Four Letter Lie - Let Your Body Take Over
 

When it comes to bands that try to pull of the sing / scream duo, I am always quick to jump to the conclusion that the band would not be a group that I enjoy. I generally never give them the benefit of the doubt. In all honesty, I believe this is so because the music always feels to loose and not thick enough. When it comes to the guitar work, I enjoy the rougher and full sound. The cleaner vocals always sound too whiney and it just comes off sounding over the top and cheesy. However, Four Letter Lie has successfully created music that is not only tolerable; it is fantastic. I am here to encourage you, the potential listener, to throw away those hasty conclusions out the door you indisputably have as you continue to read. Their first Victory Records release, Let Your Body Take Over, is an album that will with out a hesitation surprise many people. Especially the people that refuse to actually sit down and give Four Letter Lie the chance they deserve. The music is spot on, the screams are very noteworthy, and the clean vocals are harmonious and wonderful in resonance. Hailing from Minnesota, Four Letter Lie is a group of kids that are no stranger to doing things on their own, busting their ass to make things work out and realizing that this will all pay off in the end. They are sentient of what the unaware may be thinking; “these guys sound like everyone else!”, but they have set out to make music that they enjoy themselves. Everyone needs to take a listen.

It is unnecessary to discuss which bands that fail to properly incorporate the scream / sing duo irritate me. Four Letter Lie’s Brian Nagan’s screams fit so wonderfully with Kevin Skaff’s clean vocals that for once, for me at least, they are the two commanding forces found through out the record. When it comes to heavier music, I am usually more inclined to focus in on the guitar work. However, it is unfair to leave out the rest of the talent that is within the ranks of Four Letter Lie. Known for the intensity of their live show, as the listener pays attention to the record, the guitars, bass and percussion are extremely powerful as well. Do not expect any intense metal riffs or that many break downs, but do anticipate extremely forceful music with very straightforward riffs that will leave you awe struck. I can feel the description of Four Letter Lie’s superb live show as Let Your Body Take Over progresses. Displaying only one or two slower songs, Four Letter Lie has created a very melancholic metal album that has a stalwart pop sense.

Let Your Body Take Over gets the listener senses and emotions flowing as they open with a program-filled introduction that quickly explodes into their second track, “Full Tilt Boogie.” This is easily one of the stronger and heavier songs from the album. This is the first experience you get from Kevin Skaff’s cleaner vocals and as he belts his lyrics over his own guitar work as well as Connor Kelly’s, it is a sure bet that the listener is enjoying the record, even if it is this early. Brian Nagan’s vocals are astonishingly brutal and positively heart felt. “Full Tilt Boogie” has a strong A Static Lullaby circa-And Don’t Forget To Breathe feel to it. When I first heard their latest single, “Feel Like Fame,” I was patiently awaiting to get my hands on the album. This is the perfect example I have asked for to describe how perfectly Four Letter Lie has pulled off creating an album that was emotionally powerful with heavy vocals but has soothing clean vocals that nicely compliment everything. The title track off the album “Let Your Body Take Over” is my favorite song off the album. Towards the end of the track, the guitar work has a very evident Third Eye Blind feel to it. The tempo begins to slow for “Firecracker Four Letter Lie” and is the staple selling point on the vocals of Kevin Skaff. The percussion thanks to Derek Smith lights up the background with very subtle and easy on the ear guitar work. Connor Kelly finally enters with the best solo found on Let Your Body Takeover. With the final track “Cowboys & Indians,” Four Letter Lie has Doug Robinson (The Sleeping) enter with some excellent guest vocals. Robinson makes the song extremely powerful and the break down found on the track is exceptionally brutal.

Four Letter Lie’s Let Your Body Takeover is an unforeseen release that will have many people knocked off of their chairs after taking a listen. People have annoyingly continued to write this album off. They have jumped to their conclusions all too quickly. They have failed to open their minds and actually give Four Letter Lie a chance. Let Your Body Take Over is a breath taking release that has no filler. After listening to the album, I am extremely pleased. The album artwork is extraordinary, filled with a lot of color and awesome designs. You cannot say that this artwork is cliché for any metal band out there, even the ones that have a strong pop feel to them. This is a wonderful surprise, I will be spinning this many times in the months to come.

Interesting that you liked it so much. I've read a few terrible reviews of this album, including the ass-raping Alternative Press gave it. I tend to agree with your reviews though, so I will have to check this one out.

wow... one of the worst reviews i've ever read.... such a horrible album.. avoid at all costs

Wow.
How much did they pay you to write this?

