The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is an American punk/post-hardcore band. Post-hardcore is an interesting new genre; it’s not quite punk, not quite metalcore and not quite heavy metal. It’s a mixture of all three. The vocalist of such a band is most likely to have a pop-punk kind of voice, which he would temper with modulation, screaming and whispering. The guitars’ tone is punk-like, but post-hardcore bands go beyond punk constraints to even put in the odd solo. RJA’s latest offering, ‘Lonely Road’, however moves away from post-hardcore and towards a more generic punk/alternative rock sound. I say this because the screaming’s mostly done away with, and there are a couple of acoustic songs too.
‘You Better Pray’ was the first single released from this album, and it was the first song I listened to. The vocalist’s electronically touched singing in the verse parts, and the characteristic nasal crooning during the chorus parts are catchy, but not what make the song great. It’s the stop-start discordance of the rhythm guitars, coupled with a nicely overlaid solo that top it off. ‘Pen and paper’, the second single off the album, is a decent song; it tends to get sickeningly sweet, but a nice bridge section halts the process. It is probably the most punk-like song on the album, but that works in its favour.
Video: You Better Pray
RJA make a conscious effort to stay clear of pure punk rock. They sometimes overdo it however, with vocalist Ronnie Winter particularly guilty; he sometimes over-modulates and appends an irritating gasp to his words. ‘Believe’, which would have otherwise been an outstanding romantic/acoustic piece, is only great because of precisely this. Nevertheless, it has excellent lyrics and when Winter’s voice steps up through the frequency spectrum during the chorus, it really is quite delightful. One technique that I’ve already talked about is the stop –start guitaring, and RJA use it to great effect. ‘Step Right Up’ is a really nice example of this, and is my pick for the second best song on this album. ‘Pull Me Back’ has a nice solo section, and a catchy chorus. The title track ‘Lonely Road’ is another great song. Again, RJA introduce just the right amount of discordance, a chord here and a voice modulation there, that transform decent punk rock into good punk rock. Watch out for the musical exhibition RJA put on towards the end of this song. ‘Represent’ and ‘Godspeed’ are slower, softer and more melodic, but there’s nothing particularly distinctive about them; consequently they don’t get the promotion from good to great in my book. ‘Senioritis’ and ‘No spell’ are disappointing; here RJA fail in their quest for uniqueness, they sound trite and in all likelihood will be skipped from the playlist after one listen.
Video: Believe
Video: Step Right Up
On the whole, ‘Lonely Road’ is a nice album. I’ve read reviews where’s it’s been unfavourably compared to their earlier album. I’ve also seen accusations of selling out: apparently because RJA have traded their heavier post-hardcore sound for a softer, more punk-like approach. I haven’t listened to their older album yet, and if you haven’t either, this is quite a good album. A word of warning however: if you detest punk rock and high pitched, nasal vocals, I fear even RJA’s attempts at challenging convention will not make you like this album.
Rating: (Vocals: 8/10, Guitaring: 7.5/10, Lyrics: 7.5/10, Overall: 7.8/10)
‘You Better Pray’ was the first single released from this album, and it was the first song I listened to. The vocalist’s electronically touched singing in the verse parts, and the characteristic nasal crooning during the chorus parts are catchy, but not what make the song great. It’s the stop-start discordance of the rhythm guitars, coupled with a nicely overlaid solo that top it off. ‘Pen and paper’, the second single off the album, is a decent song; it tends to get sickeningly sweet, but a nice bridge section halts the process. It is probably the most punk-like song on the album, but that works in its favour.
Video: You Better Pray
RJA make a conscious effort to stay clear of pure punk rock. They sometimes overdo it however, with vocalist Ronnie Winter particularly guilty; he sometimes over-modulates and appends an irritating gasp to his words. ‘Believe’, which would have otherwise been an outstanding romantic/acoustic piece, is only great because of precisely this. Nevertheless, it has excellent lyrics and when Winter’s voice steps up through the frequency spectrum during the chorus, it really is quite delightful. One technique that I’ve already talked about is the stop –start guitaring, and RJA use it to great effect. ‘Step Right Up’ is a really nice example of this, and is my pick for the second best song on this album. ‘Pull Me Back’ has a nice solo section, and a catchy chorus. The title track ‘Lonely Road’ is another great song. Again, RJA introduce just the right amount of discordance, a chord here and a voice modulation there, that transform decent punk rock into good punk rock. Watch out for the musical exhibition RJA put on towards the end of this song. ‘Represent’ and ‘Godspeed’ are slower, softer and more melodic, but there’s nothing particularly distinctive about them; consequently they don’t get the promotion from good to great in my book. ‘Senioritis’ and ‘No spell’ are disappointing; here RJA fail in their quest for uniqueness, they sound trite and in all likelihood will be skipped from the playlist after one listen.
Video: Believe
Video: Step Right Up
On the whole, ‘Lonely Road’ is a nice album. I’ve read reviews where’s it’s been unfavourably compared to their earlier album. I’ve also seen accusations of selling out: apparently because RJA have traded their heavier post-hardcore sound for a softer, more punk-like approach. I haven’t listened to their older album yet, and if you haven’t either, this is quite a good album. A word of warning however: if you detest punk rock and high pitched, nasal vocals, I fear even RJA’s attempts at challenging convention will not make you like this album.
Rating: (Vocals: 8/10, Guitaring: 7.5/10, Lyrics: 7.5/10, Overall: 7.8/10)
a worthy find! seems like they have blended genres well..... as for not living upto previous albums, i dont think becoming softer is a sin... but turning completely to dance like franz ferdinand or pure reason revolution is :D
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