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OnGuard

This Has Its Price and That Price Has Been Paid (2008)
Red Sound

Reviewer Rating:

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

Published on August 7th 2009

Back in 2006, I was pretty jazzed on OnGuard’s potential. Here was a solo project that featured those higher-pitched, hoarse, shitty vocals that endeared me to early Jawbreaker, Brendan Kelly-fronted bands and A Radio with Guts, but wasn’t a folk/country act, like Chuck Ragan or Tim Barry. Unfortunately, OnGuard was never fully realized, the songs put to tape never saw a physical or digital release, and their MySpace page was deleted, so I couldn’t even stream the three songs featured. Fortunately, in the fall of 2008, the kind folks at Red Sound Records released those three songs, plus an additional three that had never been featured on their MySpace page, as This Has Its Price and That Price Has Been Paid. And free, to boot!

For being a solo project, there is a surprising amount of instrumentation. Most tracks feature any combination of the standard acoustic guitars, electric guitars (with distortion and without), bass guitar and drums, but Christmas bells, a flute, a piano, a xylophone and pursed-lip whistling are also peppered throughout the release. Despite this, most of the songs maintain a warm, stripped-down feel to them, excepting “Benders” and “Mr. Misery,” which sound as they were full-band demos (and in the case of “Mr. Misery,” it is essentially a demo to LaGrecia’s “Can’t Go Back to Daddy’s"). “The Reds” even has what sounds like the hum of a loose ceiling fan in the background; it makes me feel like the song is being played live in the room with me.

“Lupe’s Fault” is the catchiest and, arguably, the strongest song on the release. It features the abovementioned Christmas bells and flute, and it’s pretty shocking to hear those bear cub vocals construct such catchy melodies, such as when frontman Jason Shevchuk sings:

Oh, sun shines like murder in my veins when I picture her wearing that dress / Oh, I hear every little note she sings to me / Oh, I got another thing coming"

It really does suck that OnGuard never got past the demo stage, because This Has Its Price and That Price Has Been Paid really had a lot of promise. At least we can take consolation in that the demo has finally seen the light of day.

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R3vengeTherapy (August 10, 2009)

Oh shit, my prayers have been answered. I thought these were lost forever, but here they are. This day smiles upon me.

PoliticsOfStarving (August 7, 2009)

I love the chorus in 'Mr Misery'. More so than in 'Can't Go Back To Daddy's'.

inagreendase (August 7, 2009)

Oh my god! Have you fucking heard Bound's full-length???

Shevchuk didn't really have his name out there prior to Bound. Something can't really be disappointing if no one was looking forward to it.

olliemikse (August 7, 2009)

Little Prison's my second favorite on this album next to..well you guys can probably guess...

telegraphrocks (August 7, 2009)

"First disappointing Shevchuck project."
Oh my god! Have you fucking heard Bound's full-length??? That is all sorts of terrible!!!

This... this is decent. "Lupe's Fault", as said below, is an amazing fucking song... probably one of the greatest by a punk-dude-goes-solo act.

The rest is enjoyable, but aside from "Lupe's Fault" I really can't listen to this whole thing more than once in a six-month span.

mattramone (August 7, 2009)

Needz moar Dan Yemin.

damnitsderek (August 7, 2009)

Lupe's Fault is such a good fucking song. Score is for that song alone.

shark-e (August 7, 2009)

Turns out I meant a 3/5, not 3/10. But who's counting?

shark-e (August 7, 2009)

Lupe's Fault and the Reds are fantastic enough to give this whole thing a three... But everything else is kind of boring.

olliemikse (August 7, 2009)

Thanks for the great review. Up next is a Flipsides EP , and quite possibly a Soviettes album.

olliemikse (August 7, 2009)

Thanks so much for the great review. Up next is the Flipsides and quite possibly, a Soviettes demo album.

Yes yes.

TheMike (August 7, 2009)

Touche. wish it was intended. Probably would have ruined it with a comment referencing the pun, however. This would have yielded a serious scolding from Maddox.

Blackjaw_ (August 7, 2009)

Never heard the fourth and fifth songs. The falsetto in "It's Like a Happy Couple" took me off guard.

Off guard, as opposed to OnGuard? Hehe... hmm.

Blackjaw_ (August 7, 2009)

I listened to this and On Parallels way too much about a year ago, ruining them forever. I just can't listen to them anymore.

xshoutoutx (August 7, 2009)

"Only the first track seemed fucking super"

Cant agree with this line more! First disappointing Shevchuck project.

xshoutoutx (August 7, 2009)

Got my Bouncing Souls, None More Black, Lifetime tickets yesterday, and I move into my new apartment tomorrow!

FUCK YA!

score is for life not sucking right now!