Archive for May, 2008

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The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)-Amber Vilate

Monday, May 5th, 2008

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

By Amber Vilate
 
Fear, anger, more fear, a little more anger, definitely more fear, hope, redemption and love.
 
What makes a good movie? The plot? The cinematography? The acting? Is it just films made for “grown-ups” that can qualify as “good?”
 
Most adults wouldn’t think twice about The Spiderwick Chronicles unless they were considering taking their children to see it. To me, this is a shame. They’d be missing a good, fun, exciting romp through the world of the fae as seen from the eyes of an angry, sad boy who is seeking (whether or not he realizes it) redemption.
 
Based on the bestselling book series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (both of whom are quite nice and very talented – I’ve been in love with Holly Black’s writing for quite some time and I was thrilled to see this story come alive onscreen), The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the tale of a young boy and his family who have moved into a strange old house. The house is something of a family heirloom; they are allowed to live there after a divorce.
 
Jared Grace is angry, sad and hurt by the divorce and he acts out frequently, sometimes violently. It seems that this move is the last hope for him, as he causes his mother pain and anguish almost daily. As the movie opens, you can see the poor kid is getting the short end of the stick by being blamed for things he doesn’t do. Including stealing keys and trinkets from his mother and sister.
 
He soon finds a secret room full of strange things. In this room is a book, which proves to be powerful and sought after by… goblins. The kind of goblins, in fact, who, by the end of the movie, you think is entirely too powerful to be defeated.
 
Danger is hot on Jared’s heels as he reads the book, goblins steal his twin brother, they escape, goblins follow them home, and their sister is finally brought into the light. But that isn’t all. The danger keeps going through a clandestine trip to a mental institution, a flight on a griffin, and a battle to the death with goblins and the goblin king.
 
The story is, quite simply, superb. The action almost never dies in this movie, which makes for quite the thrill-ride. It’s interesting, it’s unique and it’s fun – all qualities of a good movie. Too bad it will probably not get the attention it deserves.
 
Sure, the acting isn’t the best, but it’s a far cry from most children’s movies and director Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Just Like Heaven) proves to me, again, that he knows what he’s doing with a movie as he leads the actors through their paces.
 
Freddie Highmore, of Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and August Rush, plays both twin boys, Jared and Simon Grace, and I was actually surprised that it was done by one actor (though I figured it was one). The two boys are very different and Freddie gets my applause for taking both characters to heart. He captures their essences, as described in the book series. Well done on both counts.
 
Mary-Louise Parker plays the mother and I’ve seen better work from her, but it’s not the worst acting by any stretch. Sarah Bolger plays the rapier-wielding sister, Mallory, and does equally as well as Freddie Highmore.
 
And who can forget David Strathairn (of so many good movies, I can’t name them all) who gives a good performance of Arthur Spiderwick, the man who wrote the book Jared finds. His daughter, Jared’s Aunt Lucinda, is played as an old woman by Joan Plowright (another with many, many credits to her name) and a young child by Jordy Benattar.
 
The cinematography (by Caleb Deschanel, who is another member of this crew with multiple amazing credits) is good – the scenery is lovely and the movie is set against a Northeastern US backdrop. In a movie with this much action, it would be easy to end up with jarring, nauseating scenes, but everything plays out smoothly and easily.
 
James Horner composed the music. Beautiful score. Fits very nicely with the story and characters. The music is fantastical, sad and hopeful, which showcase the theme of the movie very well.
 
If you haven’t given much thought to seeing this movie simply because it is a “children’s” movie, you are missing out. Yes, for some of you cynics out there, it does have a bit of a touchy-feely, warm-fuzzy ending, but it fits and it makes the effort, danger and fear worth it. It’s nice to go see a movie that shows just how much redemption is possible, even now when the world can sometimes seem harsh and cruel. Even for old cynics. Go see it. You might just be glad you did.
 
