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Akimbo

City Of The Stars
2004
Seventh Rule

Akimbo - City Of The Stars (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Jesse
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Published on November 30th 2004

I put off reviewing this record for a little while because I wasn't sure really how to go about doing it. Anyone who's read my archives knows that this is one of my favorite bands, and 2003's Elephantine rocked my face like none other (it still does). This CD came out this summer while the band was on tour, and they didn't get copies of it until the Chicago stop, which of course was the stop right after Minneapolis, where I saw them play. Ironically, I moved to Chicago right after that in lieu of a transfer between colleges. I ordered the CD from Seventh Rule and patiently awaited the day it would arrive in the mail. Sure enough, it arrived eventually, and I instantly threw it in my player and listened to it. And was amazed and blown away, and in some ways disappointed.

I guess, ultimately, you could compare the CD to my experience moving to Chicago. Compared to Minneapolis, Chicago is a lot larger; in comparison, City of the Stars is much larger than Elephantine. This is due to the addition of another guitar. Culturally, Chicago is a different than Minneapolis. Musicallly, City of the Stars is different from Elephantine. And so on and so forth. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you would just see the review as self-centered then. So I will simply proceed to the record itself.

With this release, Akimbo is as much Black Sabbath as they are Black Flag. The music is a tad slower, and showcases the double guitar action everywhere. From the opening chords of "Circle of Hair" to the fade out at the end of the eight-minute long "Uranaburg" (a song of epic proportions for a band who generally clocks in at two minutes) the CD seems to be more of a showcase of what the band is capable of doing with two dueling guitar parts. And although it's masterfully crafted, it just doesn't seem to rock as hard, which is a hump you have to get over. The band is expanding and experimenting with sound, evident in the blues-shuffle drum beat of "The Sorceress" or "High and Fighting" which features spacey riffs from all three guitars and a semi-march beat on the drums. Overall, Akimbo still brings their riff-based hardcore-punk sound blasting out of the speakers showing you that they know indeed where they started and aren't willing to give up all aspects of their sound, even though most songs on the new album clock in closer to four minutes.

Lyrically, the band references dark imagery and mythological references like they always have, with lines like "And so they spawn. Squirming like maggots from the anus of a God," or "On the day I face the lion's jaws, he'll drink this blood through broken teeth." But on this album there is also a lot of personal statements boldly thrown in as well. "Circle of Hair" ends with "Hey scene, nice hair. I should set your fucking head on fire. I'm gonna take your white stripes. I'm gonna paint them black." Or try "Aiming For the Heel," as it begins with "I've never considered myself a poet. This has never been about blowing your mind. Never. Not once. That being said, I'll leave you to your lazer warfare." But overall, the CD continues with a theme, and that theme being Tycho Brahe. For those of you unfamiliar (as I was when I picked up the CD, but a quick Google search provided sound research), Tycho Brahe was a Danish prince – born 1546, died 1601 – who was obsessed with astronomy. He used all the resources he could to map out the stars and create new instruments and technologies for doing so. The cover of the CD has a picture of Brahe's head with men inside using it as an observatory – note the gold nose Brahe has due to him losing the tip of it in a duel. The last song on the album, "Uranaburg," named for Brahe's own observatory, explores the notion of searching through the skies for an enormous feast of the stars, housed by Brahe himself. In a way, the song is lyrically a metaphor for the band expanding themselves physically and musically. The song closes with the line "We'll leave our dusty lives behind." On the album cover, placed on the inside of the hinge is the quote "May I not seemed to have lived in vain" by Brahe himself.

When it comes down to it, Akimbo shows so much growth through this record. They wrote a song four times as long as most songs in their catalog. They added another guitar player, and an entire new dynamic to their sound. They experiment with new tempos and structures. And they still bring the rock. Only, just not as much rock. They bring the rock with more melody. My only gripe is that this CD was recorded kind of hastily due to their new guitar player getting a kickass scholarship to a school in Chicago, and him having to leave the band to pursue a career being intelligent and full of wisdom. Don't worry, they have a new guitar player now, so they're still a four-piece. But the album, although very amazing in how raw the recording is, seems slightly hastily thrown together, with a few awkward transitions in the middle of some songs. All in all, another album of face-eaters has been constructed, and worthy of praise City of the Stars is.

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Posted by boldredletters on 2004-12-07 11:13:47
My Score:

I'm pretty sure Tyco Brahe died because he was eating with the king and he couldn't get up to leave because it would be impolite, and his bladder ended up exploding.

I don't get the hype around this band. They had a good live show, and sound good on record, but I just question why Jesse would pick them to fawn over over anyone.

Posted by Anchors on 2004-12-06 00:23:14
My Score:

And by record, I mean review.

Posted by Anchors on 2004-12-06 00:23:01
My Score:

Everybody who's pissed at how long this record is should blame themselves for dropping out of 6th grade.

Posted by bemused on 2004-12-05 22:56:02
My Score:

haha

-Chris-

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 5:31 PM (EST)
My Score:

Hey, I like Hawthorn Heights and Atreyu because they keep it old school like my favorite two bands: Black Flag and Reagan Youth.