How is this not like every other cookie-cutter band out there like this?

Yeah, I'm surprised at the positive review. I clicked on the tab actually hoping for a nice ap.net scathing but funny critique. I don't hate this album, and I did buy it - so I obviously like this genre but...this really offers nothing to me but a bunch of kids aping the UnderOath TOCS sound. The review mentioned ASL - I do agree that at times the album sounds a bit like new ASL, but only in terms of sound, not in terms of lyrics and melodies. Four Letter Lie know what they're doing, and they pull it off ok, but lyrically, the chops aren't there. I also disagreed with the idea that the sing/scream transitions are smooth. It sounds like two different bands. I have a lot of friends that hate the 'screamo' sound. They always argue 'Dude - why can't they just pick one!' - I argue back that with bands like ASL, The Used, Atreyu...the dual sing/scream vocals benefit each other, and aren't jarring to me. With Four Letter Lie - I NOTICE the transition. The screams are pretty brutal and the singing is pretty poppy. it doesn't fit for me. And 'Feels Like Flame' is such an obvious 'popped up' single. No other song sounds like it on the album. This might be a hardworking band, but this album feels like the result of a 'Hey, let's make a screamo album' committee.

Damn. This was a longer reply than I intentioned. All in all, well-written review though.

i don't really see how motion city is cookie cutter....

and they dont put bands on their cover because they respect them...they put them on because it will sell magazines...good strategy if you ask me....a magazine wont do too well if no one buys it...

Alt Press compared Shaant of CIWWAF to Morrissey, how can you take them seriously?

They didn't pay me, if you don't believe come over here and look at me $1,000 credit card debt.

i second that. last album may have been more pop oriented than i Am The Movie, but still...

i like this band alot.
i need to pick this up.

i kind of like the album. it lacks some creativity, obviously. but i dont mind it.

how much did alternative press pay u to say that

yea but seriously alternative press ripped em a new asshole, i dont think there that bad though, the songs they remade aren't as good as the old ones though

i first heard these guys before they got signed to victory when they were good. but just take a look at there myspace page they are fuckin losers

Wow at the raging hard on the reviewer apparently had when listening to and reviewing this album. Good thing you probably didn't check out any Aiden release after listening to this, the hang over might make you write a gushy review for them too.

But seriously, I think Brian got it right in his AP review. This band is ripping off Underoath badly (especially in the vocal department), and for the most part Underoath isn't anything special. So when you add it all together, it doesn't favor well. I like 'Feel Like Fame,' but the rest of the softer songs are generic and blah, while the screaming is ridicoulsy cookie cutter. As for the music, the mix isn't good and it's nothing worth the time.

So yea, this album is baaaaaaadddddddddddd.

Seriously? Their sound hasn't changed, they just were never good to begin with.


I find it funny people are calling out that AP review based on the previous covers. The dude who wrote the review is only a contributer for the magazine (and is actually the review editor at punknews). It's not like most of the reviewers there have a say in the covers (which are mainly for sales) and most of the high scores given to crappy albums are written by actual AP staff. Hmm, makes you wonder sometimes.

that ap review was pure shit. in that same issue they made scars of tomorrow sound like the next norma jean, which i think most of us will agree is also pure shit. i refuse to take that publication seriously anymore.

at first i was so-so on this album, but the more i listened to it the more i liked it. i love that the cd is so pop catchy, but their live performance is hardcore enough to incite huge pits.

as for the reviews that keep on comparing it to 'only chasing safety' era underoath, i understand why, but i disagree. the technique maybe the same, but the attitude and approach are totally different. i like underoath, but they're pretty depressing. four letter lie love making music that makes them feel happy, and you can hear that.

You forget that there's a wide range of staff members and contributors writing the content for that magazine. So you're gonna have a mix of people, like people that like FOB with true punks and metalheads and fans of the scene, etc.

Apparently the guy that wrote the revew for Four Letter Lie at Alt Press is in LOVE w/ ska. Right there, he has a bias. AND AGAIN he did not do his reserch and he cited Brian Nagan as the clean vocalist for Four Letter Lie. CLEARLY, the guy did not go into the review with no bias' ... he heard what some kids were saying, took it, and ran with it.

