Angleworm
...Ruin Your $cene

    When Greg of triumph of Life records offered Angleworm’s ...Ruin Your $cene album, I didn’t know what to expect but was excited at the same time.  I hadn’t previously heard the band’s music, but I heard that this album was supposedly very, very solid.  Upon listening to the album, I realized that this album is great. Over the course of its 12 songs, Angleworm plays music thats fun, loud, anxious, and angry at the same time.  

    The fast and melodic opening track, “F.T.S.” starts the album off with great energy, featuring simple guitar melodies and urgent vocals.  The following song, “I Sell Crack for the CIA” starts off with the same urgent punk energy as the last track, but this time the band transitions into a half time ska feel over the verse.  The song transitions in and out from punk to ska throughout, showing off another great facet to Angleworm’s music.  This song ends on a rung out distorted chord which very tastefully bleeds into the upstroked guitar of the next track, “Destination: Anywhere But Here.” This is another song featuring Angleworm’s ska stylings.  I love the bass line because although the song has a half time ska feel, the bass sounds like it would also fit in a faster more powerful punk song.  Unexpected gang vocals in the verse also add awesome energy to this track.  The next track, “Number One on my List” starts off with a drumbeat leading into upstroked guitars, with each upstroke coming from a different speaker giving an interesting angle to the intro of the song.  The rest of the song goes back to the band’s fun and raucous punk style and eventually builds up until the end.  A frantic bass line starts off the next song “Country Stylings in the Key of Shit.” This song is very powerful, but for some reason some of the coexisting guitar parts and backing vocals don’t really jive with me.  The song winds down with a slow and mellow reggae feel leading into the next song, “Yale Song.”  The song is (how did you guess) a cut on Yale University and the people who go there.  Interesting guitar and bass melodies go great with the pissed off vocals and somewhat laid back drum tempo.

    “Rational Defense” follows with more of Angleworm’s signature gritty ska style, but to me is one of the weaker songs on the album.  The band doesn’t revert back to their straight forward fast melodic punk characteristics in this song - it’s the same tempo the whole song, which is a bit of a let down.  However the next song, “All Together Now,” transitions from ska-like verses into frantic punk chorused played very well, which is what I’ve come to expect from this band by now.  “Mosh For Darwin” follows, and it’s the most ska oriented song on the whole disc.  It’s a really fun song but I wish the guitar tone was a little more bassy.  This guitar tone sounds good for the band’s slower ska styles, but for this faster tempo the treble sounds a little irritating.  “Start Something ” follows, featuring angry vocals and guitar solos that are done tastefully but are rather low in the mix.  The powerful drums do a great job of keeping the rest of the band pushing forward with this song’s dirty ska sound.  “Oh Shit.” is a short straight up punk song showcasing bouncy guitar parts and an overall tight sound.  The last song on the disc is an untitled track which serves as a great way to wind down the rest of the album. The 3:08 worth of ska/reggae jamming is a great way to ease your way out of the full out energy of the rest of the album.

    This album is a really, really fun listen. With 12 tracks clocking in at about 28 minutes, this album has enough stuff going on in a rather short about of time which is sure to keep you interested.  I have no complaints about the band’s musical ability - all of the instruments sound very well played individually and as a band.  If you get the chance to see this band, go for it  I can only imagine them putting on a great live show.  Pick up this album from Triumph of Life Records.  They’re definitely taking a step in the right direction releasing this great album as well as a few other releases of note. Visit their myspace (myspace.com/triumphofliferecords) or tolrecords.com and check out their stuff 
    

Reviewed By:  Tyler

Date:  Mon 15 Oct 07

Score:  8.0

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