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Produced by Casey Bates, he of Portugal The Man, A Skylit Drive and Chiodos fame (wow doesn’t he feel ashamed, but I guess everyone needs a paycheck, right?), “Sleepwalking” is the debut of this Texas hardcore outfit. Memphis May Fire fires off a double combo of melodic vocals, pinch harmonic guitars with screamo and aggro-rock velocity. Their singer left in the middle of their recording with the band “forced” to do a publicity stunt, err, an open audition on MySpace. The result wasn’t a bad choice as Matt Mullins can certainly punctuate a tune with fierce precision but you have to wonder how much is auto-tuned and how much isn’t in this day and age of mall-punk melodies and clone-core. While this band is a cliché and their sound a dime-a-dozen now-a-days, it still has its merits, just not worthy enough to really mention outside of a yawning cast-off comment. Okay I am just kidding, the only merits it boasts is that they are being paid to make music while we are not. Want to run down the list of clichés? Here’s your bulleted list:
1.) “Funny” song titles that have nothing to do with the lyrics – “You’re Lucky It’s Not 1692” and “North Atlantic vs. North Carolina”
2.) Obligatory mention of God/Jesus – Liner notes thank God while lyrics say idioms like “We are the chosen, and we claim your life tonight. Breathe in the light that surrounds us. Can you feel it?”
3.) Screamo/post-emo vocals and pinched harmonics with plenty of generic “breakdowns” – Album weeps of this tired cliché
4.) Packaged sound – You could listen to this blindfolded and not hear a single iota of Texan hardcore influence, in fact this is as packaged and mall generic as it gets.
Yawn.
Remember when Trust Kill released good music?
For the record, there is less auto-tune on this record than 90% of the bands out now (cough, cough) The Word Alive…I know because I heard the early demos without tuning and they sound identical.
Also, they never said they were “Texan-hardcore”, if someone else stuck them with that then it’s their own doing. And btw, the song titles fit right in with the lyrics…maybe you should actually try thinking about the lyrics when you read them. For example, “1692″ parallels a crazy girl with being a witch and the Salem witch trials were in 1692…you know, there is a thing called Google.
As for them getting paid, I’ve let them crash at my pad before, it’s such a misconception that bands are getting paid nowadays. It’s hard enough just breaking even so give em’ a break and go back to your lifeless 9-5 job. They are nice hardworking guys and deserve credit. Maybe you should give the record another listen before you are so quick to judge.
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I would like to second the guy above me. If you are so tired of hearing the “generic sound” of the sing/scream genre, then why the fuck do you listen to it and review it. I would also like to mention that you can’t really get anything from a cd you play through once or twice. You haven’t even given the CD a chance, and If you haven’t noticed, there are a large number of people that really enjoy this sound and it seems to me that the only people who care to bash the music are a bunch of washed up assholes with too much time on there hands. Quit being a fucking hater, if you dont like it, thats fine. It’s easy to talk bad about something you’re not really into. but if you’re the musical savant you seem to think you are, you would obviously be a successful musician rather than a standing on the sidelines passing judgement.
I actually have been reviewing music for less time than I’ve been playing and writing since the mid to late 90′s. You know when you were still a stain in your daddy’s underoos…but yes clearly a magazine could forgo criticism so they aren’t dubbed as haters. Uh right.
J-Sin,
How ’bout you get off your self-righteous soapbox and pull your head out of your ass?
Better yet, why don’t you actually do some research?
Matt Mullin’s vocals, are barely, if at all, auto-tuned. Having seen him live multiple times and talked with the band about their music after shows, I know that for a fact.
Also, as Daniel said, “You’re Lucky It’s Not 1692″ refers to the Salem witch trials and burnings: “I’ve known some witches; this town will still not burn; They’re never held on trial and we’ll never learn.” Clearly, you gave the album an obligatory once over but nothing more, if you even gave it that much.
DO SOME DAMN RESEARCH NEXT TIME.
The titles aren’t meant to be “funny,” as you put it, but references that the band felt went with the songs when they wrote them.
It’s not an “obligatory” mention of God in the liner notes, some of the members are Christian, and some are not. The lyrics you mentioned are not aimed at being sacrilegious, by the way.
It’s not a cliche band, you just did not enjoy the music. Did you even listen to it, or half-ass your way through the album, just looking for things to critize?
I get that it’s a critical review, but all you did was bag on the band and the superficial things. No musical references, nothing about the melodies, instruments or anything. Just a purely superficial rant.
Does it make you feel better to put a band down? I can see that it does by your earlier responding comment.
For the sake of music and journalism, grow out of your middle-school bully mentality.