Copyright C. 2008 Amber Vilate

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The Kills: Midnight Boom (2008)-William Trinity

Monday, May 5th, 2008

The Kills: Midnight Boom (2008)

By William Trinity
By the time the second track “Cheap and Cheerful” hits you, you’ve just realized that this ain’t your daddy’s punk rock. This ain’t even the punk rock you’re used to. For their third album The Kills have evolved the blend of garage/indie/blues they are know for by turning up their danceable rhythm and created a sound that perfectly embodies their cool-like-dat ‘70s rock star swagger. Even the album title Midnight Boom implies that they’re more interested in getting the pits bouncing to the beat, than moshing into each other. 
Just looking at Alison "VV" Mosshart and Jamie "Hotel" Hince, you get the feeling that the good ‘ol days of rock have returned. Hotel stands with his guitar in hand like a young Keith Richards, and VV approaches the microphone like a female version of Mick Jagger (a much more attractive version I must clarify). As shown on their previous albums Keep on Your Mean Side and No Wow, their minimalist lineup produces a big sound. The drum machine behind them may deter some, but listening to tracks like “Hook and Line” should solidify in anyone’s head that this is pure rock.
There is no breakthrough on the album lyrically. VV’s words come off like those heard in any typical playground rhyme. Perhaps that’s why “Black Balloon” manages to stand out.
Strategically placed in the middle of Midnight Boom, it’s a down-tempo track in which VV sheds some of the most heartfelt lyrics of her career. “I swear our jet is crashing in my mind/ You can hold on but I wouldn’t waste your time,” she sings as patty-cake like hand clapping sets the mood. 
With that The Kills seem to go from 0 to 100 mph without a break; what follows is the most in-your-face track on the album, “M.E.X.I.C.O.” At a mere minute and a half long, it seems to punch you in the gut just to remind you that VV and Hotel can thrash with the best of them. But soon your head starts nodding again like it’s a night at the Roxbury when you hear songs like “Sour Cherry” and “Alphabet Pony.”
At the end of the year, most critics will likely overlook Midnight Boom when they compile their best of 2008 list. That’s what happens when you’re lesser known in this country and signed to an independent label based in London. However in my opinion, this is the best rock album released so far this year. Twelve tracks measuring in at just over a half hour, it shows a young band fulfilling their potential and settling into their niche, all the while having fun. Yes imagine that; it’s twenty-five years after The Clash rocked the kasbah and punk can still be fun. 
Copyright C. 2008 William Trinity
 

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Broadcast: Work And Non-Work (1997)-Michael Tenzer

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Broadcast: Work and Non-Work (1997)

     

By Michael Tenzer
 
Sitting in a plush blue chair, I lean back and let the soothing croons of Trish Keenan fill my ears. Looking to the left out the window, there are streaks of orange and yellow and red light outlined by a deep black void. The right, a few feet away, are a group of beautiful people dressed in cylindrical plastic, bobbing their heads and swiveling their shoulders to the strange, incredible sounds filling the room.
 
This is the lush, space age lounge reserved for the group known as Broadcast. The lounge is nestled comfortably in the soupy stratosphere of Saturn. It is here that the band is able to construct floating melodies and misty drum rolls out of broken clocks and neglected vinyl records. It is here that band can play scientist with their unwitting electronic devices, some of them altered and shifted beyond any formal recognition. It is here that the music of Broadcast makes its revolutions.
 
Released in 1997, Work and Non-Work signaled Broadcast’s debut on Warp Records. The album is actually a compilation of the band’s earliest singles - all brought together in a mish-mash of glimmering ambience and gentle female vocals - each hovering above the musical outlines of ‘60s mod-pop. The album actually works more effectively as a swatch of variations rather then one cohesive concept. It works much like a jukebox – a jukebox that is floating within the cavernous hull of a spaceship. “Accidentals” is the slowly unwound, ethereal opening to the album, followed by “The Book Lovers”, a lively pop romp which is punctuated by chiming harpsichord and silken drum somersaults. Work and Non-Work hints at the enigmatic direction that Broadcast would later take with The Noise Made by People and Haha Sound.
 
Although “Phantom” is the only proper instrumental on the album, there are short musical interludes sprinkled around, before and after songs, giving Work and Non-Work a peculiarly disjointed consistency. At one moment it is fluttering by with a loose assortment of squishy electronics, and then in comes Trish Keenan’s gentle voice to cradle us in her lulling observations.
 
She looks deep into my eyes from all the way up there. Her eyes are half-hidden by long black bangs - she looks something like an Egyptian goddess - lacquer eye shadow and all. Watching her move and sing on stage amidst the vortex of colors gives me the intense sensation that I’m falling in love with her. Or maybe it’s that I’m falling in love with her voice. The backing band is busy plugging away at esoteric musical machinery. The machines emit tones that do a waltz with her words.
 