They should let me write ska reviews here, because they would ALL be negative. I don't like the genre.

the most frustrating part of this entire ordeal is that all of the reviews are either making this album sound like the biggest pile of shit on the planet or their sucking it's monster-sized whale penis...

where's the honesty? who really listened to the album? who's buddy-buddy with the band and who has some un-needed grudge against them?

i think these are the factors that are important when we're reading these reviews. the plain truth about this album is that even though there are some good points all in all it's very dissapointing. For anyone who knows anything about this band they would be just as disgusted as the rest of us by just the overall terrible sound of this record. Not that the songwriting is entirely bad...but the record sonically just sounds like shit. On their EP they had the songs 'The Ordinary Life' and 'Let's Call It A Night' (which is now re-titled 'Baby, You're My Bad Habit)...they re-did these songs and it's truly a shame that these new versions are the ways that these songs will be remembered. They just sound washed out and dull. Whoever mixed and mastered this thing must've been really forced to finish it quickly as it's clear that it is very poorly done. Anyone with an ear can agree with that. The instruments lack everything needed in a screamo/metal record...or whatever you want to call this thing.

and as far as the underoath comparisons...if you really want to say that they're not blatantly ripping off that band then take a second, put on this record to the 2nd track, and try to tell me that the breakdown at the end isn't an almost exact replica of the intro to UO's 'in reguards to myself'...the heavy off beat low-note riff into a high dissinant chord thing is almost identical. not saying that UO is the first band in history to write something like this...or even that FLL is the first band to mirror the style of another band...but this shit is just crossing the line between influence and out-right fucking musical plagiarism (if there is a thing...).

"let's just take the same riff, move it up a half-step, change a beat or two, and call it our own."



I say listen to the damn thing and make your own opinion...but for anyone to sit and say that this album is refreshing or anything is just bullshit. I've been a supporter of this band for a very long time...i loved the ep...but i hate this record.

Dude shuttup you list saves the day as one of your fav albums. Go dye your hair pink, this cd is beter than anything those douchebags have done.

Maybe you suck at english but if you're saying true punks like fob, kill yourself.

You are a hateful person.
I feel sorry for you.
Your insecurity brings you to pick on kids in message boards.

I was given the new Victory sampler at the World Championship Tour, but I had the misfortune of listening to it on the way home. While Four Letter Lie is the best of the bunch, that's saying absolutely nothing. I'm a huge fan of so many different bands in the scene, and I will give credit when credit is due. But EVERY new band Victory is putting out is essentially a joke, and its sickening.
I can't sit here and say every band I listen to is revolutionary, but I wish they would try something even a little bit different. And if its not going to be different, at least make some effort to do it better! Make it mean something... basically if you want to play screamo, play it well, don't just go through the motions.
I just don't feel anything with this band, and they just don't deserve a good review IMO.

my opinion: i love the album, i love the band, and can overlook the fact that the newly recorded versions of "ordinary life" and "let's call it a night" sound rather no. i've seen a million more screamo/melodic hardcore/ whatever you want to call them bands that are WAY more generic than these guys. atleast they do use some technique in their riffs, and aren't heavily repetitive. basically, for some reason or another, the album hits me in a spot and i absolutely love it, generic, cookie cutter or not, i don't give a fuck. they did a great album in my opinion and i enjoy it.

I also have the promo of this one and I gotta say that i bores me to death. And i have listened to it multiple times, yes. It's nice when I want to fall asleep. Maybe there are some good points, but overall it just doesn't hold my interest.

I'd rather listen to the Endwell or Moros Eros releases who are pretty solid, though not groundbreaking, and also on Victory.

For the guy that said new Victory signings are all jokes and nothing new, go listen to Moros Eros.
www.myspace.com/moroseros

this is a really bad album.

i personally like this album but i thinkt he production is very poor, the drums sound like shit and the screams are muffled... other than that its pretty good... best song is tell me about everything or let your body take over

you seem to have problem with the fact that this reviewer stood so staunchly for four letter lie that he was being bias. right now you seem to be standing so staunchly for ap reviewers that i think you're being bias. standing by a shitty commercial-drive publication that true punks wouldn't dare work for, or standing by a cd that you actually enjoyed listening to even though it isn't the best or most original thing you've ever heard? i'll take the latter please.

yes, the reviews have often been polar opposites, which makes it confusing for people who have never heard the band before. why is it so hard to read a bad review, read a good review, keep both sides in mind, listen to the band's purevolume page, and then make your own decision?

i'll admit that i've hungout with this band a couple times. they're nice guys with no pretentions, and i like them for that. i may be a bit bias. fine, everyone has their own bias anyway.

