Poison The Well - Versions
Holy crap. I've been listening to these guys for 5 years now, and they've always been a band that I liked but never loved. Until now.With their latest album, Poison The Well has blown all expectations out of the water. They've progressed from fairly standard whiny hardcore to somewhat progressive songwriting to promising-but-flawed experimentation to this album's near-perfection. From what I understand, it's come at a high cost; the band has gone from being a tight-knit five-piece to being a bare-bones three-piece, which must have been heart-wrenching after doing four albums as a full band of close friends.
But I digress.
What makes this album stand above the rest?....
....the inclusion of country influences.
No, I'm not kidding.
This record blasts out of the gate with face-melting intensity on the opener 'Letter Thing', but Poison The Well has done intensity before. The magic comes from their new sound, which takes brutal hardcore and layers in country stylings without a hint of irony. They use twang, they use slide guitar, they use banjo. And it all works. You can still hear the classic elements of their sound (punk rock drum beats, dry lung vocals, energetic/erratic guitar), but it's all been centered by the outstanding production and unified vision of this album.
PTW's clean singing has never done it for me in the past, because it's always seemed way too safe and formulaic. It's been emo suckiness, frankly. On this record, however, vocalist Jeffrey Moreira has really found his stride, and his vocal performance is worthy of good indie rock. The drums and guitar both rip as hard as ever, and the songwriting is incredibly solid. It took a year and a half to record this album, and it shows. The songs have excellent structure and tons of patience; even the burners take the time to break things up. Not a lot of bands know how to do that.
This is a hardcore/metal/heavy album with texture, heart, maturity, talent, growth, balance and atmosphere. This one isn't going to be forgotten. It's not waiting for the next big scene record to knock it out of your consciousness. Music fans are going to remember this one for a long, long time. I can't urge you to check it out strongly enough.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Buy It!
Labels: Music
2 Comments:
i agree with your conclusion, this record is mind blowing. but to say that poison the well wrote this album after progressing from 'standard whiny hardcore' and 'flawed experimentation' gives them so much less credit than they deserve. you come before you is a breakthrough in hardcore music. this album ensured ptw's place at the top of their genre. the opposite of december is a hardcore essential, and tear from the red was a progression from that into more melodic hardcore.
and 'emo suckiness'? jeff's constant seamless transitions between screaming and singing are untouched, both recorded and live, and his vocals overall are nowhere near 'safe'. im happy that you love versions as much as i do, but i think you should give ptw's other albums another listen. i think you will develop a better appreciation for versions and the band as a whole.
I was probably a little hard on their previous work. I've certainly been a fan for years; each year I do a year-end mix, and both 2002 and 2003 had PTW songs from Tear From The Red and You Come Before You.
I was probably influenced by their near-breakup on this one, just totally blown away by their comeback with 3 guys. Add in the country influence and the more mature songwriting and I think this is their best effort, but again, it's not like I hated their previous records....I liked them, I just found Versions to be much more consistent.
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