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A Small Victory

The Pieces We Keep
2003
Lobster

A Small Victory - The Pieces We Keep (Cover Artwork)


Review by: Brian
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Lobster Records (Logo)

Published on December 2nd 2003

I could either deem this "hoodie rock," therefore pushing the ever-caving in boundaries of the future cliché even further in, or I could just iterate that A Small Victory should fit in quite nicely on the Lobster label with its new contemporaries like Over It, Park, and Staring Back. I think I'll emphasize the latter.

Like many, ASV pairs the emo with the pop/punk/rock like a new pair of gloves, with a good one-size-fits-all mentality. However, this is the only concrete stereotype.

Strongly reserved vocals carry nary a trace of nasal induction nor whiny tones. The layered, varied riffs between the two guitarists keep it fun and interesting, and are fairly air guitar-worthy; no half-assed palm mutes here, people. The subtle tempo and mood changes throughout the tunes sneak up on you seemingly out of nowhere. The band, carefully, even carries the occasional inclining hint at the college emo rock explosion of the 1990s. All these functions portrayed within a solid six-pack of songs.

The Halloween colors (orange, black, and white) used for the layout scheme reflect the underlying seasonal theme of the lyrics appropriately. A cold-weather sense is consistent, like in "Their Lovers Fall," when vocalist Mark Walker (shoot me if I'm wrong) sings "through that frosted window I swear I felt this scarf tighten around my neck," or in "Hammer Strong;" "I would trade it all for the wind to sting our bloodshot eyes."

You can thank your lucky stars that the minimal use of screams ASV invokes are extremely sparse and scattered, and in the least, effective for the whopping total of twenty-somewhat seconds they're put to use.

The title track that opens the EP even has its own encore three minutes in, as a one second pause sits in the air like morning dew at 5 A.M., until the group breaks in with the hook line. It's a fine example of the catchy melodies ASV manages to exude without being painstakingly repetitive.

It's the little things like the quiet, faded background keyboard in "Their Lovers Fall," the abrupt acoustic use in "My Sweet Explosion," that are significant of what this band is exceptionally capable of fluidly conveying without throwing a mess of it in your face.

They kept the pieces for good reason.

MP3s "The Pieces We Keep"
"Hammer Strong"






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    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 9, 2005 at 10:40 AM (EDT)

    they are fucking great, minus recent news.....

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 at 1:07 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    This cd is great. It gets better and better as I listen to it. At first, I was really disappointed b/c I was a big fan of their last EP, but it grew on me a ton. I don't know, maybe throw it back in your cd player in a few weeks and see if anything changes. Cool guitar lines, a singer who sings in a normal octave, songs that don't follow the blink-182 song structure--its "aural" sex.

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-08 08:59:07
    My Score:

    my place was called Unique Barber shop. nothing was unique about it. not even the name.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 10:34 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Or maybe...shut the fuck up.
    twat

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-06 22:30:24
    My Score:

    he likes the mall and he gonna vote for someone named vic who is a tory.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 6:08 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Let's break it down:
    as mall vic tory
    what does that mean, man? Help.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 3:40 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    great clips...that's a real place? scary.
    -Janelle

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 2:29 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    My friend commited suicide after getting a haircut at Great Clips.

    -BSD

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-06 10:47:29
    My Score:

    My mom said my new haircut made me look handsome if that counts for anything.

    -!yup!

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 8:19 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    "And yes, I do have raving mad knife skillzzzzzz."

    It's true, just ask Larry King...
    -Janelle

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 7:30 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "Naw, Janelle and Vandal are cool. BSD sucks."

    BSD does not suck. And yes, I do have raving mad knife skillzzzzzz.

    -BSD

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 6:33 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Somebody steal this bands gear please. If I don't see a plea on this website to,"please return our stuff" I'm gonna have a hissy fit.
    twat

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-05 18:16:32
    My Score:

    ""Lynch mob". Fool."

    fuck i feel like a fool.