“We’ve got time to work it out/We’ve got what numbers cannot count/We must do what is still allowed” sings Keenan on “We’ve Got Time”. One could gather that she speaks of some form of reconciliation between two people in which time is no object, however, the words could take on other meanings as well.
 
Much of her lyrical workings follow suit. Too indefinite to get a concrete interpretation, but also too specific to merely be words for the sake of words. In a sense, that is the grand mystique of her whole approach to songwriting - to understand her but only on the wavering boarder between consciousness and sub-consciousness. There is a peculiar feeling that Keenan wrote some parts of her lyrics when she was half asleep – on purpose.  
 
The lounge is all lit up now, the ominous rings of Saturn tapering around the view through the porthole. The group of beautiful people still groove along without hesitation.
 
The roof begins to open and suddenly we are all floating in zero gravity. The music notes float up with us. The band plays on, propelling us further and further, then drawing us back in again.
 
Copyright C. 2008 Michael Tenzer

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The Pack A.D.: Tintype (2007)-Melissa Smith

Monday, May 5th, 2008

The Pack A.D.: Tintype (2007)

By Melissa Smith
 
Formed in 2006, The Pack A.D. are Vancouver based musicians Becky Black on vocals and guitar and Maya Miller, drummer and chief organizer for the duo. Tintype, which is The Pack A.D.’s first recording, was originally released independently in 2006. The band then got signed to Vancouver indie label Mint Records and Tintype was re-released in fall 2007.
 
Tintype is a photographic process invented in 1856, in which sheets or iron (ironically tin was never used) are used to make the usually brown tinged photos. This theme is carried over into the song lyrics which include prospecting and the civil war.
 
Besides the lyrical subject matter, another characteristic which sets the album apart is the originality of its structure. Although it contains 17 songs, Tintype clocks in at a little over ¾ of an hour, with many of the songs falling under the two-minute mark. The Pack A.D. sound is simultaneously vintage and modern with some classical piano thrown in for good measure.
 
From the opening strains of the first track, “Gold Rush” you know that this band is going to drag you to hell and back and you are going to thoroughly enjoy it. Throughout the album, Black’s voice is powerful and intense, from the soft start of “Pilot Blues” to the outright shrieking found on many of the other tracks which fully complements her blues driven guitar riffs.
 
The beauty of a two piece is that an instrument such as the drums, which often fades into the background is showcased more fully. Miller’s heavy drumming and cow bell inspired rhythms propel the track “What’s Up There” , and her rat-a-tat style perfectly balances “Walk On”.
 
Perhaps the most surprising element on Tintype is the classical sounding piano which offers a gratifying and unexpected divergence from the more strenuous tracks. Hardtack Saloon #1 begins with the sound of a needle making contact with old vinyl and segues into a haunting instrumental interlude comprised of slightly spooky piano. The sound invoking the ghosts of barkeepers past is executed twice more throughout the recording with two additional versions of Hardtack Saloon.
 
Tintype ends with the slightly psychedelic sounding “Bone Handle” which lures the listener into thinking it’s an instrumental until vocals make an introduction over one minute into the track. Rather than concluding the final track in the mellow manner in which it began, the album halts on three sharp guitar riffs, signifying to the listener that although they might be gone for now, The Pack A.D. certainly will not go quietly, nor will they be forgotten.
 
Copyright C. 2008 Melissa Smith
 
 

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Lupe Fiasco: The Cool (2008)-J.D. Butter

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Lupe Fiasco: The Cool (2008)

By J.D. Butter
 

Lupe Fiasco made a real critical splash on the scene with his top-notch 2006 debut, Food & Liquor. The hype machine had been rolling for months on the Chicago-bred rapper, and he was able to live up to it with an album that, while not a grand slam home run, definitely had enough high points to stamp him as a top prospect. On his second album, The Cool, he uses much the same recipe, and to everybody’s delight (or chagrin), he garners similar results.

