Adverse Side-FX "A Tale of Lunatic Daring" (HOF Records)
I like CDs like this, but when a CD has this consistent vibe through its
entirety, it's kind of hard to write about it. I'd simply like to write
about this whole CD, from start to finish- every music change, every lyric,
every little part inbetween. But, that would take up far too much space, and
about half way through it or so, people would stop reading.
So, I will point out to you some of the finer points of this CD, however,
I do enjoy it from start to finish, which is something it is hard for a CD to
do these days.
Adverse Side-FX have a sound that crosses many styles, and can not really
be limited to be described in one word, or a few words cleverly grouped
together. Throughout "A Tale of Lunatic Daring", I can hear songs influenced
by such bands as Sprung Monkey, Kottonmouth Kings, 2 Skinnee J's, Rage
Against the Machine, Primus and punk rock. That's just to limit this in the
broadest sense however. This really is a truely innovative sound that is
unlike any I have ever heard before. It starts with a Stabbing Westward-like
intro, and the song "Suckhole" has a beginning guitar riff similar to Rage
Against the Machine. The title track reminds me of a Primus song, and the
last song, "Radio", starts off an instant punk rock song, but quickly turns
into a dance number with full out piano. The vocals go from sounding to a
professional singer, to a rocker, to angry metal man to the rap styles of
many others. For one of these sounds to occure during the course of a CD is
natural, and that is how many of the other bands have established their
sound. But, when you have a single CD that breaches all of these sounds and
just so much more that I can not even begin to describe musically, it's just
truely remarkable. I don't really know what else to say musically. Just
listen to it, and I guarentee that you will like the sound, because whoever
you are and no matter what kind of music you like or hate, there will be
something on here that appeals to you.
Let's move on to the lyrics, shall we.
This is a little bit easier, but not very. Every time I listen to this
CD, I hear a new line that strikes me in some way- as either personal and
emotional, or just plain funny. Each song seems to deal with a different
subject matter, and I'm not going to get into every song one by one, but I
will pick out some of my favorites. "This Silence" is an all out rocking
favorite that is about, well, silence. "Suckhole" is about people you hate.
This would be the angry rock ballad, except it's not a ballad.
"Coulrophobia" is about the circus and a fear of it, which is rather amusing,
complete with a chorus, "Can not sleep, the clowns they will eat me". "Two
Dimensional Lover" is about getting it on with porno mags, and is rather
amusing. There are lines that will keep you laughing for days in there, but
you must hear it for yourself. The CD closes out nicely, also, with the song
"Radio" which states "If you don't like Adverse Side-FX, take out that CD and
listen to something else", as well the line that I find to be very true and
that works for me on so many levels, "We may suck, but we're on stage".
Overall, I must say, on a whole I enjoy this CD more than any other CD I
have heard in a very long time. The music has a fresh sound unlike anything
else that his been forcefed to us for the past... Well, as long as I can
remember... by the "grunge" folks in Seattle, and the "metal/rapcore" bands
that have all come out of California courtesy of Jonathan Davis (thanks a
lot, Jonny!). This is actually a band that said "Hey, let's make an original
sound" rather than "Hey, let's be like everyone else!", as so many others
have done. I applaud them for it, and I advise you to go buy this CD,
because it's about time someone tried out a new sound and it worked.
