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Street Dogs - State of Grace
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The material on the Unsacred Hearts' debut EP follows the time honoured tradition of rock songs about rock. That always comes with the potential of sounding silly (we all have nightmares about bad hair metal where the main subject was "RAWK!") but as this is a fairly charming and skilled band their subject matter is delivered with a good deal of reverence and conviction.

The band shows off a number of influences over these 7 songs. At the core this has the feel of early New York City punk rock, but the band dips into moments of folk, blues and soul, 60s mod and even a bit of outlaw country before the record's run it's course. "Stuck Inside A Mobile Home With The Mansion Blues Again" is an infectious amalgam of post-punk dissonance, garage rock and folky storytelling. It sounds fresh and original yet it's deeply rooted in the band's influences. The song's about an old busker claiming that Dylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" is the only Dylan song in which the title doesn't appear in the lyrics (it's not). Weird subject matter for a rock song? Sure, but the Unsacred Hearts make it sound damn important nonetheless. "1978" is a tribute to the NYC punk scene of that year, one that the band admits they were "born too late" to witness. They wax nostalgic for the time of Johnny Thunders and berate the current trends in punk rock (the line "I don't want your diary stuck in a fucking song" makes me smile). "We Were A Band" is another high point, showing off well integrated country influences in a tune that you'll be singing for hours afterwards.

I'm really excited about this band; there's less than 15 minutes of material on this disc yet I could easily keep talking about it. The lead track "I Was Raised To Be Polite & Kind" is barely a minute and a half long and it ends with a guitar solo that feels classic for lack of a better term. It's the ultimate tease and leaves you in such anticipation for what's to come. The same can be said about this EP.

Unsacred Hearts - Stuck Inside A Mobile Home With The Mansion Blues Again
Unsacred Hearts – Plug Me In



People who liked this also liked:
The Clash - Sandinista!Weezer - PinkertonPixies - DoolittleTelevision - Marquee MoonSex Pistols - Never Mind the BollocksRamones - RamonesThe Clash - The ClashThe Weakerthans - Reconstruction SiteThe Hives - Veni Vidi ViciousX-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents [expanded]



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    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 3, 2004 at 6:42 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    this is stupid

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 2, 2004 at 7:08 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    The commenter below is a fucking moron. I like Hot Water Music as well but it's quite likely that the Unsacred Hearts have never heard of them. Pull your head out of your ass and you'll see that HWM isn't exactly well known outside of the punk scene.

    Plus it's a fucking campfire, you whiney little bitches, deal with it. No one cares that it sort of looks like the non-distinct logo of some other band.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 2, 2004 at 5:04 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    THIS is really stupid music and they are obviously not that bright to see that their album artwork does kind of hold a strong resemblance to a very popular band(that happens to put this act to shame). Even if they didn't mean to, they ripped off HWM's logo, take the sticks away and add some water and tell me what that is. of course, they ripped their logo off harper row (the book publisher)

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 1, 2004 at 9:56 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    way to talk about the music, you losers. this band and this album sounds great

    Posted by sickboi on 2004-06-01 08:13:46
    My Score:

    I get your point Adam, but come on....look at the damn thing.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 31, 2004 at 10:59 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    actually, hot water music DID invent fire. it's in the bible. also, alkaline trio openly admitted that they were the ones behind the infamous "heart" shape. soooo dirty.

    Posted by BSD on 2004-05-30 14:51:48
    My Score:

    Everyone knows that in the late 90's AK3 and HWM created the heart shape and fire, respectively.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 29, 2004 at 1:34 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Hmmm, sounds... decent. Im not sure if I want to buy this or not, It will take some consideration.

    Posted by TahoeJeff on 2004-05-29 01:50:26
    My Score:

    I do like "plug me in", its pretty catchy. These guys might be worth checking out

    Posted by TahoeJeff on 2004-05-29 01:01:28
    My Score:

    zing!

    Posted by shindo on 2004-05-28 22:29:29
    My Score:

    -BEGIN SARCASM- Wow I'm glad my review of what I think is a promising new band is just generating comments from all of our art critics. I'm shocked that the Unsacred Hearts didn't check that the Alkaline Trio has trademarked the heart shape, a wholly original symbol created by Matt Skiba in 1998 after months of prototyping (before which it never appeared in the history of man). Don't even get me started on fire! Lawsuit! -/END SARCASM-

    ....

    -adam

    Posted by TahoeJeff on 2004-05-28 22:06:43
    My Score:

    seems like everybody had the same idea...because even before I read the rest of the posts couldnt help but think these guys stole the love child of A3 and HWM's logos

    Posted by some1 on 2004-05-28 21:32:33
    My Score:

    it's a flame. Hot Water Music didn't invent fire. they ripped off cavemen.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 28, 2004 at 5:04 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Yeah, way to rip off the HWM logo.

    Posted by sickboi on 2004-05-28 08:48:44
    My Score:

    That cover art looks like something that would have been considered for the A3-HWM split.