Showbread

Item: No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical
Author: Len Nash

No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical

(2004)

Reviewed by Len Nash

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Label Tooth & Nail Records / Solid State RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2005

experimental hardcore post-hardcore punk

Good ol' Showbread. I love these guys and their music. I moderated a press conference of theirs at Cornerstone Festival in 2004 and their answers were honest, clean, and fun, but off the wall, all over the place, and full of inside jokes poked at each other. I thought some of the "older" people in attendance would kill me and eat me for dinner. Well, I was wrong, Showbread's fun, clean, and zany attitudes won over the crowd in attendance, especially the "older" people, like my publishers. On the outside, away from their music, they are hilarious, easygoing people to be around. When the music comes though, it is all about the moment, right now, right here, let's get it done, and play our hearts out! There is a certain likability to this determination that is put into their music, no matter if it is in the studio, or live.

When it is about the music, Showbread means it. Take this latest project. Raw rock; rock that is raw. Screams, clean vocals. No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical starts with a phone call that states, "No sir, nihilism is not practical" as a segue into a project where people can hear punk, hardcore, plus more influences, but this is not "core" or "punk," and surely NOT "screamo;" it is rock that is raw. At the middle of the CD the music comes up to a song that mixes it up quite well, loose, and intensely (track 9), some western-feeling music; imagine riding on a horse. No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical moves and gets to a dancin' feelin'! Not too horribly like their old content, there are more clean vocals and more beef. Reese Roper, former Five Iron Frenzy lead, does guest vocals on "Matthias Replaces Judas," toning things down with some beautiful Reese Roper vocals. "The Bell Jar" sweeps up any bit of sappiness to end out the CD while rockin' out intensely.

If a person hasn't seen Showbread live, they should. Showbread's live show is action-packed and quite interesting. The same is true of Showbread's latest Solid State debut. NS, NiNP starts a CD full of "raw rock" out with "A Llama Eats a Giraffe (and Vice Versa)." Raw Rock is a new genre made up by the Showbread guys. It takes a punk rock, hardcore, and rock mixture, blends it all together, yet the result is nothing even close to being "totally hardcore" or "totally punk." It is hard to explain this music, except for being a "raw" form of rock, because a lot of the music has more of a rock basis and is quite fun and unpredictable. Showbread makes this memorable, a "raw" concept, brand new when recorded, and ideas being thrown around. Something is new after each listen it seems, but at first NS,NiNP may seem quite "plain". My, my, my, I have not heard anything quite this diverse in a while since Linkin Park's Meteora CD and I would have to say that I am in for it all the way!

4.5 tocks