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Malady

Malady (2004)
Level Plane Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: thurstonXwhore
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on February 20th 2007

With ex-members hailing from both Pg. 99 and City of Caterpillar, who knows what the hell one would expect from Malady. Is it epic, grandiose, larger-than-life as displayed by CoC? Nah. Does it retain Pg. 99's intensity and forceful confrontation? No way. So what? Malady's debut and sole album falls somewhere in between, proving to be more thought-provoking than Pg. 99 and a hell of a lot noisier than City of Caterpillar.

The first track, "Tongue," almost sounds like radio play; it's that easy, but, of course, that could never happen. "Yeah" has got to be my favorite track on the album, clocking in at a mere minute thirty-eight. It starts off slow, deep, almost shoegaze-y, I'll say it. You're caught in its hardcore tranquility until it finally breaks at the end into a consistent ride of noise and yelling, a flow so hard to produce, yet they do it with such ease and without any care. "Well Again" is slow, painful, and incredibly heavy. It's the final minute of spaciness that makes you realize, "Hey, the fuck is going on?"

And then you're blown by the explosion that is the fourth track. It's classic hardcore, only to contain what is probably the most interesting and (undoubtedly) one of the coolest breakdowns ever to be recorded, considering its increasing unpopularity. "Bad Life" and "Heroine" are hardly fillers, exhibiting two different passions not commonly encountered in emocore. The songs lift you up until finally crushing your puny little heart and throwing you down into the ground. "Let's Face It" is the finale, writing the album off on a humorous note: "...Singing some shitty song about sadness or sincerity. Let's face it, you're in your twenties, and a bad poet. And you're not an artist, you're a fartist..." Chris Taylor is without a doubt referring to the millions of spawned emo bands, ruining the title and ruining musical credibilty altogether.

Personally, I find Malady to be a lot better than either of the previous two parent bands, providing for the listener something that is still very much punk rock, and something that is deeply intelligent.

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blursblending (June 29, 2007)

I can't seem to get this album out of my speakers. Depending on the specific type of emotional massacre at hand, I usually choose either Blonde Redhead, Bright Eyes, The Blood Brothers, The Vogue, Head Wound City, Neon Blonde, Mewithoutyou, The Murder City Devils, These Arms Are Snakes, Controlling The Famous, Radiohead, Detachment Kit, Interpol, Zao, Against Me, or The Velvet Teen, but lately, this Malady album has been my all purpose anti-depressent. Based on the preceding list and the said album of discussion, If anybody knows of a more perfectly painfully gut-wrenching angst of a record, please, let me know, because as it stands, I'm addicted to Malady.

Paris_In_flames (June 11, 2007)

This cd is pretty bad.

nate_derby (February 22, 2007)

This is just being reviewed...NOW?

Either way, this album has ruled for years. Not as good as PG99, but better than CoC in my opinion. I almost saw them on their one and only tour, but...missed it somehow. I'll have to check out their new band...hopefully they'll rule too.

SilentStorms (February 22, 2007)

"I back colin's comment wholeheartedly, although you don't have to be a pg. 99 or COC fan to get into this (because I'm not a fan of either).

I sitll stick to my description of this as what Planes Mistaken For Stars would sound like if they were good at writing songs.

-Scott"

Yikes

elephantdwarf (February 21, 2007)

not much is better than pg.99's document 8. or the CoC LP.

this album is really fucking good but nothing near those two records... so for me:

pg.99 > CoC > Malady

Anonymous (February 21, 2007)

Amazing album. They need to make a follow up!

soundaslanguage (February 21, 2007)

great album. better than pg99 but doesn't top coc.

Anonymous (February 20, 2007)

Released on Level-Plane LP071.

Anonymous (February 20, 2007)

3 of these guys are now in a band called pygmylush.

They're super-nice dudes... my band's leaving for tour in a few days and we've got a show with them. I can't wait.

Pygmylush is soooo good.

here's my take:
CoC > Malady > Pg.99

Benjasauruss (February 20, 2007)

not to downplay the greatness of the work of pg. 99 and CoC, but this album destroys all of that
so
fucking
good

the guitarwork on this album is absolutely unmatched anywhere

Anonymous (February 20, 2007)

this band was way beyond its predecessors, and this album is incredible.

maverick (February 20, 2007)

I back colin's comment wholeheartedly, although you don't have to be a pg. 99 or COC fan to get into this (because I'm not a fan of either).

I sitll stick to my description of this as what Planes Mistaken For Stars would sound like if they were good at writing songs.

-Scott

Ianw (February 20, 2007)

Fuck art, lets fart!

SilentStorms (February 20, 2007)

Wow. I'm the complete opposite. I loved City of Caterpillar and thought Pg. 99 was alright. I bought this cd, listened to it three times and then sold it. Perhaps I sold it without completely emersing myself in it. Perhaps it was kinda crappy. I'll never know. But if there is one thing I do know, it's that I'm gay. Oh and those two other bands sounded better to me than these guys. Give me Hot Water Music if I'm going to listen to rock.

colin (February 20, 2007)

this.
album.
fucking.
rules.

it's everything you would expect and want it to be from the bands involved.

just.. so... great.