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Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (Deluxe)

Bands are allowed to have a quirky sense of humor. I am perfectly okay with that. From Motion City Soundtrack to Good Clean Fun there are bands that do it well and do it in appropriate spurts. However, Weatherbox blow their load on 4 Songs, a severely limited edition EP composed of four half-baked, mostly jokey acoustic songs and existing solely to bridge the short gap between last year's The Clearing EP and the debut full-length slated for release in May.

"Is Nice" references Borat strictly in its title and none of its lyrics at least, and it's well-composed with flowing strings and a pretty atmosphere, making for what could be the only worthwhile song of the four. Brian Warren then slurs his way through the next three, falling completely flat in trying to be humorous and draining the songs of all entertainment and even novelty value. "The Seven Different Levels of Devil Worshipping" is mind-bogglingly bad, with two minutes of Warren utterly rambling out of his mind over a single guitar; "Human sacrifices, cannibalism, candles and exorcisms / animals havin' sex with them camels, mammals, and rabbits" -- trust me, it does not cross into 'so bad it's good' territory. "That M.A.D.D." is another bad acid trip unfortunately put to tape -- it seems like the guitars take a strong, interesting cue from Owen, but Warren continuously croons "I won't get that mad" and "oooo" strangely over the whole thing for far, far too long. Warren sings distantly under a coat of distortion in "Brian Wins Again," and it would be a good, emotional number if you could actually tell where it was going.

Only 100 copies of 4 Songs will actually be made when all is said and done, and once one has actually sat through its pointless 13 minutes it's quite obvious why. Weatherbox writes wonderful rock songs when they're put to task and that aforementioned full-length, American Art proves it, but their discography would be just fine without 4 Songs having seen the light of day.

Is Nice






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    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at 2:37 PM (EDT)

    "Human sacrifices, cannibalism, candles and exorcisms / animals havin' sex with them camels, mammals, and rabbits"

    That's part of Eminem's verse in the track 'Dead Wrong' from a Notorious B.I.G album.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2007-04-12 11:43:48

    Nothing on American Art is half as dynamic as "The Thinnest of Maps." That and recycling three of the EP's tracks (10 songs, 41 minutes would've been fine as opposed to 13/50) made me a little disappointed by it, but I think it's solid.

    A lot of the abrupt, start-stop riffs remind me of Gatsbys American Dream, too.

    Posted by maverick on 2007-04-12 01:04:59

    I thnk it's a bit more technical than Criteria; I hear a lot of older Cursive in it, too (pre-cello), and the faster stuff reminds me of Audio Karate. And when they hit the half-time grooves in some of those songs like "Atoms Smash," shit is just fucking on.

    I don't think American Art is better than En Garde, but I think it's better than When We Break for sure.

    -Scott

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 10:50 PM (EDT)

    Amercian Art sounds so much like a Criteria album.

    Not that that is a bad thing, but I'm suprised with all the praise that no one seems to be mentioning that.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 6:22 PM (EDT)

    did we not make the logical connection from the album art to notorious b.i.g.'s dead wrong feat eminem? i'm not sure if "Warren utterly rambling out of his mind" quite fits the bill here... might need to take that one up with em when you get a chance.

    Posted by homie on 2007-04-10 10:53:53

    I haven't heard this but I've heard a few songs from the upcoming LP. And it is really good. Reminds me of the early to mid 90s...in a good way.

    Posted by Cthulhu on 2007-04-10 10:52:43

    So, the linked song reminds me of Wheatus, the band that made "Teenage Dirtbag"...what happened to them?

    Posted by maverick on 2007-04-10 01:41:25
    My Score:

    These songs aren't nearly as bad as you make them out to be.

    But it doesn't matter anyway. Once American Art comes out this May, people are going to shit themselves. It's sooooo fucking good.

    -Scott

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