Orange County must be a bloody crowded place. I realise that the USA is slightly larger than my native England, but still, they manage to fit more bands into one state than we manage to produce in one whole country! This, if you haven’t already guessed by now, is exactly where Death On Wednesday hail from. Mixing influences as diverse as The Cult and Dramarama with punk veterans Social Distortion, their sound is a curious one.
This is their first full length as Death On Wednesday, and it will undoubtedly open them up to a wider audience. Already firmly established on their home turf, ‘Buying The Lie’ is a collection of 13 passionate songs which, to a certain extent, help to capture their highly energetic live show and keep the toe tapping as well as the mind engaged. It’s unsurprising that this has been jointly released on the Vagrant Records label, as it is as far removed from your usual pop rock fare as you will hear without straying from the standard formula.
Vocals come courtesy of Nate Lawler, and at times on this record, if you closed your eyes you would swear that it’s Morrissey up there crooning away. Whether this is a good thing or not is debatable. As unmistakable as the vocals are, and despite the obvious comparisons with the infamous Smiths front man, they are unmistakable, they do tend to grate at times. I keep wishing that there was a little more snarl, a little more bite to go with the music. Still, it’s something almost original, and that’s the best we are going to get these days, so less of the complaining and more of the dissecting.
As with so many releases these days, the best song is the opening track. While this forces you to sit up and listen, it does make for a disappointing listen as you trawl through the other 12 tracks to find that the first one was the best. A lot like shopping with a woman, where, without fail, you always end up going back to the first shop visited to make a purchase, it is an unrewarding and frustrating process. Luckily, while ‘If You Want’ does stand out for its No Motiv/Face To Face style sound, the rest of the numbers on offer here are still solid, engrossing tracks.
‘Stranded’ and ‘Life’s Heartaches’ don’t do anything to dispel the fear of mediocrity creeping in though. Far from being bad tracks, they just lack a certain spark, which is also absent in ‘Fall Tears Down’, a song that promises much but delivers little. A marvellous bassline, however, saves ‘Holding Out’ from the same fate, and adds some much needed character to the record, which is being pulled along on some quality, yet mundane musicianship and soaring, beautiful yet almost inappropriate vocal work from the previously mentioned Mr Lawler.
The lyrics on ‘Stare’ are what lets down this chugging, brooding number, especially the opening line of ‘Hey you there, I see your stare’. Better than most, but could still be improved upon. Compared to the Alkaline Trio-esque lyrical content on ‘No Regrets’, ‘Stare’ is a dreary little number.
‘Demons’ and ‘Harder Days’ carry a punch that is lacking in certain places on ‘Buying The Lie’ but still nothing lives up to the opener. By the end of the album, I found myself disappointed. Not by what was most certainly a good record, but by the missed opportunities. It’s safe to say that if Death On Wednesday can keep writing good solid tunes, with a bit more originality and a sprinkling of power and passion, which is present in the live show, but lacking on record, then they will be certain for big things. Here’s to the ‘difficult’ second album. Let’s hope it lives up to what it promises.
Ross