Heavens "Patent Pending" (Epitaph)
By Tanya van Kampen
Wednesday. Sep 20, 1:00 PM
Imitation, however flattering, is still unnecessary.

The thing about retro gothic rock is that if I wanted to listen to Bauhaus, I would listen to Bauhaus. If I wanted to listen to a modern day band that’s attempting to sound like Bauhaus, I would listen to She Wants Revenge. Wrong! Actually, I would just get right to the point and listen to Bauhaus. So apparently, Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio) has decided, with friend in tow (Josiah Steinbrick), to jump onto the whole goth new wave comeback wagon with their new band Heavens.

I can understand the desire to want to experiment outside your usual style. But when you’re experimenting with a genre that is revered as a significant part of pop culture history, be prepared for some harsh criticism. Bands like Bauhaus, The Cure, and Joy Division were part of a very special time in music, and just the sound of them brings back fits of nostalgia. Paying tribute to the post-punk / goth rock genre is fine, but if you're gonna do it, do something a little innovative: put your own twist on it.

Aside from all this, the record is just boring. There’s just not enough variation between the songs, which is unfortunate because vocally Skiba has a wonderful low register. It’s difficult, though, to listen to his voice when you can’t even keep interested in the music surrounding it (and did I mention the album’s title? Patent Pending? What are they implying? I hope it’s not that they’ve discovered this cool new style of music).

While Skiba wrote the lyrics, Steinbrick wrote the instrumentation: and that’s really where my beef lies. Lyrically, Patent Pending is pretty sufficient, which doesn’t actually surprise me because even with Alkaline Trio Skiba is a talented songwriter and quite poetic with his words. I’m just not convinced by the musical foundation of the songs and, as a result, the final product. It’s just… boring.

Of course, Patent Pending has received rave reviews from others. And while they’re happy with the recycle versions, I’d have rather of a serving from the original masters of doom and gloom.
www.heavensband.com
www.epitaph.com

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Tanya Van Kampen

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