Blake Solomon
06/15/08, 04:32 AM
A Thorn For Every Heart – Pick Up The Pieces EP
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Here we are again at the junction of youthful passion and mind-numbing clichés. To some these notions may be one and the same. How many truly unique ways are there to write a review say “I love you” or “I hate you?” This dilemma has plagued A Thorn For Every Heart since their inception: dark pop-rock, embarrassing hair cuts/fashion and redundant lyrics. Yet I always felt compelled to compromise – I’ll look over lines like “I’d hate to see you / In another lover’s arms” because of slick vocal production and sly piano usage – and portions of the band’s discography seem to stubbornly stick around. Plus, as evidenced on the (terribly lackluster and catchy chorus-less) industry call-out “Light This Fire,” where Kelvin Cruz spits out, “I’m sick and tired of the critics today / All you cynics and you haters / All you always act the same / You open up your mouth / But you got nothing to say / You can never make us go away / We will always remain,” they make it clear there will be no more playing dead.
I know your label screwed you, guys, but please: take one chill pill, turn down the 80’s metal riffs and call me in the morning.
When it was all said and done, ATFEH had a terrible 2007. Kickball Records went under, the band was legally incapable of releasing their own music, and longstanding members fled the scene. Luckily for us, the band has always been, umm, hehe, emotional. Maybe such developments would lead to uncharted songwriting territory on Pick Up The Pieces’ five songs. Other than “Light This Fire,” though, we have the same ol’ topics we’ve come to expect from ATFEH. The real improvement, however, comes in the instrumentation. Songs don’t wallow in the same riff or structure for 3 minutes. Kelvin Cruz still rules with iron vocal chords, but there is more to listen for now. After unwisely removing the screams from (still unreleased) It’s Hard To Move You, they make a triumphant return on “Pick Up The Pieces.” Couple that with a choral-ized bridge and fingers-do-the-talking guitar riff, and you’ve got sweet, sweet maturity. “Bitter Party of One” flirts with chaos (i.e. double bass and crazed screaming) before lulling us with overly produced drum fills. The chorus we are led to appears fulfilling, but by the time we hear Cruz belt out “You’re already dead inside,” all interest is long gone. Guitarists Casey Hill and Phil Nguyen once again save this track with technical shredding that has been mostly missing from previous ATFEH releases. There’s no new formula per se, but it has been modified to hold extra complexity.
A song like “Born To Bleed” reminds me why I even gave a damn in the first place. It’s just-right mix of heaviness and pretty-boy pop rebound off each other in such satisfying ways. The story of a friend lost to various vices becomes all the more fascinating over riffs that switch from picked heaviness to airy twinkling. Cruz’s voice, like always, sounds so sleek I can see my reflection. Perhaps a scenedown (that’s scene + breakdown) would have added to the fun, but this track still rises far above the rest. After a few more songs like this, A Thorn For Every Heart should have no problem convincing those stiffs in suits to throw more cash at their weary little feet.
Recommended If You Like: Hawthorne Heights, middle fingers, Bayside, middle fingers, Name Taken, middle fingers, Park, middle fingers
www.myspace.com/athornforeveryheart
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Here we are again at the junction of youthful passion and mind-numbing clichés. To some these notions may be one and the same. How many truly unique ways are there to write a review say “I love you” or “I hate you?” This dilemma has plagued A Thorn For Every Heart since their inception: dark pop-rock, embarrassing hair cuts/fashion and redundant lyrics. Yet I always felt compelled to compromise – I’ll look over lines like “I’d hate to see you / In another lover’s arms” because of slick vocal production and sly piano usage – and portions of the band’s discography seem to stubbornly stick around. Plus, as evidenced on the (terribly lackluster and catchy chorus-less) industry call-out “Light This Fire,” where Kelvin Cruz spits out, “I’m sick and tired of the critics today / All you cynics and you haters / All you always act the same / You open up your mouth / But you got nothing to say / You can never make us go away / We will always remain,” they make it clear there will be no more playing dead.
I know your label screwed you, guys, but please: take one chill pill, turn down the 80’s metal riffs and call me in the morning.
When it was all said and done, ATFEH had a terrible 2007. Kickball Records went under, the band was legally incapable of releasing their own music, and longstanding members fled the scene. Luckily for us, the band has always been, umm, hehe, emotional. Maybe such developments would lead to uncharted songwriting territory on Pick Up The Pieces’ five songs. Other than “Light This Fire,” though, we have the same ol’ topics we’ve come to expect from ATFEH. The real improvement, however, comes in the instrumentation. Songs don’t wallow in the same riff or structure for 3 minutes. Kelvin Cruz still rules with iron vocal chords, but there is more to listen for now. After unwisely removing the screams from (still unreleased) It’s Hard To Move You, they make a triumphant return on “Pick Up The Pieces.” Couple that with a choral-ized bridge and fingers-do-the-talking guitar riff, and you’ve got sweet, sweet maturity. “Bitter Party of One” flirts with chaos (i.e. double bass and crazed screaming) before lulling us with overly produced drum fills. The chorus we are led to appears fulfilling, but by the time we hear Cruz belt out “You’re already dead inside,” all interest is long gone. Guitarists Casey Hill and Phil Nguyen once again save this track with technical shredding that has been mostly missing from previous ATFEH releases. There’s no new formula per se, but it has been modified to hold extra complexity.
A song like “Born To Bleed” reminds me why I even gave a damn in the first place. It’s just-right mix of heaviness and pretty-boy pop rebound off each other in such satisfying ways. The story of a friend lost to various vices becomes all the more fascinating over riffs that switch from picked heaviness to airy twinkling. Cruz’s voice, like always, sounds so sleek I can see my reflection. Perhaps a scenedown (that’s scene + breakdown) would have added to the fun, but this track still rises far above the rest. After a few more songs like this, A Thorn For Every Heart should have no problem convincing those stiffs in suits to throw more cash at their weary little feet.
Recommended If You Like: Hawthorne Heights, middle fingers, Bayside, middle fingers, Name Taken, middle fingers, Park, middle fingers
www.myspace.com/athornforeveryheart