The bass drum slowly begins beating, as cymbals are tapped and the bass and guitar starts... The vocals slowly kick in- dual vocals- and it is a rather quiet melodic sort of pop punk feel-- but without the punk just yet. Then it all comes down. The guitar comes thrashing in from notes to chords. The drums begin to be beaten. The pace quickens. The words grow to be more and faster. There's screaming. Then there's a break down where there are only vocals (after a big build up mind you), and then it kicks back into its rocking way. And this is just the first song mind you!
I'd like to definitely say that the Commercials are something along the lines of pop punk, but they're definitely more towards the rocking side of it than the wussy side of it. Whereas you might think of bands who have problems with rocking and songs tend to be so mellow when you can tell they just want to bust out of their clothes and explode, the Commercials do bust out of their clothes and explode. The extra ingredient that makes the Commercials special is not only their ability to combine vocals, but to do so in such a distinct manner. There will be times when more than one person sings at once, yes. But then there will be times when someone is singing one part while another one is singing another part of the song, and they're just going right over each other. It's crazy. It's madness. There's screaming too. And I love every second of it. the Commercials really go that extra step to show that they are not just another pop punk kind of band to be thrown into a stack of hundreds upon hundreds of other CDs that all sound the same. the Commercials grab your attention from the beginning and they hold it throughout the ten songs on "Twenty Years Tonight". I guess once it started off so soft, and then just really kicked into the rock and they had the screaming in there too, I think that's what really grabbed me and made me want to keep listening and not be so quick to pass this off with a mass of other CDs that you may mistake this for being at first.
"Immediately" is great slower, ballad type of song. Most of the other songs keep up that fast placed/slow it down/crank it back up a notch tempo. This is great for singing along to, not to mention that it seems incredibly heartfelt and just flat out real and honest. Here is a band that doesn't seem to be all about "Let's make a band to get chicks" or "Let's make a band that sounds like everyone else", they just seem to be very honest in their music and what they do. It shows. It seriously shows. And I don't know them and they're not paying me to say this. I have a high disregard for humans on a whole, so if I can see some honesty in this music, you better believe it is there.
In "It Never Ends"- the first song- there's this part that is where it kind of slows down and chills a little bit, and the line is: "I wish I knew you better", and as soon as he says "better", it just kicks right back into this full out thrash rock kind of sound that makes you want to leap from your skin. I think that's really cool, and they do that a lot. Rather than just say the one line, then kick in to the rock- like most bands do- they actually do it at the last word, when people don't expect it. It's a good sense of relief from everything we've heard all too many times before, you know.
Their lyric booklet is set up like a calendar, so it's fun to play with and read. "Gaining Ten Losing Nine" shows me the first hope of having a girlfriend in a long time, because rather than bash relationships and tell me how evil girls are it says, "I cannot help myself, I'm falling for you all the time. But I guess that's not so bad. Always reminding myself this is not a dream of mine. You're the greatest thing I have". Could this song be about me? "His wasted efforts steal his time- filling his days with loss. His searching finds no happiness- his mind plagued with thoughts of her. He asks himself unspoken questions- and answers with silent thoughts". That's from "This is Where We Die", a fucking great song. "Today, the Farewell" is also a song that I'm fond of, and it says, "Break my heart into uncountable pieces". Now, "Immediately" is the ballad of the CD, right, but it's kind of funny because the line "I want to tell you that you make me feel this way, but I can't form the words that I want to say" is something that I've been dealing with for a while now-- just knowing how you feel about someone and not knowing how to tell them about it exactly. These lyrics are just very real.
If you're listening to some kind of pop punk-ish music now, something along the lines of Lifetime or anyone who ripped them off, you may want to instead put this CD in its place because they're taking it that one step further, kicking it up a notch and blowing the black rimmed glasses off your f-iz-ace.