Gruesome Boys - Songs From The End Of The Rope [CD]

Robot Monster

March 8, 2009, 08:19 PM

Views: 485   Comments: 0

“Good golly AFI are a good band.” I wish I could write something witty, clever or insightful as an opening line but that was the first thought I had while listening to this album. Actually, that’s a bit of a misleading sentiment. In fairness to Oregon quartet the Gruesome Boys, their second release is not a bad album, it just lacks any originality. That being said, Songs From The End Of The Rope is a slick sounding punk album, with its heart and inspirations clearly on it’s sleeve.

At times it nails the genre perfectly (Another Body In Your Garden, White Chapel) but at other times sounds like a cruel parody of horror punk (Winchester, Sister Cyanide). Example number one is singer Dustin Keeling who sounds like Wil Francis (William Control to me and you) during a half marathon. The lyrics are also pretty cringe inducing “Your smile so pretty and scary, The sweetest girl in the whole cemetery” being one of the better lines. Breathy strained vocals aside the instruments sound pleasing enough. Soaring riffs give way to chugging bass lines and steady if not spectacular drumming.

The album opens with atmospheric sea shanty “A Sudden Stop” before stumbling into the cheesy but not terrible “Straight On Till Mourning” (Geddit?) with its predictable high pitch guitar riff, samey out of tune vocals and a breakdown you could set your watch to. This release is a pretty infuriating listen, alongside the unremarkable they have flashes of pure brilliance. Daddy Eye Lashes wouldn’t be out of place on a Trashlight Vision album (that’s high praise, I promise) and Burning Bride has strong drumming coupled with gang vocals that rival the best, before going into a Wildhearts style instrumental section. But then, yet again Gruesome Boys shoot themselves in the foot with stinker “My Bloody Valentine”. This pattern of good songs, bad songs continues throughout and left me irritated but, hey the album is only half an hour long, so its ends before you scream in frustration.

This could have been a brilliant EP but the need to make it a full album may have worked against the Gruesome Boys, leading to a lot of fluff tracks and generic bop a longs. I’ll save you all some time and tell you to download Daddy Eye Lashes, The Haunted, Burning Bride, Another Body In Your Garden and White Chapel. Average in nearly every respect, could do better Mr. Boys.

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report