FakeLaser
10-18-2006, 11:33 PM
As an aspriring journalist (well, I want to be a fiction writer, but I plan on using journalism as a stepping stone), I have to write for the campus newspaper. I sent them this music review. What do you think?
The much-anticipated collaboration of Alkaline Trio front man Matt Skiba (who we last heard from on 2005’s acclaimed Crimson) and punk revival veteran Josiah Steinbrick (former F-Minus, Thieves Like Us) has proven to be a solid effort by two well-accomplished musicians. Patent Pending, released this September, is something of an ironic title for the release, which at times, sounds an awful lot like an Interpol album. That’s not to say that this isn’t a great album. Patent Pending is one of the best and most intriguing releases of 2006.
Heavens was born when Skiba moved from Chicago to Los Angeles several years ago and met Josiah Steinbrick. Steinbrick impressed Skiba (then housemates) with some instrumental tracks he had written, and the two began working on an album. The finished product, Patent Pending is a beautifully haunting, atmospheric album. The guitar-driven punk rock Skiba and Steinbrick are accustomed to take a backseat to the drum machine and synthesizer, drawing on heavy influences from 80s acts like Depeche Mode, Joy Division and goth-rock pioneers Sisters of Mercy.
This is quite a departure for the pop-punk and emo-minded Skiba, but his deep, brooding voice is perfect for this sort of music. Skiba’s ominous voice thunders his trademark dark lyrics of blood, gore and late night cemeteries with dark, bone-chilling beauty on top of Steinbrick’s layered instrumentals.
Most listeners will buy this album because it’s a Matt Skiba album, and while his vocals and lyrics shine on the album, Josiah Steinbrick more than holds his own providing all of the instrumentals, and the album is flawlessly produced by Ben Lovett, who has worked with the Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley. Steinbrick’s 1980s inspired backdrop compositions of synthesizer, drum machine and guitar are what really drive this album.
Skiba’s voice, channeling the spirits of Daniel Kessler of Interpol or Joy Division’s Ian Curtis coupled with incredibly somber lyrics provide this album with an almost goth-rock feel. The album is chock full of deranged visuals of blood falling from the sky, skeletons and death in nature. These sentiments are perhaps expressed most prominently on the song “Heather” when Skiba speculates her whereabouts, “I got a feeling you're busy painting/Children in death and decay/Maybe you went to get provisions/Or off to find new scissors/Maybe you're busy taking pictures/Up in the cemetery.”
The album begins with “Gardens,” a chilling narrative laced with metaphor and allusions to God. “Counting” sounds the most like an Alkaline Trio song, with a catchy opening guitar riff that could have appeared on 2003’s Good Mourning. “Annabelle” also has an Alkaline Trio-inspired guitar riff. The title track is one of the stronger tracks and has single potential. The album builds up to “Watching You” the perfect choice to close the album out. Skiba’s lyrics stalk the listener while Steinbrick provides another eerie instrumental backdrop.
This is a very different album than any other Matt Skiba release. Skiba’s versatility on Patent Pending has once again proven that he is head and shoulders above most in the pop-punk and emo universe. Those looking for another Alkaline Trio album may be disappointed, but they should realize this is a true side project and meant to be a separate entity. This is a gasp of fresh air for a genre crowded with side projects which sound exactly like the artist’s original band (and often times even feature a nearly identical lineup to the initial band). The album has enough touches of Alkaline Trio in it to make it accessible to fans of Skiba, and the album is far enough removed from the emo stigma to appeal to indie rock hipsters. Patent Pending is not the most original album you’ll ever hear, but there are few, if any albums set for release this year that are of this level of quality.
The much-anticipated collaboration of Alkaline Trio front man Matt Skiba (who we last heard from on 2005’s acclaimed Crimson) and punk revival veteran Josiah Steinbrick (former F-Minus, Thieves Like Us) has proven to be a solid effort by two well-accomplished musicians. Patent Pending, released this September, is something of an ironic title for the release, which at times, sounds an awful lot like an Interpol album. That’s not to say that this isn’t a great album. Patent Pending is one of the best and most intriguing releases of 2006.
Heavens was born when Skiba moved from Chicago to Los Angeles several years ago and met Josiah Steinbrick. Steinbrick impressed Skiba (then housemates) with some instrumental tracks he had written, and the two began working on an album. The finished product, Patent Pending is a beautifully haunting, atmospheric album. The guitar-driven punk rock Skiba and Steinbrick are accustomed to take a backseat to the drum machine and synthesizer, drawing on heavy influences from 80s acts like Depeche Mode, Joy Division and goth-rock pioneers Sisters of Mercy.
This is quite a departure for the pop-punk and emo-minded Skiba, but his deep, brooding voice is perfect for this sort of music. Skiba’s ominous voice thunders his trademark dark lyrics of blood, gore and late night cemeteries with dark, bone-chilling beauty on top of Steinbrick’s layered instrumentals.
Most listeners will buy this album because it’s a Matt Skiba album, and while his vocals and lyrics shine on the album, Josiah Steinbrick more than holds his own providing all of the instrumentals, and the album is flawlessly produced by Ben Lovett, who has worked with the Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley. Steinbrick’s 1980s inspired backdrop compositions of synthesizer, drum machine and guitar are what really drive this album.
Skiba’s voice, channeling the spirits of Daniel Kessler of Interpol or Joy Division’s Ian Curtis coupled with incredibly somber lyrics provide this album with an almost goth-rock feel. The album is chock full of deranged visuals of blood falling from the sky, skeletons and death in nature. These sentiments are perhaps expressed most prominently on the song “Heather” when Skiba speculates her whereabouts, “I got a feeling you're busy painting/Children in death and decay/Maybe you went to get provisions/Or off to find new scissors/Maybe you're busy taking pictures/Up in the cemetery.”
The album begins with “Gardens,” a chilling narrative laced with metaphor and allusions to God. “Counting” sounds the most like an Alkaline Trio song, with a catchy opening guitar riff that could have appeared on 2003’s Good Mourning. “Annabelle” also has an Alkaline Trio-inspired guitar riff. The title track is one of the stronger tracks and has single potential. The album builds up to “Watching You” the perfect choice to close the album out. Skiba’s lyrics stalk the listener while Steinbrick provides another eerie instrumental backdrop.
This is a very different album than any other Matt Skiba release. Skiba’s versatility on Patent Pending has once again proven that he is head and shoulders above most in the pop-punk and emo universe. Those looking for another Alkaline Trio album may be disappointed, but they should realize this is a true side project and meant to be a separate entity. This is a gasp of fresh air for a genre crowded with side projects which sound exactly like the artist’s original band (and often times even feature a nearly identical lineup to the initial band). The album has enough touches of Alkaline Trio in it to make it accessible to fans of Skiba, and the album is far enough removed from the emo stigma to appeal to indie rock hipsters. Patent Pending is not the most original album you’ll ever hear, but there are few, if any albums set for release this year that are of this level of quality.