The Pulled-After-Upsetting-A-Band’s-Fanbase
strung out - transmission.alpha.delta - unnamed site
“I can't believe you love Strung Out/That band was a mediocre version of the skate punk 90s.” That was what my friend said to me when I told him I was asked to review Transmissoin.Alpha.Delta, the new record by Fat-veterans and metal enthusiast punks Strung Out. I didn’t give much thought to what my friend said, as he was quoting a song by one of the most mediocre punk-anything bands of our current generation (I’ll let you look it up). Regardless, I was very curious as to how I would like the new album, myself not ever having been a huge Strung Out fan, but not really disliking them either. So here are my thoughts:
Strung Out is a talented band, there’s no doubt about it. However I’ve always felt that out of the really shreddy, technical, metal-influenced melodic punk rock that pops up once in awhile (i.e. Propagandhi, A Wilhelm Scream), Strung Out is sort of the low point on the totem pole, despite being one of the original bands to play that style. TAD isn’t too much of an exception to that. It’s not bad, but I definitely feel like there’s some pretty cliché and boring parts of the record. The rhythm section on this record reminds me of Suffer & The Witness (songs like “Tesla” and “Black Maps” kind of show this for me, although the latter is a great song), which isn’t really what I expect or look for in a technical, melodic punk rock band, especially one as prolific as Strung Out. Really, since I feel the rhythm section carries the tone for bands like this, simplicity on one level holds a band back when other levels are cutting above the norm.
That said, this record isn’t all boring or bad or anything like that. It still showcases the talent of the band, especially on more techy songs like “Rebellion of Snakes”. I’d actually say that despite those boring parts, the record flows well front to back and every song belongs where it does on the record. “Rats in the Walls” is a great opener for the record, as “Westcoasttrendkill” is a great closer (the latter has a killer chorus, thanks to the drum parts of Jordan Burns). They definitely don’t fail to deliver the good stuff California Skate Punk is so well known for either – catchiness (see “No Apologies”) and speed (see “Go It Alone”). And as always, Jason Cruz delivers great lyrics and vocals.
Even then, I still feel as though Strung Out is a bit under the curve for what they’re doing. At this point I would disagree with Mixtapes - Strung Out is a good band for sure, but they settle for some cliché song writing/structures sometimes which overshadows their most creative bits, which is why I’m only giving Transmission.Alpha.Delta a 3.5/5.