June "If You Speak Any Faster" (Victory)
By Nathan Blaney
Wednesday. Sep 07, 12:01 AM
Victory's new generation is tremendously listenable.

I’ll admit that I haven’t exactly kept up with what Victory has been putting out over the past few years. I still think of them as being home to bands that all sound like Earth Crisis. I guess that’s changed significantly, because the only thing that If You Speak Any Faster has in common with those sorts of bands is that guitars are involved. Beyond that, it’s a whole different story!

This album is tremendously listenable. I listened to it a half dozen times in a row, and heard something new each time. Great song writing, very nice dual vocals, and catchy melodies. It’s a perfect “driving in the car on a long trip” album, and since I’m doing that tomorrow, it’s going to be the first thing in the CD player.

Despite being firmly in the melodic punk/emo genre, the band’s overall sound is a bit hard to pin down. It has a lot in common with many bands past and present, but I think they do what they do much better than most. The best comparison I can make would be to combine The Beach Boys, The Queers, and The Get Up Kids, but even that’s not quite right.

This album’s sure to please anyone who might enjoy the Jimmy Eat World or New Found Glory vein of music, but I’d recommend it to just about anyone. I’m looking forward to seeing them live. I have a feeling they put on a great show!
www.junerock.com
www.victoryrecords.com

Nathan Blaney

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.