Description:
Long Island, New York's the Movielife cut their teeth as spiky hardcore upstarts, but come Forty Hour Train Back to Penn, they've evolved into a straightforward pop-punk band of some quality without dumbing down what made them contenders in the first place. Crushing tight emo intensity, shout-along choruses and post-hardcore dynamics into a polished package, this is a fine example of label Drive-Thru records' skill at nailing the brightly populist side of modern punk-rock (see also: Allister, Finch, New Found Glory). "Jamestown" displays the kind of heartfelt emo fury that At the Drive-In specialised in, a song themed
Long Island, New York's the Movielife cut their teeth as spiky hardcore upstarts, but come Forty Hour Train Back to Penn, they've evolved into a straightforward pop-punk band of some quality without dumbing down what made them contenders in the first place. Crushing tight emo intensity, shout-along choruses and post-hardcore dynamics into a polished package, this is a fine example of label Drive-Thru records' skill at nailing the brightly populist side of modern punk-rock (see also: Allister, Finch, New Found Glory). "Jamestown" displays the kind of heartfelt emo fury that At the Drive-In specialised in, a song themed on the band's recent van crash that finds frontman Vinnie Carusa "bruised and broken" and lends this album its name. Elsewhere, hurt of an emotional nature drives Carusa's lyrics. "Face and Kneecaps" is an impassioned unpicking of a relationship just the other side of breaking point, while the literal visual description of "Kelly's Song" strikes a pretty strong chord: "When Kelly cries / The make-up runs from her eyes / Spilling the truth/ Of how she feels inside". Those into Glassjaw or the screamo end of nu-hardcore might find the accessibility of the Movielife's sound a little lily-livered, but there's no doubt this is the sound of a band who are assuredly playing to their strengths. --Louis Pattison
... (more)
(less)
Manufacturer: Drive-Thru
Release date: 24 February 2003
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 5026535026129
My tags:
Add tags
Login