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-05 17:27:22
    My Score:

    Wow. I forgot about that asshat. If he was hear, he would be the first victim of the mob.

    Kevin11 was totally senses fail.

    -!ibetnoonegetsthat!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 10:51 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    God damn this band sucks.

    Almost as much as the review.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-05 10:46:59
    My Score:

    Speaking of hated people, where did Kevin11 ever go?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 10:40 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    "Lynch mob". Fool.

    -sickboi

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-05 10:18:19
    My Score:

    "uh... a "linch" mob? what the fuck."

    linch mob fool. a posse. you know you get a bunch of angry people together and you linch someone. its the word for a mob thats out hunting to hang someone.

    im down with this riot. let's get it going!

    RIOT! RIOT! RIOT! RIOT! RIOT! RIOT!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 9:54 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    I don't know Janelle, I get impersonated quite a bit. Pretty much everyone hates my negative ass. Darn.

    -sickboi

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-05 08:17:52
    My Score:

    Theres no friendship like sarcastically bitter friendship, thats what I always say!

    Ok, we got a mob of 4 now. Lets kik some ass, burn some department stores, ad light chickens fire!

    WOOOOOOO

    PUNKNEWS.ORG RIOT!!!

    -!ohandiguesswecouldkillthatguytoo!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 7:16 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    I guess Vandal's being nastily sarcastic in reference to me (I like it...) but yeah, I'm with you.
    -Janelle

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 2:08 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    park owns

    Posted by mar310 on 2003-12-04 23:54:56
    My Score:

    uh... a "linch" mob? what the fuck.

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-04 19:52:56
    My Score:

    im with you GreenVandal. let's get ourselves a linch mob going. who's with us?

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-04 18:31:11
    My Score:

    Oh, and Janelle can um...i dunno, kik his remains. Unless sheis handy with a knife as well. Seeing as she is so street I would think knife fights wouldnt be a new thing :)

    hehehe

    -!yeahiknowthatwasntfunny!

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-04 18:28:33
    My Score:

    Yeah, me and BSD can combine our knife fighting skills to take the fucker down.

    -!razorburnsucks!-

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-04 17:26:43
    My Score:

    there used to be a guy named fathead here. he got impersonated all the time.

    yeah it does suck to get impersonated, people get pissed at you and its not even you... it blows. we oughta find out who this guy is and end him.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 5:17 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    yeah, but boba, come on we're the ones who get impersonated...i don't know; i don't recall this happening to others.
    -Janelle
    i know it's fun to hate...i love to hate i love to hate deck the halls with sharon tate...

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-04 17:03:39
    My Score:

    "HEY Vandal - you, me, and BSD have something in common now!!
    ha
    -Janelle
    we must be the 3 everyone loves to hate."

    no i think everyone just loves to hate everyone. thats what so great about this place, its 100% flammers! and that makes for some funny comments.

    but not that its cool to hate. just funny.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 4:49 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Naw, Janelle and Vandal are cool. BSD sucks.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 4:40 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    HEY Vandal - you, me, and BSD have something in common now!!
    ha
    -Janelle
    we must be the 3 everyone loves to hate.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 12:36 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Worst band ever.

    Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-04 12:33:43
    My Score:

    Holy fucking shit, i feel so honored! Someone is pretending to be me!

    (see post below saying no to knife fights)

    Wow...I guess this makes me a regular here now, doesnt it? Anyway its pretty easy to tell the fake !GV! from the real one. I have a registered name! heh he even talks like me...although I prefer the condradictory name "kids" over "ladies" but whatever. Im outty.

    -GreenVandal!

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 10:56 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    you're dead.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 12:12 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Ladies, come on.
    We don't want to have any more knife fights around here.
    Believe you me!
    -Greenvandal.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 11:17 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "And to BSD, stop making it so evident what a completely fucking pathetic loser you are."

