Strung Out

Item: An American Paradox
Author: Gunner

An American Paradox

(2002)

Reviewed by Gunner

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Label Fat Wreck ChordsDecapolisMarch 2002

punk skate punk

Technical and aggressive yet melodic and emotional, Strung Out has emerged from the grossly populated southern California music scene as one of the strongest and most creative melodic punk bands in the scene. Strung Out formed in 1992 and instantly achieved recognition for their ability to creatively fuse punk, metal, and progressive rock. Their 4th LP, An American Paradox, comes out on Fat Wreck Chords April 23.

I have been a huge Strung Out fan for years. They have gotten progressively better over the years, which is impressive because they were great even early on. So when I got my hands on this puppy, needless to say I was excited.

The first track is an onslaught of screaming guitar riffs, strong vocals and powerful musicianship. 30 seconds into this song I thanked God Strung Out had not let me down. The first thing that struck me was their improved command of melody and harmony, with nearly non-stop vocal harmonies that not only work well, but aren't predictable.

As the record plays on, we are treated with more of the same, well maybe not quite as good as that first track, but certainly the quality Strung Out we have come to know and love. Great lyrics, awesome vocal stylings, and tons of blazing guitars. The band has really matured as songwriters, leaving us with soon-to-be favorites like the aforementioned first track, Velvey Alley, along with Alien Amplifier, Satellite, and Dig (one of the songs recently released on their Fat Club 7").

However the whole record doesn't stick to this formula. 3 or 4 songs are notably slower and darker, and while they are not bad songs, they break up the flow of the album a little too much which leaves me less interested in listening to the record all the way through. Fans of their last EP, Elements of Sonic Defiance, may very well enjoy these songs along with the rest, but for my taste they took away from the record as a whole. This definitely includes the "spooky" ending that plays on for about 3 minutes after the last song, Cemetary. The sad effect of this, to me, is that after hearing it I don't have any urge to start the album back up, despite how much I enjoy many of the other tracks.

I am a little disappointed in the overall album compared to the last two, and as such I won't be playing this one nearly as much as I had expected. But in the grand scheme of things, Strung Out still delivers a better helping of melodic punk rock than most bands today, and old fans will still be impressed with some of Strung Out's best work to date.