Since the demise of The Dismemberment Plan in 2003, frontman Travis Morrison has recorded and released two erratic solo albums while bassist Eric Axelson spent some time supplying the low end for Maritime. All well and good but Maritime is really Davey’s band and as much as I love Travis, he just seems a little unfocused without his homies around. Enter the recent release from Statehood called Lies And Rhetoric.
I wrote about Statehood once before but (just in case you weren’t paying attention) the band features Joe Easley and Eric Axelson (the former rhythm section of the aforementioned Dismemberment Plan) as well as vocalist Clarke Sabine (formerly of Motorcycle Wars) and guitarist Leigh Thompson (ex-Vehicle Birth). What you get is typically solid DC style post-hardcore that hits with a sharp and propulsive bombast not unlike Jawbox or Frodus (though I wouldn’t really compare Statehood to either of those bands).
Knowing the history of Axelson and Easley I expected the rhythm section to be tight-as-hell and full of furious groove and it is. I expected this record to be a little funky without being funky at all and it is as well. I didn’t (however) expect to hear such stellar Gang Of Four-esqe guitar ringing out on Lies And Rhetoric. They are (at times) scorching. Vocally, (and oddly enough, musically as well) there are similarities to Mission Of Burma but (overall) the album suffers a little because of frontman Sabine’s limited vocal range. His delivery is impassioned but strained in a sort of monotone way that just becomes a little grating after 13 songs. I don’t hate the vocals (and may possibly be comparing against the uber-dynamic Travis) but they are certainly the album’s weakest link.
So I guess that the short version is that this is solid but not Earth shattering. It is pretty typical DC stuff from these guys that isn’t far from what I expected. Lies And Rhetoric is a good (but not great) debut from these guys and sounds like a million bucks thanks to production from former Dismemberment Plan axeman Jason Caddell.
MP3 | Statehood – Save Yourself Lies And Rhetoric
MP3 | Statehood – Transfixed Lies And Rhetoric
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