Spring Break
... And you will know us by the trail of mediocre, lukewarm LPs
2 and a half out of 5 stars
Alyssa Carroll
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: Focus
… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, a band that received moderate press and praise after their previous albums and hit track "Another Morning Stoner," has now produced the very mediocre album "The Century of Self." Gaining a permanent spot in rock purgatory, this album will neither excite nor offend you.
The group, which has split with record label Interscope, produced "The Century of Self" with hopes of returning to its "true" sound. Unfortunately for the group, their true sound sucks. Or maybe it doesn't suck. This album is so mediocre that it is hard to form an opinion about it. In either case, leaving the company was probably not a good choice, as the band has lost its well-produced sound and now has a Web site that looks as though it was designed by an eighth-grade MySpace fanatic.
Lead singer Conrad Keely screams at the listener for the entire album, track by track. Not a scream with an "I hate my parents" screamo sound, but rather with a he may-or-may-not-have-a-hearing-problem sound. It's confusing as to why he's even screaming, as the music on the album isn't very intense. Maybe it's resentment or disappointment over the fact that the band looks like a gothic version of the Beatles. Even more confusing are the choruses of group screaming (present on numerous tracks) which sounds more like furious cheerleaders.
The track "Bells of Creation" uses the same piano chord repeated constantly throughout the whole song. This is not only annoying, but poor musicianship. If you can get past this annoyance, listen to the brilliant lyrics.
"And all at once I saw a hole into the future / And I thought of the bells of creation / I heard the voice of God coming in the music / And I felt like Satan."
Dazzling. They felt like Satan, and I felt like turning their CD off.
Though about 10 total fans have totally raved about this new album on the band's MySpace, overall this album is not being received very well. Its sound is similar to that of At the Drive-in or the Dredg, but I feel guilty associating either of those bands with this one. "The Century of Self" is not offensively bad, but in another century this CD and band will be forgotten, so why bother?
The group, which has split with record label Interscope, produced "The Century of Self" with hopes of returning to its "true" sound. Unfortunately for the group, their true sound sucks. Or maybe it doesn't suck. This album is so mediocre that it is hard to form an opinion about it. In either case, leaving the company was probably not a good choice, as the band has lost its well-produced sound and now has a Web site that looks as though it was designed by an eighth-grade MySpace fanatic.
Lead singer Conrad Keely screams at the listener for the entire album, track by track. Not a scream with an "I hate my parents" screamo sound, but rather with a he may-or-may-not-have-a-hearing-problem sound. It's confusing as to why he's even screaming, as the music on the album isn't very intense. Maybe it's resentment or disappointment over the fact that the band looks like a gothic version of the Beatles. Even more confusing are the choruses of group screaming (present on numerous tracks) which sounds more like furious cheerleaders.
The track "Bells of Creation" uses the same piano chord repeated constantly throughout the whole song. This is not only annoying, but poor musicianship. If you can get past this annoyance, listen to the brilliant lyrics.
"And all at once I saw a hole into the future / And I thought of the bells of creation / I heard the voice of God coming in the music / And I felt like Satan."
Dazzling. They felt like Satan, and I felt like turning their CD off.
Though about 10 total fans have totally raved about this new album on the band's MySpace, overall this album is not being received very well. Its sound is similar to that of At the Drive-in or the Dredg, but I feel guilty associating either of those bands with this one. "The Century of Self" is not offensively bad, but in another century this CD and band will be forgotten, so why bother?
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