True North

True North: Somewhat SimilarSomewhat Similar (2004)
No Idea Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

Contributed by: adamAdam
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on May 28th 2004True North has found this really pleasing medium between arty progression and solid hardcore. They therefore avoid trap of taking odd time signatures and unconventional song structures to the point where songs are clearly "noise for the sake of noise," something that's plagued other bands in this po.

True North has found this really pleasing medium between arty progression and solid hardcore. They therefore avoid trap of taking odd time signatures and unconventional song structures to the point where songs are clearly "noise for the sake of noise," something that's plagued other bands in this post-Fugazi vein. A recognizable underlying vein of Gainesville-styled punk rock allows Somewhat Similar to sound inventive and interesting without ever coming off as pretentious.

In fact despite all the dissonance Somewhat Similar has more infectious moments than one would expect. From the barn burning opener "Hey, Let's Spend The Night Together" onwards the band smartly peppers their complexity with very catchy, traditional punk rock devices. The best example of this is likely the group shout-along chorus in "You j.o.j or f.o.b?" of "Motion (for the) sake of motion! Is it forward? Always forward!" The band sounds absolutely epic on big, forceful rockers like "Right Church, Wrong Pew." Whiskey & Co vocalist Kim Helm makes an appearance on "Summer Lovin" and the female vocals (particularly in the later chorus) are quite effective. Somewhat Similar flies by in 28 minutes with 8 songs and enough interesting moments to warrant playing the record all over again (which I've found myself doing more than a few times with this release).

Fans of Twelve Hour Turn will instantly recognize Dave Diem's vocals here and the influence of that band is certainly present. Ryan Murphy and Mark Rodriguez of Palatka and Matt Sweeting of Srikeforce Diablo / Asshole Parade round out the roster. While this certainly means No Idea's characteristic sound is a factor, True North covers enough new ground to distinguish itself. All in all Somewhat Similar is an awesome release and well worth seeking out.

True North - Hey, Let's Spend The Night Together

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (July 24, 2004)

i think this record is brilliant...bought it the other week and can't stop listening...great band...

Anonymous (June 2, 2004)

no idea is slippin'

Anonymous (May 31, 2004)

you like true north??????? how funking stupid can you be????? OH MY SQUITD!! TRUE NORTH IS TERRIBLE JUST LIKE YOU! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! !!!!! FUUUUUUUUNNNNKKK!

boldredletters (May 31, 2004)

i like true north.

Anonymous (May 31, 2004)

to the person that says that this song sounds good-

YOU ARE A FUNKING IDIOT!!!! OH MY GOD WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM??????? THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. WHY ARE YOU SO DUMB??????? WHY ARE YOU SOOOOO DUMB?????? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA'IOASUDPPOISHD;FJH

Anonymous (May 30, 2004)

the mp3 is pure bollocks, awful awful song....whats the point in putting out music if it isnt listenable

Anonymous (May 30, 2004)

"who the hell posts and then tells the person that are arguing with that they have being "PWNED"... you are obviously a person that talks just to be heard."

that, or a poor typer.
-Felix von

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

who the hell posts and then tells the person that are arguing with that they have being "PWNED"... you are obviously a person that talks just to be heard.

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

that song sounds good.

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

"You my friend have been pwned"

OOOOOOH You got pwned! SNAP YO!! IT'S ON!

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

no, you've been OWNED. ha nice try.

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

while True North is amazing, i miss Twelve Hour Turn, which was even more amazing, with Rich Diem and John Magnifico alternating on vocals with Dave Diem.

in Twelve Hour Turn Dave Diem played with his back to the crowd the entire show until it was his turn to sing. i really hope he doesn't do that in True North.

-citizen

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

the most interestingest thing about this interesting song is it's lack of interest, i mean promise. not enough promise. i like my promising bands to be more than moderately interesting. and by interesting i mean to keep time, because honestly, i'm tired of bands who use odd/changing time signatures that i may not familiar with or interested with because i have to actually listen to what's going on. what's the deal with that? i mean, i just want to hear one mp3 and talk about keeping time. the lack of proper time keeping ruined the first alkaline trio album. well that, and it wasn't interesting. lisetning, that's not interesting. it's pretentious. like that word that shows up in every review... what's that word? oh yeah. interesting.

What an awful half assed attempt at humor. Welcome to the 21st century buddy, digital music is a way of life. I ONLY download mp3's. If this is the song they provide me to listen to to make me want to buy their CD, its a piss poor attempt.

As for you trying to "make fun of" my typing, i said interesting twice....no other word was repeated.

Keeping time is about having everyone know what the up and down beat is. This band doesnt. Changing tempo's is one thing. Being able to hit a drum on beat and strum a guitar in sync with that is called having the ability of keeping time. Listen to any band that has any sucess, they all can atleast do that which keeps their muisc LISTENABLE. All these new artsy farsty bands think its the new hip thing to ignore music theory and just "jam out" very poorly.

Not being able to keep time is not though provoking, just makes me want to change to the next song.

You my friend have been pwned.

Anonymous (May 29, 2004)

I cant review anything except the mp3 but is it cool to not be able to keep time?

Seriously i think people are forgetting the importance of actually being able to keep time.......

There is some promise there but I doubt anything interesting will come of this band but the mp3 is moderately interesting

Anonymous (May 28, 2004)

i smell a MP3 of the week. seriously though i love this band and album.

Ramo

Anonymous (May 28, 2004)

Awesome album; awesome guys.

Interview:
http://rebelnoise.com/viewinterview.php?id=7 9

-Janelle

Anonymous (May 28, 2004)

Why can't I read a review on this site without seeing the word "pretentious" in it? Good job, lame square.

Anonymous (May 28, 2004)

rock. matt sweeting is the new black.

Anonymous (May 28, 2004)

i hear a definite fuel influence. good shit.