|
Review Navigator   FeaturesContestsReviews
| Strike AnywhereExit English2003 Jade Tree 
 Review by: Aubin See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
www.exitenglish.com (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on September 30th 2003
It's true what they say, you know. The old saying about first impressions? It came to mind when I first popped in Change is a Sound; it literally knocked me off my feet for the entire first listen. I've listened to a lot of music over the years, and there is nothing like the feeling of hearing an exhilarating new band; the kind of band that reminds you of what attracted you to this music in the first place. Change... had it all; the speed and energy, the intelligent politics, and the blistering anger coupled with a deep sense of sadness. What struck me about that first record, in spite of all the voracious bursts of speed, and shouted/sung vocals, was the melancholy. It wasn't the kind of self-pity melancholy which has always been a part of rock music, but a projected melancholy; this band was articulating the feelings of the people it was singing about, not just words. When Thomas screamed "I'm not resisting you" (Sunset On 32nd) it was obvious he wasn't speaking about some abstract political ideal; he was referring to real people. It was chilling, and with that line, Strike Anywhere had me. This was a band that meant something. So, obviously, Exit English was starting out with a bit of a handicap. Frankly, I had heard Strike Anywhere before. So, how could they move me, without losing me? Simple really. Just be more melodic. And angrier. Keep the lyrics personal. But use universal images so it doesn't become so abstract as to lose context. Well, maybe it's not so simple, but they mostly did it anyway. Of course, the world has been quite forthcoming with inspiration for a band like Strike Anywhere; A leader without a clear mandate from his people has gone overboard into right wing isolationism and economic irresponsibility. Half the planet is on the brink of some variety of religious war. Unemployment is up, crime is up, incarcerations are up. Strike Anywhere isn't ignoring any of this; and it's painfully clear how in touch they are with those feelings. That's not to say it's a perfect record; some of the slower tracks drag the middle down a bit, and Thomas' vocals are a little drier on those same tracks. But the best songs on the record are plentiful, and the disappointments slight. In many ways, the arrival of this record is more than just a musical catharsis, but a catharsis for anyone concerned with the state of the world. No, Strike Anywhere isn't going to put an peaceful man in the White House, nor are they going to increase employment, or solve world hunger for that matter. But until those things happen, Strike Anywhere will remind us we're not alone in our anger, our sadness, and our hope. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
This band reminds me so much of rise against. Holy shit. I finally bought this record today. It fuckin' rocks! Bigwig, None More Black, Propagandhi, and Strike Anywhere That tour sounds amazing. I could tell you right now it would make my top 5 shows list...damn, I hope they come to New York in May or Prov. before. Or both. Damn I'm already anticipating...do we have a link for this? Bigwig Strike Anywhere? I doubt it but hopefully it's true that will happen....YA RIGHT! dude..you cannot possibly ever get a tour that good...people will die from not being able to say "this band sucks...lets go out of the pit and get a water" Bigwig, None More Black, Propagandhi, and Strike Anywhere... four bands... all on tour together late Spring 2004. hahaha.. rayjay is a stupid piece of shit. i mean, REALLY stupid. for fuck's sake, the world is NOT in that bad a state, compared to 50 years ago. people need to move forward instead of wallowing in the present kung fu makes some sense for the reasons you mention, but remember... bigwig chose to leave kung fu to return to fearless for "invitation." i think that with strike anywhere, etc. jade tree makes some sense, and fat always makes sense given the relationship with strung out and now none more black... side one dummy is definitely a possibility, especially after the huge bosstones tour last year. no way jade tree or fat wreck. kung fu has a relationship w/ bigwig and posts news about them even though they arent on the label...my vote still goes to kung fu....spring/summer 2004...they need to get a new guitartist after they record b/c tom probably does all the rythm parts anyway.... my guess.... may 2004... fat wreck chords Let the rumor mill wheeze its way through its mountain of monotony....My exgirlfriend said the drummer (it was Matt at the time) asked her for Coke in the girls washroom, apparently he was just standing there....that rules, something I would do, as for Tom the singer, my band opened for them, and he didn't say one word, we sucked in the sense that we sounded like the AtarisMEst186glory.com invasion of the last few years, but we were more than competent musicians and we fucking played this particular venue like 80 times and the crowd always went off, but he didn't even say one word. Every fucking band I've ever played with says one "formality" like good set whoa... is that a guess? where is that coming from? Spring 2004...Kung Fu Records but bigwig rocked this spring when josh was out with the broken fingers. when they opened for sum 41, brown sound came out and ripped through "sink or swim." anyway... i'd like to hear this news of josh