    Shut up, you filthy little jailwhore. Anybody with a mock rap reference in their name sucks ten times worse than me.

    -BSD

    Posted by boba_fett on 2003-12-03 20:10:28
    My Score:

    im down with this band. not half bad.

    Posted by Icapped2pac on 2003-12-03 18:26:05
    My Score:

    I got this free with my new Park CD because they fucked up my order the first time (sent 1 instead of the 2 Park Cd's I ordered). I think Inignot would sum it up like this:

    This "Park" is infinitely excellent. This "A Small Victory", however, is very booooring.

    I'm glad I didn't pay for it, and I won't bother taking it to a used CD store because they're too chock full of Chumbawumba and Coolio CD's to every buy anything from anybody. So I guess it'll just gather dust somewhere. It's not that it's bad or anything, I just think there are at least 20 other bands who do this tyle better, such as the other 3 Lobster bands you mentioned.

    And to BSD, stop making it so evident what a completely fucking pathetic loser you are.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 2:34 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I'd like to bite the lead singer's nipples off, then knock his teeth out & fuck him in the face.

    Sincerely,
    Patrick Bateman

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 1:50 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I don't get it though, the poster said the same thing about the Ramones. And it seemed like a gimmick because he changed the band names.

    what the hell?

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:54 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Not as good as the Faith No More song of the same name.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:15 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I live in the same area, and the to the guy below the guy below me... RIGHT ON!

    I hate to say it, but he is exactly right. 100% dead on. Being around these guys or their subsequent manager "L" person makes you embarassed to be human.

    Hearing their music is even worse.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 10:39 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    To the comment right below -

    Don't we have enough gimmicks spamming the review boards? superdude's suffices, don't try and start some stupid shit like that

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:07 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    dude these guys fucking blow. i have no idea why everyone liked them so much. i guess because they were a local band where i lived that actually was going somewhere..... maybe they were moving out of the shitter into the actual septic tank with all the other shit bands that all sound the same. these guys are scene fags and the guy who managed them in the getgo...yea you know who you are L, is a total cuntrag. the guy is a fucking idiot. hes like 27 who gets with 17 year old girls. that guys sounds like a real winner. anyways these guys blow ass and make even shitty bands such as rufio, count the stars, etc sound like nothing i've ever heard before. but seriously, for those of you who enjoy whatever the fuck this is, have fun listening to it while you jerk off and write in your live journal.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:05 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    The top of that guitar looks exactly like my dog's gland! Hahaha!

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:02 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    I can thank my luck stars?!

    Yeah, I agree with some earlier comments, the style doesn't fit the genre.

    If, say, you were reviewing a Joan-of-Arc record, you would be allowed to use that type of vocabulary.

    But please, keep the pretention out. Faulkner wasn't pretentious, and look how far he got.

    (not that writing a review has anything to do with the craft)

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 10:58 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    go suck cunnilingus- hah i wont even say anything
    superdude youre still lame your joke was never funny and still isnt

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 10:38 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    i used to talk to the singer of this band on LipstickAndCigarettes.

    i never thought they were any good really, but good for them.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 10:34 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "i can tell how professional you want to be. keep in mind that cat fights with trolls (cough... bsd... cough) do very little for your credibility. just ignoring him, or saying "shut the fuck up" is a great alternative to sounding silly."

    What the hell? I'm a troll? What makes you better? Are you a level four wizard or something? You aren't allowed to argue about music? Go suck cunilingus, you silly little bitch.

    "i'm sure you'll get better and better, and i look forward to reading what you have to contribute to this site."

    I think someone forgot to post their name at the end, and his name was inagreendase.

