Band : Chronicles Of Adam West
Album : WE WALK UNBALANCED
Release Year : 2007
Genre : Chaotic | Mathcore | Experimental
Tracklist :
01. Small Town Big Mouth
02. Shit Eating Grin
03. The Applicant
04. Corvus Et Lupus
05. Showcat
Hmm. Yes, everything seems to be in place. They're tight, they're fast, they're off beat, they're a bit weird and they're really going for it... but why must they insist on hiding themselves so thoroughly in Dillinger's shadow? I know, it's predictable to say so, you've heard it a million times, but you'd be very silly to deny the incredible influence of Dillinger Escape Plan that has been coming in waves for years now. Of course, all such bands have slight differences in their sound, but really, in your heart of hearts you know it's true - the audience have at least come straight from a Dillinger show, even if the music hasn't.
So it's my job to say how well they've achieved the aforementioned sound, and then to strain my brain to find something to say about this band that makes them different. Of course, I could just give you a big 'for fans of' list, but I'm going to give you a little more credit than that.
They do everything you need them to, they do it brilliantly, perfectly, excellently... sure, they could do with a little more vocal charm or variation if they want to take it to the next level, but still - good show. Yet it never ceases to amaze me just how many incredibly gifted musicians there are out there, and what baffles me most is how little it ends up counting for. In spite of their incredible musicianship, Chronicles of Adam West can't seem to muster up anything particularly original. They've got a weird jazzy breakdown, they have bits where it strips back from the rest of the clamour, but so what? You get the impression that a lot of these bands don't even care about criticism like that. It's almost as if they've taken themselves out of the realm of subjective goodness in order to focus on the more objective characteristics such as speed and accuracy. But where's the fun in listening to that? If you can't decide as a listener whether it has musical merit yourself, then you are left with nothing but the aesthetic. In the case of this particular record, it just happens to be one we've experienced over and over.
Maybe if the singer sang some jazz in the jazzy breakdowns... maybe if they tried a country breakdown once in a while... just please, please boys, do something different! You're wasting what you have! Also, don't bother with the slow emotional build ups - they just sound corny. The bits where it goes really confusing and syncopated, where they musicians seem to be working together but sort of against each other at the same time, almost like on of John Zorn's music games, they're where it's at.
It's a shame, because Chronicles of Adam West are on a very cool label and get on bills with a lot of bands that are really exciting at the moment. And if this band did something even a little bit exciting, I'd be right there behind them. Yeah, it's pretty impressive that they managed to ape the Dillinger Escape Plan so closely. But still, I'd rather they didn't. -Charlie Potter
02. Shit Eating Grin
03. The Applicant
04. Corvus Et Lupus
05. Showcat
Hmm. Yes, everything seems to be in place. They're tight, they're fast, they're off beat, they're a bit weird and they're really going for it... but why must they insist on hiding themselves so thoroughly in Dillinger's shadow? I know, it's predictable to say so, you've heard it a million times, but you'd be very silly to deny the incredible influence of Dillinger Escape Plan that has been coming in waves for years now. Of course, all such bands have slight differences in their sound, but really, in your heart of hearts you know it's true - the audience have at least come straight from a Dillinger show, even if the music hasn't.
So it's my job to say how well they've achieved the aforementioned sound, and then to strain my brain to find something to say about this band that makes them different. Of course, I could just give you a big 'for fans of' list, but I'm going to give you a little more credit than that.
They do everything you need them to, they do it brilliantly, perfectly, excellently... sure, they could do with a little more vocal charm or variation if they want to take it to the next level, but still - good show. Yet it never ceases to amaze me just how many incredibly gifted musicians there are out there, and what baffles me most is how little it ends up counting for. In spite of their incredible musicianship, Chronicles of Adam West can't seem to muster up anything particularly original. They've got a weird jazzy breakdown, they have bits where it strips back from the rest of the clamour, but so what? You get the impression that a lot of these bands don't even care about criticism like that. It's almost as if they've taken themselves out of the realm of subjective goodness in order to focus on the more objective characteristics such as speed and accuracy. But where's the fun in listening to that? If you can't decide as a listener whether it has musical merit yourself, then you are left with nothing but the aesthetic. In the case of this particular record, it just happens to be one we've experienced over and over.
Maybe if the singer sang some jazz in the jazzy breakdowns... maybe if they tried a country breakdown once in a while... just please, please boys, do something different! You're wasting what you have! Also, don't bother with the slow emotional build ups - they just sound corny. The bits where it goes really confusing and syncopated, where they musicians seem to be working together but sort of against each other at the same time, almost like on of John Zorn's music games, they're where it's at.
It's a shame, because Chronicles of Adam West are on a very cool label and get on bills with a lot of bands that are really exciting at the moment. And if this band did something even a little bit exciting, I'd be right there behind them. Yeah, it's pretty impressive that they managed to ape the Dillinger Escape Plan so closely. But still, I'd rather they didn't. -Charlie Potter
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