leaving from the website or the band. but that might take a while. i talked with tom at a show last year about matt leaving and keith joining a good month before a hint of it came up on this site or on bigwig's website.... anyway... the band is still rocking and i am definitely looking forward to the new album... whenever it comes out and on whatever label. those are two questions that i'd like to see people consider. i find it funny that people that listen to bigwig also like Strike anywhere, probably Rise Against, Bad Religion, and other bands...its ammusing. and THANK GOD JOSH IS GONE!!!! I kinda knew, but i wasnt supposed to talk about it according to tom...he said it was like an almost definite thing...but wasnt at the time...i wonder if they want to hire me? i would play for free.... I find it funny that a band as shitty as bigwig finds it necessary to fire a guy for not coming to practice, because the practice obviously isn't paying off. "where is crime up? what are the statistics? i thought violent crime was going down nationally." i saw bigwig with nufan tuesday, and yeah bigwig is a 3 piece now, i was unpleasantly surprised. I just read today that Richmond was just given a huge federal grant to combat gang violence. You can probably read about it at www.timesdispatch.com where is crime up? what are the statistics? i thought violent crime was going down nationally. hey guys commenting on bigwig. fyi josh isn't in the band anymore and from what i hear they are playing as a three peice. and firing matt was the hardest thing they prolly ever had to do, however it was made somewhat easier by the fact that he hardly ever came to practice in the last few months of his existence in the band. he is the coolest guy ever though. i like you, i wish they had him back, but yasco does a great job. Good cd again from Strike Anywhere. Am I the only one who like this nice punk album ? Anyway best song for me are "Light Go Out" the chorus is just awesome & I really like the intro in Extinguish and its a good song too. sorry for the double post...but they havent played dates in the US since july.... and not once did i "blast" them...i just stated they arent nearly as intense on stage, their line-up is at its weakest, and i think their next record is their last. i still think they kick ass..and i listen to them every day um...tom isnt the heart and soul of bigwig...hes the brains and talent. i never once said keith wasnt a capable drummer...i just think hes lame. he has no character. Matt was the sketchy one...he was a silly guy. very animated and interesting. he was a personality. whether he was grabbing the mic and singing "i dont wanna hear it" by minor threat and throwing himself in the crowd or jumping off speakers to finish off sellout. he was the man. i loved matt gray and i hope he gets a new musical project going b/c i hes the man. Keith just steals matt's idea and lights his cymbals on fire....which i believe they stopped doing...i read an interview that tom said no more fire since the fire in RI....and brent can sing? what universe do you live in? you are a moron....and josh is the member i hate most b/c he all out sucks. Tom hates nearmiss for a simple reason...they bashed him hardcore in their last song and title track...jeremey and max are in nearmiss ass...you dont even know your bigwig shit...dont fuck...im mildly obsessed... GUTG and An Albatross are both way better hardcore bands than this....this doesn't really catch my interest First of all, I have to admit that I think this album is a progression from Chorus of One. It is much more melodic,although Strike Anywhere is still able to keep its agressive edge. This is the album I wish Good Riddance would put out. After Ballads, everything else is mediocre. strike anywhere and their album is great, but can we please see a review without using the words 'catharsis' and 'pretentious' for once? there are more than two adjectives in the dictionary, and those two are well..pretentious. Yeah I know what the song is about, Ive heard Thomas talk about it before...that is why I think it means what I say it means. Think about it, if there are a bunch of cops beating the shit out of you and there are witnesses around, wouldnt it make sense to say "Im not resisting you"? But, opinions are opinions I guess. Aubin is right, its a pretty shitty area here, which cops love to fuck with people at. Run-down housing, but pretty decent people. The funny thing is, there isn't even a lot of crime in that specific area of Richmond, in comparison to other parts. Actually, the "not resisting you" part had a little more to it than that. If you click on the link in the review (the "real people" one) you'll see them explain in an interview who exactly the song was about. worst review ever written. cut to the chase you fucking weirdo i agree, with the post below, since the song reference police breaking down doors etc. >>>>When Thomas screamed "I'm not resisting you" (Sunset On 32nd) it was obvious he wasn't speaking about some abstract political ideal; he was referring to real people. It was chilling, and with that line, Strike Anywhere had me. I love these guys, i downloaded some of their stuff a while agoand forgot to listen to it, and finally listened to it recently, this cd sucks, big wig sucks even harder. I love this CD, it reminds me of a cool breeze! I don't think its fair too judge this album simply by comparing it to Change Is A Sound. Very few bands could live up to that, and they shouldn't be given bad album ratings simply because their last album was