    -BSD

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 8:10 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    good comment and I agree. them big words are can hurt my brain.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 7:44 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    inagreendase... congratulations on becoming a staff reviewer. since i come here all the time, i'll end up reading your reviews pretty often, and i'd like to help you out with some constructive criticism, ok?
    first of all, i think you get a little carried away with wordiness... i think you can probably write very well, but you get bogged down with your vocabulary. you end up partially misusing words just for the sake of sounding intellectual, when you'd be much better off being quick and concise. bear in mind this is just my opinion...
    i can tell that you like to write, and i can tell that you like people to read your work. making your sentences concise and manageable will make it a lot easier to pick up on what your point is. you dance around your point with fancy words.
    i recommend you avoid using vapid terms like "hoodie-rock" and "emo." those genres are so questionable... so broad... that it really sells the music short.

    i can tell how professional you want to be. keep in mind that cat fights with trolls (cough... bsd... cough) do very little for your credibility. just ignoring him, or saying "shut the fuck up" is a great alternative to sounding silly.

    i'm sure you'll get better and better, and i look forward to reading what you have to contribute to this site.

    Posted by superdude on 2003-12-02 19:32:03
    My Score:

    This review was good but here's how I would make it better:

    1. Hoodie rock is so last week

    2. I heard the next Bad Religion album is goig to be more hoodie rock influenced

    3. Look at that cover

    4. That guy is totally rocking out!

    5. Is the song being played on the cover on the actual album?

    Posted by notfeelingcreative on 2003-12-02 19:27:34
    My Score:

    Does anyone know when bands are going to stop sounding like this?

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 5:36 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    My god... How can they live with themselves after creating such horrible music?

    This is the bane of all good music ever.

    Most redundant pointless boring band I've ever heard in my life.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-02 17:04:59
    My Score:

    You implied--

    ehh, forget it I think we're done. Enjoy your classics and I'll stick to my shitty nu-emo and the like.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 5:03 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Agreed....this is absolute crap, i'd rather listen to New Found Glory

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 4:52 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Hahaha. Quit trying to make up for doing shitty reviews of shit CDs by trying to get wordy with me. It's a homosexual form of sex... Jesus, you're dumb. Unless you know anyone who's lifestyle is suck cock.

    Here's why you suck, though:

    You do shitty reviews of shit.

    Fuck you and thank you,
    BSD

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-02 16:45:32
    My Score:

    BSD, if you could point me to the part in the review where I claimed this band is 'intelligwent' or intelligent for that matter, that would be great, thanks.

    If I did regard this band as one that was more intelligent than Wasted, then I have trouble finding why it would lead me to a homosexual lifestyle you so thoroughly described of myself.

    I mean, this is just my opinion of course.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 4:18 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    You consider this shit intelligent? And you were surprised enough to post on a Wasted review "wow, a semi-intelligwent street-punk band". You suck cock.

    -BSD

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-02 15:28:35
    My Score:

    "And with this trio of new release reviews, please welcome Inagreendase to the site as an official staff reviewer!"

    Thanks, but I still feel [insert your choice of adjective-like synonym for "asshat" here] for deeming Aaron the other vocalist in the Pinhead review. Those two PG reviews with misinformation will forever taint my rep.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 3:24 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    this blows......

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 3:02 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    hoodie rock?fuck off.enough with all these lame lables. just file it under crap.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 2:45 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    lots of georgia bands are doing well lately. good to see. i like this band.

    -greyicewater

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 2:41 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Im gonna check these guys out for 2 reasons:

    1. They have the same name as a Faith No More song.

    2. The cd cover is Philadelphia Flyers colors.

    Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-12-02 14:23:19
    My Score:

    Welcome to the glorious world of the staff reviewer. So who all do we have now? And where the hell is Jonathan?

    Posted by maverick on 2003-12-02 14:18:38
    My Score:

    And with this trio of new release reviews, please welcome Inagreendase to the site as an official staff reviewer!

    Great to have you aboard, man.

    -Scott

    Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-12-02 14:12:19
    My Score:

    I got this CD in the mail a few weeks ago, along with the new Park CD, but no used CD stores would take it. I ended up giving it to a friend of mine, he seems to enjoy it a little.