Blue Skies At War

I think the first thing that attracted me to listen to these guys was there name. "Blue Skies At War" is just such a catchy name. I then picked up the CD a little while ago having never heard any recordings, but seeing them live a couple times. I liked what i heard so i picked up the CD.

The CD is titled You Pour The Gasoline And I'll Light The Match. The first track, "Etched In Skin" is your typical set-opening song. You know, with the big build up. But it quickly cuts right into the verse and i could feel my heel moving right away. The second song "Even If It Kills Me" had me looking for more, until the chorus. It really caught my ear. It had three different vocals all over each other. "Better Time," the third track, started off with a not so catchy drum roll intro with multiple guitars layering each other soon after. Soft and catchy verses mixed with more crushing choruses and a guitar-driven bridge made this song a favorite. The fourth track "Constant Reminder" really blew me away. Every aspect of the song really had my head bobbing. The song steped away from the heavy indie rock style that the previous three tracks were leading on and gave the CD a more of a hardcore touch to it. You know The Ataris' cover of "Boys Of Summer?" That's what "Last Call's" intro reminded me of. I was waiting for it to get better, but it really never did. I could totally hear this song on the radio or see a music video for it being played regularly. This song really bored me.

"Another Hero Dies" was the next track. Again, another radio-friendly song. What i did notice about this song though was one of the versuses later in the song. Everything but the vocals sounded like the intro to "End Of An Era" by Hopesfall, but with a softer touch. It sounded pretty rad, but also sounded very ripped-off. The seventh song followed the previous two songs and bored me. The bridge was the one bright side to the song, wIth a cool sounding bass line and then breaking into heavy screaming. "Tailor," the eighth track, sounded like another set opening song, with the build up again. The whole song reminded me a lot of the first track "Etched In Skin." This song did have some cool sounding parts though. Just little guitar and drum things here and there. The last song "No Longer Time" started off with really catchy kick and when the vocals came in, i was loving it and then the song just stopped after three minutes. I was waiting for something really cool sounding to end off the CD, but nothing!

The lyrics throughout the cd are really encouraging and uplifting, something that's lacking in the hardcore/punk scene today. The first few songs and the last one were really good. But the others filling out the CD were not nearly as good. Blue Skies At War are an amazing band though. It seems to me that they were listening to indie/punk and hardcore while writing for this. I would suggest this CD for fans of Hot Water Music, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Grade and Small Brown Bike.

Standout tracks were "Constant Reminder" and "Even If It Kills Me."

Oh, and they're on the same label as Holly McNarland.