amaizng. I would have liked to see a more in depth review, as well.. i find it strange that Tom from BigWig keeps firing all his bandmates all the time. He hates Near Miss, which features Max, one of the old bassists claiming they are scumbags (he said he was gonna shoot some kid in the head at their STL show for wearing a Near Miss shirt, then proceeded to encourage the kid to take off the Near Miss shirt in exchange for a BigWig shirt, which the kid did). i'm thinkin he must be a dick or somethin...What do you guys think? I've never posted on here but after reading all these bigwig comments i have to say something...Tom is the heart and soul of bigwig, Matt Gray yes he is a cool guy and an amazing drummer, but Yosko(sp?) bigwig's new drummer is still just as sick, everytime he plays a song he plays the fills differently. It is good to see bigwig happy...this line up is almost as tight as the line up for stay asleep, only because john was the man...im done ranting...def gonna pick up this album as soon as i have cash Reply to the guy below blasting Bigwig: I saw 'em a month or so ago in Pensacola. They were amazing, played for hours. Their current lineup is great, especially the drummer (what do you mean they can't play? he's off the hizzle). The bassist isn't an incredible player, but he can scream like nobody's business. They didn't play any new stuff, but I can't wait to hear the new album ... they're kickass, deal with it. As for this album, I'm gonna buy it tomorrow and see. I love the mp3 of Infrared, is the rest of the album a lot like that? The new album is alright. The music has definitely grown melodically, but the vocals didn't impress me as much as Change is a Sound. It's still a pretty good album though. change is a sound is much better. this is pretty bleh... musically. ive seen bigwig more times than you probably...matt gray was the heart and soul of bigwig. no other way around it. he was ridiculous. he sat down and had a 20 minute conversation w/ me at the 1st real bigwig show i was at. i mean at the time i was just a shit head 14 year old and he was speaking to me as a human. tom on the other hand has blown me off more times than i would like to admit. i dont think he likes my song suggestions either...i think tom is super cool and i have many of the same opinions as him and shit...but that jawbreaker cover sucked ass...and its been over two years since they had a record...this isnt taking their time...they fired matt when they were supposed to be making the new CD and had to have keith learn all the new songs during that period. plus you have brent and josh in the band who suck at their instruments and singing. i bet you anything tom plays every instrument on the new CD and it will sound just like their other shit...amazing...but i say this upcoming CD is their last...no way they can last much longer w/ the bad karma in the band and shitty record label. not to mention tom is near 30...strike Anywhere rule and they are taking over Bigwig's place on my top 10 list...i havent seen bigwig since february and im not going through bigwig withdraw but i saw strike anywhere sept. 12th and i cant wait for the 24th and the 31st! It's a bit different from and nowhere near as amazing as either of their previous releases, but it has been growing on me over the past few days. They're still one of the best bands going right now though, and this will probably make my Top 10 for the year. Im going to have to disagree with that bigwig comment, now last time i saw bigwig in march was probably the first time ive seen them all happy for a while, plus i talked to the new drummer damn his a nice ugy, he ran out after the show and was selling the merch to everyone and talking to everybody damn cool guy, and its the best ive seen them play in a while, plus their taking thier time with the new album so its good so just to be safe they practiced all together with that jawbreaker cover and plus if they didn't care i don't think tom and com. would be over in europe right now kicking ass with no use, so there you good, anyway back to strike anywehere i like the new album goodX3 This album sounds just like "Change Is a Sound". Save your money if you already have it. Well, you could like... ::gasp:: BOTH of the bands. these guys are good, but their no MEST. How on earth is it possible to like Rise Against when there are bands like this out there? fuck the 14 year old's, they're all niggers. "But maybe they'll be good for the 14 year olds just getting into punk and thinking about politics and social issues." o...one guy made a comment about invitation to tragedy...BIGWIG FUCKING RULE! IVE SEEN THEM 10 TIMES CANT GET ENOUGH! This CD isnt as good as Change is a Sound which is pretty much a 10 wheres the inspection 12 review?? Yeah, all of that rocks. But before you completely dismiss Strike Anywhere, check out the "Chorus of One" ep, it may be right up your alley. Does anyone besides me always mix up Jade Tree and Equal Vision's logos? My daughter attends Montessori and they also sing a song called "I pledge my allegiance to the world" She listened to Strike Anywhere and decided that they rocked...she's been asking to listen to the album in the car. "Escellent album" To Sickboi, Flamers! Get a girlfriend! Amazing album... although boo urns to Jade Tree for not sending any stickers or cool shit with the album!:( Actually, the reason that there are periods between those sentences is because I'm only referring to the president insofar as it concerns isolationism and economic irresponsibility. "A leader without a