by John Bear
Daily Lobo
People have been saying this since 1977, but I think I can say it now with absolute conviction - punk rock is dead. So dead.
Here are a few reasons why.
First, Dead Kennedys are on tour as I write this - without Jello Biafra. That's kind of like the Doors performing without Jim Morrison. Sure, they are a talented group of musicians, but it just doesn't work for me.
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Second, last night I saw a commercial for some extreme sporting event and in the background a television jingle band played a lousy cover of the Descendents song "Suburban Home." I almost threw one of my K-Swiss shoes through the screen.
Third, the very existence of Hot Topic. Sure, I have made a few purchases there, and the shame refuses to die.
Finally, the band Story of the Year has released an album, In the Wake of Determination. This may be a moot point when grouped in with all these other tales of horror, but after listening to the album, I have arrived at the conclusion that these guys are really flogging a dead horse.
To call this band punk rock in the first place is to use the loosest possible definition of the genre. Honestly, it falls under the umbrella label of emo-screamo-fake hardcore, the kind you would most likely hear screeching over the speaker system at, yes, Hot Topic.
But the band steals enough of its material from legitimate punk bands to warrant pointing some fingers and screaming "Poseur."
The band is heavily influenced by metal bands. Metal guitar usually exhibit's a snappy crunch. The opening track, "We Don't Care Anymore," attempts to launch into one of these riffs but never quite makes it, simply sounding muddled and lacking sharpness. It's as if the guitar attained a moment of sentience and refused to perform properly, realizing it was being used for illegitimate purposes.
"Take Me Back" changes things up a bit, going sort of pop punk with the requisite tempo shifting with some swirling guitar effects thrown in. Basically, it goes something like: Fast punk part, slow bouncy part where band jumps up and down, rinse and repeat. The false metal riffing also reappears for a moment or two.
And this is the way much of the album unfolds, rotating back and forth between cheesy hardcore and cheesy pop punk.
The singing is angry but entirely insincere which makes it extremely annoying. Honest screamers can do music justice. When Kurt Cobain screamed, he meant it. These guys are just faking it.
The guitar work often reminds the listener of Bad Religion, and the influence helps the band lapse occasionally into some decent punk rock.
Unfortunately, this rarely lasts longer than 30 seconds before the music falls back into the mediocre hell pit that spawned it.
All in all, Story of the Year sounds like one of those newer bands I was forced to listen to last summer at the Warped Tour, the ones that played between the Vandals and NOFX. The older crowd heckled, but the younger generation cheered. And I felt lame for standing around at a punk rock show with a bag full of crap I had purchased at the many, many stands lining the edge of the fields.