-BSD

Posted by Jesse on 2004-12-02 16:29:21
My Score:

I know that www.seventhrule.com has a few mp3s posted from the new album.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 3:25 PM (EST)
My Score:

who wants to give me some insight on the band heroin?

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 2:19 PM (EST)
My Score:

mp3 please?

Posted by Jesse on 2004-12-02 11:50:19
My Score:

So, when I write a short, curt review, everyone gets pissed. When I take time to write a thoughtful, planned out review, everyone gets pissed. Hunh. People seemed to love the "Panopticon" review, including myself. I thought this might have gone over better.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 11:08 AM (EST)
My Score:

spare us some useless crap next time and don't write a fucking thesis on the record.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 2:58 AM (EST)
My Score:

I like Osker "Idle Will Kill" is amazing

Barkley

Posted by Jesse on 2004-12-02 00:59:32
My Score:

You obviously have no idea what BSD listens to, do you?

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 12:37 AM (EST)
My Score:

Sabbath is responsible for all that Atreyu and Hawthorne Heights you listen to BSD.

Barkley"Sabbath is still good-its just Atreyu that sucks"Barkster

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 10:10 PM (EST)
My Score:

"great review.

Side note: I wonder why no girls post on this site (cept Janelle)??

-Chris-"

Because, like it or not, most of the music covered here are mostly liked buy guys. I know very, very few who like bands such as the Weakerthans, Rise Against, Osker, etc. Then again, girls could be posting all along, and we don't know it, just look at the contests. Most of us are probably desperate horndogs who would chat them up, and thats annoying.

Posted by bemused on 2004-12-01 20:02:26
My Score:

great review.

Side note: I wonder why no girls post on this site (cept Janelle)??

-Chris-

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 7:43 PM (EST)
My Score:

The Sabbath are the suck. Sorry, Jesse. I listened to that "War Pigs" song searching for whatever you saw in it. Came up dry.

-BSD

Posted by Jesse on 2004-12-01 14:07:38
My Score:

For Dazed – there is no double bass pedal drumming. You must be either A) Listening to the wrong band, or B) Retarded.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 1:17 PM (EST)
My Score:

What school did you transfer to? i go to depaul.

Posted by dazed on 2004-12-01 12:34:46
My Score:

I went to the website and listened to an mp3. Not bad, but nothing spectacular. The double bass pedal drumming irritated me.

Score's for Tycho Brahe. An area of the moon is named after him since he was an important astronomer of his day.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 12:10 PM (EST)
My Score:

The best part was how he died. He was at a dinner party and drank way too much, and even though he had to pee, he held it because it was considered rude to leave the table before your guest. So rather than get up to go, he just kept drinking. When he got home, he couldn't pee any more and was in tons of pain and had a really high fever. A few days later, after pissing blood, he died. Rumors spread that he died of a burst bladder.

Turns out it was even stupider. After screwing up his uninary system, he tried to cure himself with his own medicines... too bad they were full of mercury and he ended up poisoning himself. Good stuff.

Posted by ringston on 2004-12-01 10:20:15
My Score:

so this guy, Tycho Brahe, lost the tip of his nose in a duel in the 1500's? and then he had it replaced with a gold one? thats incredible. i want to know more but i'm too lazy to look it up.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 3:28 AM (EST)
My Score:

this review is wayyy too long. now i don't care about the album at all.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 3:27 AM (EST)
My Score:

fags

Posted by Jesse on 2004-12-01 01:30:59
My Score:

To be honest, I prefer burritos. Wait, what?

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 1:02 AM (EST)
My Score:

"ood Review man. I'm going to get this because of your review. Are there any girls that come to this site? If not then allow me to wallow in self pity on the account of our sausage fest. I love this site, but we all need to get lives-this includes you El Vaquero-Mr. I have 8 websites and a Palm Pilot

Barkley"

I would rather have a sausagefest than a clam bake. Too much fish gives me cramps.

Posted by shindo on 2004-12-01 00:14:53
My Score:

"Are there any girls that come to this site? If not then allow me to wallow in self pity on the account of our sausage fest."

I know from contest entries that there ARE indeed plenty of female site readers, but I'm pretty sure there are very few female commenters.

-adam

Posted by Jesse on 2004-11-30 22:35:30
My Score:

It's been implicated, so I'm just going to flat out say it: Scott must have a small penis. Anyway, www.seventhrule.com. You can get it for $10 including shipping. Quite a steal, actually.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 10:33 PM (EST)
My Score:

A cocktease? What exactly does Scott do with those CDs? And how does he make it fit through?

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 10:19 PM (EST)
My Score:

Good Review man. I'm going to get this because of your review. Are there any girls that come to this site? If not then allow me to wallow in self pity on the account of our sausage fest. I love this site, but we all need to get lives-this includes you El Vaquero-Mr. I have 8 websites and a Palm Pilot

Barkley

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 8:25 PM (EST)
My Score:

Hey Jesse! Listen to Husker Du!

Posted by maverick on 2004-11-30 20:11:08
My Score:

I am so fucking pissed. Seventh Rule sent me a copy of this CD in the mail for review, but it was broken in half when it came. Not the case or anything; the actual CD itself. Talk about a cocktease! I guess I'll have to track one down via retail now...

-Scott

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