The first thing I notice on a first listen is that the album takes a minute to warm up. It really doesn’t bash you over the head right out of the gate. The first two tracks almost seem like interludes, before the album starts to really heat up around track 4, with one of the strongest tracks, the cinematic feeling excursion "The Coolest”, which is a perfect vehicle for Fiasco’s rap style, and features haunting choir vocals and a dark piano loop. That track leads you into the meat of the album. Up next is the pop hit "Superstar," which is exactly the type of constructed-for-pop-radio that I usually despise, but Lupe’s laid back flow and the Chris Martin-esque chorus by Matthew Santos draw you in. He then works lots of really cool wordplay into "Paris, Tokyo," over a track that harkens back to some of the top-notch A Tribe Called Quest tracks produced by The Ummah. Another highlight follows, as the ubiquitous Snoop Dogg makes another one of his voluminous guest appearances on the up-tempo banger "Hi-Definition." As he moves toward the second half of the album, Lupe really starts to show his willingness to stretch boundaries, as he mixes in tracks like the superb "Streets On Fire," which features a beat and vocals that wouldn’t seem out of place on a trip-hop record, as well as rock-driven pieces like "The Die." Lupe makes a strong statement on this record that he will not be bound by the conventions of rap music, whether it hurts his sales or not. His anti-establishment rhetoric notwithstanding, he does have tracks with commercial viability throughout. Nothing with the instant appeal of "Kick, Push" off of his debut, but certainly there are moments that even the most radio-influenced hip-hop heads will be able to appreciate. 

Fiasco’s gambit in the game is definitely that of a street wise, conscious-leaning braniac, and his lyrics explore territory well beyond the typical "bling" themes proliferating modern rap music. He touches on myriad weighty topics, such as rap’s reliance on materialistic and misogynist imagery on "Dumb It Down," the trappings of fame on "Superstar," and everything from AIDS to video games’ effect on real world violence, and everything in between. He also continues to demonstrate his superbly verbose lyrical talents, as he kicks the metaphorical wordplay on "Gotta Eat," and over the course of the album references everyone from Felix Unger to Ichabod Crane. Whatever subject matter he’s tackling, Lupe definitely has lyrical skills to spare.

The interesting thing to me about this album is that the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts. It’s a somewhat inconsistent album, but the highs are so high, and the creative exploration so interesting, that you want to give it extra credit just for being "cool." If there is a problem with The Cool, it’s that the idealism strewn throughout the album may feel almost like overkill to some. To many hip-hop fans, rap should still be predominantly feel-good music, and The Cool, with all of it’s concept-album aspirations and pronouncements of doom and gloom for the future of hip-hop, doesn’t exactly remind you of that fun summer BBQ you were at when you first heard "Passin’ Me By." But, for those amongst us who simply ask for the occasional rap album to have a little conceptual depth, creative risk-taking and reliance on lyrical brilliance, Lupe is an artist to be heard. But you better listen fast, as according to Fiasco, he is only recording 3 albums, and we’re on album number 2. You will probably just be beginning to digest The Cool when the third album hits the shelves. If you’re lucky. And a PHD.
 
Copyright C. 2008 J.D. Butter

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Neutral Milk Hotel: In An Aeroplane Over The Scene (1998)-Ethan Smith

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)

By Ethan Smith
 
There’s so much to say about this album. There’s the historical reference, all the artists it has influenced, the beautiful lyrical landscapes that are painted throughout the album, the simple yet inventive and very powerful music. All of it comes down to the genius of one man: Jeff Mangum, now noted indie god and elephant six recluse. Jeff Mangum crafted one of the greatest albums ever and based it around his musician friends (including Beirut/Bright Eyes/etc man Jeremy Barnes and Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control and Elf Power musician Scott Spillane) and reoccurring dreams he’d had that were centered around a Jewish family during World War II.

This album seriously flies by when you listen to it and when I first heard it I’d had an experience unlike anything I’d ever had before. I’d put it on repeat (not uncommon when I hear an album I love) and three months later I was still playing it very regularly; during the first month it was daily (that’s uncommon.) I was blown away. It was like stuff I’d heard before (bands NMH had actually influenced) but so much better. All those other artists paled in comparison to this album. Magnum illustrated some of the must beautiful thoughts and wrote some of the most breathtaking lyrics ever. Including my favorite verse in music history: "And one day we will die / And our ashes will fly / From the Aeroplane over the sea /But for now we are young / Let us lay in the sun / And count every beautiful thing we can see.” This album flows like none other. Each track blends into the next perfectly. And while normally I find interludes boring the horn instrumentals here just seem so right placed between Jeff’s driving songs like “Holland”, “1945”. Not to mention his intimate and surreal stuff like “Two Headed Boy Part II”. This really is an album like none other; emotive with a level of depth and ideology behind it that seems the furthest thing from pompous or pretentious. It seems very honest and very real.

