Review Summary: You've got to believe that life is more than a sum of it's parts, kiddo.
Oh, the city burns!
As I listen to this record over and over again, I find nothing change. Everything around me stays the same. The record just plays, and the music engulfs me over and over. The only thing that happens as is I get up to turn the record over from side A to side B. The stagnancy is almost increasing, and yet I am content with it. I feel that's a perfect metaphor for Empire Empire!'s music
Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) are a band that makes sad, sad music. This EP is no exception, although it finds the music that the play at a point of raw emotion almost never revived throughout the rest of their discography. Of course the sadness and lethargy is omnipresent in their music, but This is a record made my a broken man, which is not only obvious in the music, but in the lyrics too.
"oh sure, you can look for reasons
and try to be them, for a while
but you know you can't be her answer
she was never after truth
will your mother still blame you if she knew all the words that she said drove you here?
a half a world away
destroying your body
to get back for every word she said
but it won't change the way she is
and it won't change a thing she did
so calm down
sleep now
forget all the things that she said"
Everything Keith writes for this band is obviously extremely personal, at certain times on this album it almost feels as if you are intruding on his personal life. This record is not rock bottom, this record is falling asleep after a worn out long day of nothing and everything. This record is an escape from the day-to-day processes we go through. This record lets you know that you are not alone.
Stupid metaphors and emotional bull*** aside, the music here is quite top-notch as well, with some of Empire! Empire!'s most memorable riffs and vocal melodies, especially on the song K.O. K.O. (The Most of My Worries Are the Least of Your Concerns). This band is not only good at displaying emotion and beauty, but they are also damn good at writing music.
Nero would be proud.
