WATCH OUT!
It never fails. Every time I get done ranting to a friend about how shitty all the new music I'm hearing is, I head on over to the old
FoundryMusic P.O. Box (Which, incidentally is: P.O. Box 257, Millington, NJ 07946), and discover a brand new act that amazingly, doesn't suck.
The latest sampling of non-sucky music comes courtesy of a bunch of Canadians who call themselves
ALEXISONFIRE.
Holy crap, these kids are good.
Watch Out! is their sophomore release, and while I haven't heard their debut disc...I have been reading other reviews, and it seems as though this one blows it away. First off, the CD packaging is bad ass: puke green with neon zombies and
Dawn of the Dead-esque horror movie fonts cover this thing, and offer up an excellent package, especially for a digipack (which I'm not all that fond of, because they wear out).
The songwriting is great. Think LOSTPROPHETS screaming/singing-meets SUM 41 guitar riffage, lumped in with some IRON MAIDEN guitar melodies. The songs have a punky feel, but it's not overbearing. Right when you thing singer George is about to howl out his voice box, he kicks in with a bright melody line that changes the tone of the song. "Accidents" is the first track on the disc, and hits you in the face from the first measure all the way to the end of the track...It's a
VERY radio friendly track.
Not only are the tunes quite hooky, but the production is crisp. Nothing muddy here; just very tight, very clean, and very polished, while still maintaining a lot of agression.
I can see these guys playing the
Warped Tour, or playing on a bill with BLINK 182, LOSTPROPHETS, SUM 41, or GOOD CHARLOTTE. Checking out their tour itinerary, it looks like Alexisonfire is playing mostly Canadian and Northeast U.S. shows, with some U.K. shows thrown in. I only hope radio (and hopefully one or two of the video outlets) picks up on these guys. I've never listened to a band more ready for some time in the spotlight.