clear mandate from his people has gone overboard into right wing isolationism and economic irresponsibility. Half the planet is on the brink of some variety of religious war. Unemployment is up, crime is up, incarcerations are up." As far as political bands go, these guys are ok, but they're no Anti Flag. To the cat below, you're gonna say that Thomas' lyrics are cliche', but some of the stuff on the new Suicide Machines isn't? I love both bands, but "Invisible Government" isn't exactly the most creative outlet. I want to like this band. I want the harder sound. I love the angry/political vibe. Not as important as Propagandhi,but still good. Excellent strike anywhere the most important band out there???? "Like it or not, this is the MOST important band out there right now. No question." This is no way the album of the year, but its pretty good. I have to agree with the people plugging Paint It Black and No Trigger, both of those bands are sweet. But this here is album of the year, exactly as good as "Change Is A Sound", but for different reasons. The superior melodicism is definitely a progression, and this album as a whole just sounds classic, one which will or at least should be remembered for years to come. Like it or not, this is the MOST important band out there right now. No question. This is pretty tight punkrock. I Saw em last winter and afterwards picked up the lp version of "Change..." So I was looking forward to this one. The first two songs are so powerful. Can't wait to see them in about a month. Sorry Kurt F... i have to disagree with you The Agency were way better than ok.... by the way have you ever seen Poulain live wow. this album rocks hard. since i listened to rise against before SA, i can easily compare this to sounding like RA. both this and RPM have the same exact feel to it, and theyre both equally awesome albums.. both in my top 10 of the year at least. "Not Related: I just pulled out my fsf - the moon is down cd and it got me thinking........ I don't care what anyone says but Chris Carraba was the man... I would pay anything to see FSF, old school Dashboard and The Agency in a small club with a good small crowd." fuck! its 10 oclock! the stores are closed! wait... it doesnt matter. i dont have any money anyway. shit. holy shit. these guys rock! hmm... gotta go buy this album. fuck! i have no money! why cant reviewers just stick to reviewing the album and not writing some fucking term paper with lots of diferent sized paragraphs you don have to break everything down fuck just review the shit, good try though, peace, Paint It Black is not as good as SA. Yemin may be a genious, but that band is just not as good. Can't wait for this cd, "Change Is A Sound" is one of my favorite cds ever. Awesome disc. But what' with all the tens in ALL reviews??? Every album is the best??? Of the 600 cds I own, I can only give THREE a complete 10. I got this albumn September 12th when I saw them play with the bouncing souls, at first, I though "hmm... pretty good but a little meh" More melodic, less angry. It's good, but the Chorus of one EP is the best thing they've put out. If you want to hear an amazing record pick up the PIB album. Paint it black kicks this bands ass and hands it to them on a nice platter. you guys like this band? there is a band ot there that pulls off the same sound, and rocks it old school! check out no trigger. i met them at wendy's during lunch break from work, and they were going through dallas, i didnt see them, they were just taking a break, and they looked hardcore kids, so i talked to em. they hooked me up with a cd, and they rock it cock it. check em out. Not Related: I just pulled out my fsf - the moon is down cd and it got me thinking........ I don't care what anyone says but Chris Carraba was the man... I would pay anything to see FSF, old school Dashboard and The Agency in a small club with a good small crowd. To the person convinced that he should by change is a sound instead, go with the intuition. However, I love Exit English! Probably because i've played CIAS sound much I've been through three copies and am kind of tired of it! Anyways, great record! I think this was much better than Change..., much more of a full sound to each song. And the singer sounds more impassioned than Conor Oberst going through his "Winona dumped me" diary entry. Melodic, angry, political, raucous...I love it. Strike Anywhere has to be one of my favorite bands. I own Chorus of one and have heard Exit English on their website but i cant seem to find it in record stores. All the good indy ones in Montreal have gone bankrupt, the ones that are left sucks and all I have left is HMV and they don't even have it in their system! Anyone know where i can pick it up on the island of Montreal? i listened to infrared, i own change is a sound, and this is good if all you listen to is punk rock, if that's not the case it's just above average in my mind, if i was back in grade 10 i would probably drool over this cd... Don't miss out on this CD because the reviewer thought Change.. was a better cd. This CD rocks just as much as Change.. does. Go buy it, NOW. This cd is really good..i can't decide which album is better but who cares? I'm seeing them in 4 hours! yeaaaa! Bouncing souls too this is very similar to change is a sound, yet i think a lot better. listen to infrared, it will force you to buy the record. I'm still not sure whether I should buy this or not...I really liked change is a sound. Very good review for a rockin' record. You just convincd me to buy their first album instead. |
