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tiny_voicesThis was partly inspired by one of my friends' player character in my game, who is a bassist in a ska punk band. My friend provided me with a small playlist of songs as references for the sort of music the band plays (shout out to Pat, Pat's a real one for that) and one of the songs was "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" by Less Than Jake. Coincidentally, I had heard that song many times in the past, and it was the first Less Than Jake song I ever heard. Then the other day I was like, I should just listen to that whole album. So I did!
Hello Rockview is... it's aight.
Apologies if that's anti-climactic, but that's a succinct way of describing my reaction to this one, on first listen. It's fine, not bad. Less Than Jake seems to trace that line between ska and pop punk, which is not a genre (or combination of genres) I'm all that familiar with, despite my many years as an pop punk deep diver. Nothing wrong with ska; it's just never grabbed me. My default association with ska/punk is Operation Ivy, and I really like that band's music, but there's not actually much brass or woodwind action in their music, so it's a little distinct from Less Than Jake in that way, at least. My point is, my feelings about Hello Rockview are fairly moderate and I can't be too surprised about it.
After I listened through all the songs I took a stroll through the album's page on Wikipedia, mainly because I wondered if it was described as a concept album there. It wasn't, but I think my interpretation is that it is. Nearly all of the 14 tracks revolve around the concept of staying in the same old town with the same old people, not going anywhere, giving up, and struggling to reconcile one's ideals with this stagnation. The album is so married to these things that the lyrics are actually a little repetitive, provided you're like me and pay close attention to the lyrics on each song. The vocabulary is pretty limited; not a lot of evocative metaphors or imagery here. Not that I was really expecting it here, but I found myself a bit underwhelmed. A jaunty, upbeat album like this would've done well with some good quips, you know? The vocals here are good, carrying some solid personality for the music, but I felt that they were mainly just a vehicle for the words, if that makes sense. And the words were mainly a vehicle for the album's concepts, and you could say that about anything with words because that's the function of words, but I just would've appreciated a bit more poetry.
The instrumentation of the album keeps things fun, and the intros are especially great. There were several tracks where I started doing a tiny jig in my chair along to the beginning instrumental. We're talking 90s cartoon opening theme caliber, here. The bass on this album is excellent-- lots of really fun lines and the tone of the bass is perfect. Perhaps the best intro on the album is on the opening track "Last One Out of Liberty City" which is just a great example of how to start an album right. This album is also a great example of the philosophy of singing a sad song in a major key: a good alternate title for the album would be Sunshiney Bummers.
Now, I know I spent a couple hundred words up there talking about how the lyrics on this record aren't great, but I will highlight a few, because I like words, and I like offering a few points even to things I don't like much.
From "Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding," which is a great title by the by: Right now the world just seems too big.
From "Five State Drive": When goin' up's like goin' on and never goin' back now / it's just like giving up, yeah / and when goin' off's like goin' on it feels like going nowhere fast.
From "Big Crash": They've always had big plans for you / just to walk you through and cloud your views.
From "Theme Song for H Street": Remember when they said, just how long can your ideals keep you warm? / and we just laughed the kind of nervous laugh / we just sang along to that song that's on the radio.
From "Al's War": He feels that the last few years were only a waste of time / it was always a compromise of what he always felt inside / his declaration under the orange street lights.
I will also shout out the last few lines in "Al's War" that switch from like giving up to I'm not giving up at the last moment. After all the (upbeat) bummers that make up this record, I think it was a really smart choice to change the sentiment right at the end. Just one little second of determination; one brief moment of ambition. Better late than never, as they say.
Overall Hello Rockview is a simple and fun ride talking about growing up and not leaving your shitty hometown. It's jaunty and fast, has a lot of "whoa" in it, and it's a decent way to spend about 38 minutes. For me, it's nothing more and nothing less than that.
Hello Rockview is... it's aight.
Apologies if that's anti-climactic, but that's a succinct way of describing my reaction to this one, on first listen. It's fine, not bad. Less Than Jake seems to trace that line between ska and pop punk, which is not a genre (or combination of genres) I'm all that familiar with, despite my many years as an pop punk deep diver. Nothing wrong with ska; it's just never grabbed me. My default association with ska/punk is Operation Ivy, and I really like that band's music, but there's not actually much brass or woodwind action in their music, so it's a little distinct from Less Than Jake in that way, at least. My point is, my feelings about Hello Rockview are fairly moderate and I can't be too surprised about it.
After I listened through all the songs I took a stroll through the album's page on Wikipedia, mainly because I wondered if it was described as a concept album there. It wasn't, but I think my interpretation is that it is. Nearly all of the 14 tracks revolve around the concept of staying in the same old town with the same old people, not going anywhere, giving up, and struggling to reconcile one's ideals with this stagnation. The album is so married to these things that the lyrics are actually a little repetitive, provided you're like me and pay close attention to the lyrics on each song. The vocabulary is pretty limited; not a lot of evocative metaphors or imagery here. Not that I was really expecting it here, but I found myself a bit underwhelmed. A jaunty, upbeat album like this would've done well with some good quips, you know? The vocals here are good, carrying some solid personality for the music, but I felt that they were mainly just a vehicle for the words, if that makes sense. And the words were mainly a vehicle for the album's concepts, and you could say that about anything with words because that's the function of words, but I just would've appreciated a bit more poetry.
The instrumentation of the album keeps things fun, and the intros are especially great. There were several tracks where I started doing a tiny jig in my chair along to the beginning instrumental. We're talking 90s cartoon opening theme caliber, here. The bass on this album is excellent-- lots of really fun lines and the tone of the bass is perfect. Perhaps the best intro on the album is on the opening track "Last One Out of Liberty City" which is just a great example of how to start an album right. This album is also a great example of the philosophy of singing a sad song in a major key: a good alternate title for the album would be Sunshiney Bummers.
Now, I know I spent a couple hundred words up there talking about how the lyrics on this record aren't great, but I will highlight a few, because I like words, and I like offering a few points even to things I don't like much.
From "Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding," which is a great title by the by: Right now the world just seems too big.
From "Five State Drive": When goin' up's like goin' on and never goin' back now / it's just like giving up, yeah / and when goin' off's like goin' on it feels like going nowhere fast.
From "Big Crash": They've always had big plans for you / just to walk you through and cloud your views.
From "Theme Song for H Street": Remember when they said, just how long can your ideals keep you warm? / and we just laughed the kind of nervous laugh / we just sang along to that song that's on the radio.
From "Al's War": He feels that the last few years were only a waste of time / it was always a compromise of what he always felt inside / his declaration under the orange street lights.
I will also shout out the last few lines in "Al's War" that switch from like giving up to I'm not giving up at the last moment. After all the (upbeat) bummers that make up this record, I think it was a really smart choice to change the sentiment right at the end. Just one little second of determination; one brief moment of ambition. Better late than never, as they say.
Overall Hello Rockview is a simple and fun ride talking about growing up and not leaving your shitty hometown. It's jaunty and fast, has a lot of "whoa" in it, and it's a decent way to spend about 38 minutes. For me, it's nothing more and nothing less than that.
