War Brides : "Regrets"

My first impression hearing these guys from Chicago was "This sounds like the Rollins Bands spazzing out". I do like the angular nature to what they do and the punk thing staying in the forefront from them just trying to be another Amp Rep rip off. The vocals are in a more boozy angry Rollins place.When it comes to "Day Drinking" things are not as tightly coiled.They do get it together. My room mate thought there was someone screaming outside our house and I had to tell her no that's this band War Brides I am listening to.Even when I am not really paying attention and it fades into the background I still like this. There is more of a jangle to "Designer Life". At this point the vocals begin to get a little one dimensional. It's all on the guitars for this song. They throw punches into the song and hit you from many chaotic angles. They do hit you with hammers at the end of this one.

"Halitosis" expands a little more and lets things breathe a little more thanks to the drummer holding the groove down. The vocals just become more ranting. There is a slight Fugazi element to how some of these riffs are handled tension wise. At four minutes this feels like one of the longer songs , though the guitar player does form some interesting melodies to make up for what they vocals are not doing. "Ode to an Old Man" has the disjointed jangle of the guitar setting the tone for something that is moodier. Of course if you have figured out my tastes I am a fan of this. It's like darker angrier Fugazi, if the bass was mixed way down.

At almost six minutes "Cubano" is actually the album's longest song.So by this point in the album the pace has died down and it's like we are listening to the soundtrack to some punk rock kids mental collapse. Three and a half minutes into this song and we have not really gone anywhere. It's not until four minutes in that things begin to contract. "Human Cow" is more of a punk rock song with a reckless edge to it's temper tantrum. Things get a little more mathy with the guitar parts of "Thyme". The vocals on this song remind me a little more of the Cro-mags. There is a more explosive quality to "Marrow" that I like.  But it kinda stays in one place. I like this guys more than I normally like this sort of thng, it reminds me of bands like Porn Orchard that I used to listen to in high school so I will give it an 8.5.