a lot of their long-time fans have had the same complaints that you do. i'm not a long time fan, but i have heard the e.p. several times. the difference is just the difference you'd expect between an independently released, DIY ep and an indie record company released, first lp. the exact same thing happened with thursday. the album was produced by michael bimbaum, who also has done coheed & cambria, and straylight run. i'm not a fan of those bands, but thier production is quite good. sure parts of this album are flat, too slick, and slightly uninspired, but let's just take a minute to appreciate that this is a very admirable attempt at a first lp with many great moments as well. four letter lie deserves a fair listen and an open mind just for thier hard work and sheer potential.

first, the underoath they keep on being compared to is on 'they're only chasing safety', which 'in regards to myself' isn't on. but anyway, i decided to go and do just what you sugested. i get what you're saying, but i still only hear similarities. almost all blues is 12 bar. does that mean that everyone playing blues after 1940 is blatantly ripping off robert johnson and sonny boy williamson? no, it is a specific progession of sounds directly related to the definition of the genre. though screamo probably doesn't have the same staying power of blues, i think this is a similar case.

wow, that was a lot longer than i thought it would be. sorry guys.

I know most people didn't like this album because of the whole sing/scream thing, but it's a nice album. No need to down it, the melodies are really good and the singing sounds nice. Good review.

I checked out their myspace to see if I could agree with this review.

They sound like a terrible underoath.

Edit: I shouldn't judge from myspace streams... but they sound like cartel meets underoath.

but look how many mediocore bands are listed in your favorite bands.

i get paid $1000 per post because I have that much pull in the scene

Good response...and you're 21?

i seriously lol'd

i don't really dig the 4LL sound but I don't really dig many bands with that sound so my judgement doesn't belong here...but for that reply about this record being "beter" than anything saves the day has done is a total joke...even 4LL will tell you that they wouldn't be around if it wasn't for STD

I'm not saying I do take them seriously...I'm saying that I understand why they put shitty bands that sell magazines on the cover even though I completely don't agree with it. I mean, I run a blog and would never compensate my values just to get a little more popular, but all they care about is more subscribers so I can see their reasoning.

Hey Pat- ive been posting more frequently then i ever have since ive been a member here. I just seem to get more and more annoyed with the people on here. I'm actually just sorry you (and others around AP.net) have to keep dealing with this shit day in and day out. Very well written review, and keep up the great work. I respect your opinion to its fullest. Just keep doing what you do.

he could leave if he wanted to. no one's forcing him to do this.

i def. agree with this, i love the album, dont know why, i just really like, i have it in the car right now, and have been listening to it for about a week straight, it is really catchy, they may sound like other bands but whatever, it sounds good to me, and that is all i care about

you raise some good points here...i'm glad people are actually taking the time to read these posts :)...

and no i'm not saying that everyone playing blues after the 40's is ripping off anyone...blues in itself is a genre...underoath is not a genre...they have a defined style, but they're not a genre. you can listen to an underoath record and know it's underoath...that is something that i believe all bands are striving to do. a lot of blues/jazz artists have the same quality...i mean you listen to Buddy Guy or BB King play their music you know it's them...they've taken different spins on the genre and have made it their own...there's a large difference between taking a genre and spinning it into your signature style and taking a signature style and attempting to make it your own.

i think we all as musicians (the musicians out there) have gone through this though...i'm guilty of it myself. as in being way into a record/band/sound and having it heavily influence your own creativeness...almost to the fact where it's ripping off that band's creativeness. this is when the cord needs to be pulled...you should be able to recognize that and change it however it needs to be changed...i feel that this is what happened with this record. i'm sure these guys had the new UO album on regular spin just as much as all of us did...and writing music that is greatly similar to it almost makes you feel like you're in that band...(if that makes any sense)...so you roll with it because it feels like you're doing something great...but you're not. again...just a thought.

hmmm, i might have to check this out.

did victory pay you to write a good review?

Haha, check back a few posts and someone already tried to pull that. No, they did not. You can come over to my house and check my latest bills, I still owe 1 grand to Bank of America.

Thanks to everyone for reading this, I will reply back later. I am going to go watch a movie and drink 40's. byes.

You thought it was a bad review as in my writing sucks? Or the fact that I gave them a good score?

I am confused, you really didn't think I listened to this band? You can ask them what I first said to their street teamers when they spammed the shit out of my e-mail trying to get them on Absolutely Unsigned. You have to be kidding if you think I have some sort of "bias." Ya, they talked to me everyonce in a while but it's not like I grew up with them or anything. Honestly, who cares anyways if I did have a bias. If I didn't like the band, I would have no problem telling them that. However, I do like the band, hence the reason I gave them a good review.

Saves The Day is a great band, haha.. hmm, ya.