AFI - Decemberunderground
Artist profile:
AFI
Release Date: 29/05/06
Label: Interscope
Rating: ****
It took two years for AFI to write and record this, their seventh album, and follow-up to 'Sing The Sorrow', and 'Decemberunderground' shows the deep thoughtfulness and thematic cohesiveness that went in to making it. It may even be a little too thought out, trailing behind it an elaborate mystery left over from the '...Sorrow' days involving the number 37, rabbits, and phone numbers. It's a bit of a muddle.
Our story begins with 'Prelude 12/21', the first day of Winter, and it's as chilly as you'd like: full of chimes, precise beats, and steady vocals. 'Affliction', on the other hand, is a fiery one, raw and emotional. It may have something to do with the rawness with which Davey Havok is spitting out the lyrics at us; and what lyrics they are, too! 'Kiss And Control' boasts lines that read like poetry ("part your lips a bit more/i'll swallow your fear/I will show you how all the bite marks impress a need to be here").
'Miss Murder', the first single, pales in comparison to some of these, but it is nonetheless worthy, and gives the album some of its musical pop tones. 'Summer Shudder' along with 'Love Like Winter' (see a trend?) finally show the influences many 80s UK bands, including The Cure, Depeche Mode, and even U2 was mentioned, have on the band. 'The Interview' has an epic feel to it, languid and melancholy. But the star is 'Endlessly, She Said', playing word games - "I will wait for you/she said endlessly/I will wait for you/so spoke misery" - and mixing the tenderness and violence seen on previous tracks to create something heartbreaking.
Time to press repeat!
Olga Bas
AFI Official Site
AFI Myspace
Buy AFI CDs | Buy AFI mp3s | Buy AFI Tickets | Buy AFI Merch
Release Date: 29/05/06
Label: Interscope
Rating: ****
It took two years for AFI to write and record this, their seventh album, and follow-up to 'Sing The Sorrow', and 'Decemberunderground' shows the deep thoughtfulness and thematic cohesiveness that went in to making it. It may even be a little too thought out, trailing behind it an elaborate mystery left over from the '...Sorrow' days involving the number 37, rabbits, and phone numbers. It's a bit of a muddle.
Our story begins with 'Prelude 12/21', the first day of Winter, and it's as chilly as you'd like: full of chimes, precise beats, and steady vocals. 'Affliction', on the other hand, is a fiery one, raw and emotional. It may have something to do with the rawness with which Davey Havok is spitting out the lyrics at us; and what lyrics they are, too! 'Kiss And Control' boasts lines that read like poetry ("part your lips a bit more/i'll swallow your fear/I will show you how all the bite marks impress a need to be here").
'Miss Murder', the first single, pales in comparison to some of these, but it is nonetheless worthy, and gives the album some of its musical pop tones. 'Summer Shudder' along with 'Love Like Winter' (see a trend?) finally show the influences many 80s UK bands, including The Cure, Depeche Mode, and even U2 was mentioned, have on the band. 'The Interview' has an epic feel to it, languid and melancholy. But the star is 'Endlessly, She Said', playing word games - "I will wait for you/she said endlessly/I will wait for you/so spoke misery" - and mixing the tenderness and violence seen on previous tracks to create something heartbreaking.
Time to press repeat!
Olga Bas
AFI Official Site
AFI Myspace
Buy AFI CDs | Buy AFI mp3s | Buy AFI Tickets | Buy AFI Merch
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