stick with me? The band has to be doing something right.

Summary: Overall, it's a kickass album, but it's not perfect. I shouldn't take points off just because every song follows the same formula. But they don't kill it, it actually feels that the song will progress to that direction. The lyrics will echo in your mind hours after the last note plays. I think they could add some bells and strings to give the songs more texture, but they do have that fire in the songs so I might just be picky.

Key Tracks: From the Earth, at a Crossroad, Agnosia, Understanding the Universe
Rating: 9/10

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey!

Thanks for the CD review! The band really appreciates it, I'm gunna send this along to them right now!!! Thats awesome that they made your top song list, such a good song! Throw them a message sometime on myspace!

www.myspace.com/thecastbeforethebreak