I crucified the band’s 2003 album ‘The Waiting Room’ when I reviewed it. I remember it as an album that attempted to ride the crest of an ’emo’ wave yet fell at the first sight of the wave. It was generic, boring and derivative. I wasn’t surprised the band called it quits not too long after.
I was more surprised when they announced they were re-uniting and releasing another album. And, to be fair, this album is better than its predecessor, although it would have taken a huge effort to actually do anything that sounded worse. The riffs are bigger and harder, the vocals sound more passionate than I remember and there’s some guts and balls here. ‘Where’s My Bourbon’ is a sweeping start with some fucking awesome drumming and a vocal that spits bile. It’s not recreated all that often – track two ‘It’s Nothing New’ immediately slows the tempo down – but when the band do push the pace they sound all the better for it.
There are a lot of bands doing this kind of thing, but credit where it’s due because this is much better than the album the band released six years ago. Still, question begs – did the band really need to reunite to release this? the answer, for me anyway, is a big fat no.