This album is one of few releases I would truly call timeless. It sounds like it could have been recorded today, yesterday or sixty-three years ago (in terms of the writing) but in reality it was recorded a month and ten years ago. William Faulkner once said, "The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life." And I think with this album Jeff Mangum achieved that better than most.
 

Copyright C. 2008 Ethan Smith

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Elliot Smith: XO (1998)-Ethan Smith

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Elliott Smith: XO (1998)

By Ethan Smith
 
XO marked a very important period in Elliott Smith’s career. He had switched to DreamWorks which would mark a stylistic change and give him his first taste of mainstream success (two of his songs hit the top 100 in the UK) after contributing some tracks to Good Will Hunting and playing “Miss Misery” at the Oscars. A funny thing about the Oscars was Elliott later told his then roommate Dorien that despite all the stars in the crowd and millions of people watching at home the only person he could see was Jack Nicholson sitting in front of him.

Because Elliott was now on DreamWorks this led to a much larger budget than he’d been working with before and a wider variety of instruments and songs. He showed a return to “Cupid’s Trick” in many ways with Amity. As well as introducing a piano waltz (sort of) with “Waltz #1” and just a straight Waltz with “Waltz #2”. He also introduced a Beatles’ “Getting Better”-esque “Baby Britain”, before closing with the beautiful acapella vocal harmonies of “I Didn’t Understand”. Despite the bigger production and almost entirely different sounds Elliott’s whispery, fragile and emotive vocals were still in place as well as his enigmatic and touching lyrics. The instrumentation was the change here. It was bolder and much more vibrant. With a sound he could never have achieved with just an acoustic guitar. It was a sound more like the 60s pop he was into, The Beatles, The Left Banke etc. Only, it was much more angular and modern. It was very much his own.

XO for a long time was my favorite Elliott Smith album and its still in the top three. It shows him stepping into brand new shoes but never taking off the old socks. Elliott proves that songwriters are indeed the soundtrack, illustrating every emotion and experience into a song. When it’s done well the result is an album like XO. It’s relatable, yet at times almost ethereal. Always stunningly beautiful.
 
Copyright C. 2008 Ethan Smith

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The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs (1999)-Ethan Smith

Monday, May 5th, 2008

The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs (1999)

By Ethan Smith
 
"Don’t fall in love with me yet/We’ve only recently met/True I’m in love with you/But you might decide I’m a nut/Give me a week or two/To go absolutely cuckoo/Then when you see your error/Then you can flee in terror" seems a fitting enough opening for this review. For those of you who have any sort of feelings whatsoever it’s very easy to fall in love with this album. Sixty-nine songs. Wow. Looking at the scope of this, twenty-three songs over three albums you’d expect you’d have more than your fair share of filler. However, if you were expecting that you’d be expecting wrong. This is a release that covers the entire spectrum of human emotions. Every song feels very necessary except for a few. But then it wouldn’t be sixty-nine and that wouldn’t be as much fun.

This album traverses music everywhere, from crooning piano songs, to country to piano ballads to synth pop to what can only be described as “other”. The songwriting is impressive and stands strongly alongside front man Stephin Merritt’s ability as a composer. He brings in a variety of vocalists and incorporates enough different styles and instruments. The rest is something that always manages to keep itself interesting.

Once again, at sixty-nine songs this can be a very hard-to-swallow release. But once you do swallow in all its grandeur it’s a lovely feeling to have it sitting there in your stomach. This album could have very easily seemed tedious, forced and pretentious but this instead, it succeeds in coming across as honest. If this doesn’t touch you, you don’t have a heart. It’s a very abstract beauty.
 

Copyright C. 2008 Ethan Smith

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Built To Spill: Keep It Like A Secret (2008)-Davey Boy

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Built To Spill: Keep It Like A Secret (2008)

     

By Davey Boy
 
Indie Rock has always been a strange beast for my liking. It is by no means my most preferred genre and in all honesty I find it difficult to get into for the most part. Sure, a few tracks here and there are always pleasurable to listen to, but I struggle to stay involved for a full album which is where this kind of music is supposed to excel.
 
With all the magnificent reviews of Built To Spill’s third release Perfect From Now On, I simply had to check it out to see if the (for want of a better word) hype was warranted. While I found the album pretty good, it was by no means classic for my liking and hadn’t exactly changed my mind towards the genre. I could hear the band’s talent (especially front man Doug Martsch) and understood why fans of the genre would appreciate them so much, but it just wasn’t for me.
 
