The words that you are presently reading could be part of a passage spelling out what exactly it takes for a piece of music to establish itself as a "classic". Or rather, a few sentences could be provided delving into the band-at-hand's genre, segueing into a lengthy discourse on how recent offerings from said genre are nothing more than trite, batshit-quality regurgitation. Furthermore, it could most certainly be included how the respective group goes above and beyond these guano-esque submissions, effectively leaving their contemporaries in the dirt. However, Hot Damn doesn't waste a lone instant of its time on flowery, fudge-packing bullshit, so why the hell would I?
Every Time I Die's second full-length is one-thousand, six-hundred and nine seconds of unadulterated catharsis. It isn't just angry, it's purple-in-the-face indignant. From the hair-raising shriek at the inception of "Romeo A Go-Go" to the unnerving but conclusive static of "Pornogratherapy", Keith Buckley doesn't squander a single breath on anything but perfectly-articulated lividity. His brother Jordan, accompanied by Andy Williams and then-bandmates Mike "ratboy" Novak and Steve Micciche keep up impeccably with pulverizing instrumentation that defecates on the very idea of "precision". The pace of the triturating ordeal varies from the blistering "I Been Gone A Long Time" to a less-rushed track like "Floater", which takes its sweet time in unleashing its fury. "Ebolarama", arguably the record's finest moment, features a music video that showcases ETID and friends rocking the shit out of a Buffalo, NY roller-rink, apparently having a damn good time whilst spewing a musical performance of frenzied and epic proportions. If the disdain that's dribbling from Buckley's voice as he bellows "We don't think in terms of the morning-afters, and we don't utter a single word of the night-befores" doesn't make you either want to wrench out your own spleen or emasculate a priest, well then maybe this record just isn't your cup of tea. I, on the other hand, drink my tea with whiskey and piss. It's last call, k-k-kill it.
I don't give a damn that this already had three halfway-decent reviews, I think it needed a review like this. Yeah I'm a little frustrated about that differential equations final I just took but who gives two shits, I listened to this and felt instantly less like a bitch. I'm a bit of an ETID fanboy, sure, but this album without a doubt deserves at least as much praise as it gets. I'm gonna make myself a stiff one now boys, cheers.
Oh also, I felt obligated to drop the whole Buffalo, NY thing, so forgive me. Or just, I don't know, hit me in the face with a battering ram.
This album and New Junk Aesthetic are the best Every Time I Die has made. I agree with andcas TBD is probably their 2nd weakest, but it is better than Gutter Phenomenon
Yeah I have The Big Dirty at 4.5 and I think the whole band was the strongest they've been at that point in their career, New Junk Aesthetic felt like a small step in the wrong direction but it was still solid. This however is an awesome album in its own respects too
thanks a lot Xeno. NJA is a return to form (of sorts) to this... NJA is basically the more polished version of Hot Damn, but HD's rawness is what makes it so awesome, in my eyes at least.
haha right on! Hopefully I can still manage an A in that class, part 2 of the final is on Thursday...we'll see how it goes. It's kind of a fun class in a math-nerd sort of way, at least compared to a lot of the other classes I take.
hah what a bummer dude, calculus in general is one of my favorite subjects. Then again, I wouldn't be a math major if I didn't at least halfway-enjoy doing the shit.