What also made that album fairly unique was the length of its songs as it only included 8 tracks in total with all of them going over the 5 minute mark and some nearing 9 minutes. So I approached their follow-up “Keep It Like A Secret” with only so-so expectations. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised, and in more ways than one! In what I term a brave move, Built to Spill practically halve the running time of most of the tracks here, almost making it sound like this is a totally different band. Yet, they keep enough of the components that made them what they are to keep everyone from the fans to the critics pleased.
 
While it is nowhere near the best track on the album, Built To Spill’s approach to this album is decently summed up in the opener “The Plan”. It begins as a nice and simple harmonic song for the first 2 minutes or so before breaking down with some distorted guitar effects that eventually result in the pace being slowed markedly for the final minute. Yet, it’s all kept under 4 minutes in length meaning very little wasted time. Follow-up “Center of the Universe” is even shorter (too short in fact) but contains a contagiously feel-good melody as it’s main strength.
 
Album highlight “Carry The Zero” comes in at track three and this is the song that may best describe all the parts that make Built To Spill such a successful band. Always in motion and with nice subtle changes in pace, the guitar and melodies mix perfectly resulting in a memorable song all up. While some length is added here (the song lasts 5:45), it isn’t over the top in any way.
 
In fact, the two other album highlights are only fractionally shorter than “Carry The Zero”, which suggests to me that the true genius of this album is practically in the song durations. The band has the intelligence here to keep the tracks as short as possible, but not so stubbornly that the songs are not allowed to reach their maximum potential. The only exception is the near 9 minute closer “Broken Chairs” which appears to be almost there as a shout-out of sorts to the previous album.
 
“You Were Right” is clever lyrically in using its song title in conjunction with other famous song titles of the past. But it is more than that in that it contains the stock-standard effective guitars and subtle changes of pace. Meanwhile, penultimate track “Temporarily Blind” includes excellent musical effects that are borderline mesmerizing and hypnotic initially, before the song effectively changes pace into a melodic piece. Just when you think it has run out of tricks though, it is turned on its head again with a fun romp during the last minute.
 
While the middle 4 tracks may be the weakest on the album, there are basically no bad songs to be heard during the forty-seven minute duration of Keep It Like A Secret. This is therefore a quality fourth album for Built To Spill and one that they should be proud of in more ways than one. The band has practically reinvented themselves here, while not totally ignoring everything that made them critical favorites in the past. More poppy and immediate than ever before, there is still the trademark quality guitar playing as well the intelligent song structures contained on this album. All in all, this is a recommended album that even listeners who struggle to get into Indie-Rock should enjoy.
 
Copyright C. 2008 Davey Boy

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Fugazi: End Hits (1998)-Constantine Koutsoutis

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Fugazi: End Hits (1998)

By Constantine Koutsoutis
 
A thunderous quiet. 
 
That’s probably the best way to describe this album, really. While not loud or heavy in any sort of “normal” or conventional sense, being sparse in some places even, it’s still something that you’ll definitely feel the power and weight of. Incidentally the first Fugazi album I ever picked up on a total whim, not only did it blow me away with its unique sound, it helped open my eyes to a work beyond the three chords and barks of traditional hardcore. I can remember sitting around just absorbing it, listen after listen, as I’d sit and read or write around the house or on a road trip when I decided I didn’t want the same-old same-old playing. 
 
For those new to Ian McKaye’s post-Minor Threat work in general and Fugazi in particular, I honestly don’t recommend just jumping straight into End Hits. I mean, I did and loved it and if you’re totally comfortable taking risks like that with getting your mind blown musically, then go ahead. Otherwise, be warned, this is an incredibly dense and rich record, embracing so much outside of the “normal” parameters of punk rock and hardcore or even the ambiguous “post-hardcore” tag that you hear hints of tribal drumming, jazz, folk, and just straight-out experimentation in time signatures and rhythm. The most conventional track is probably “Five Corporations”, and even that’s a pretty crazy song that will drill into your brain relentlessly and stay there, having you wonder just what the hell happened in the stereo.
 
For anyone familiar with Fugazi, I’d recommend this. If not, then be warned of strange and potentially dangerous waters ahead. However, the treasure you’ll manage to dig up at the end of this metaphorical pirate’s voyage (God, I normally hate this metaphor but it’s very appropriate in this case) will definitely be worth it for the brave of soul.
 
Copyright C. 2008 Constantine Koutsoutis

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