Hailing from Detroit, The Gibbons hold a special place in my heart. Not to mention the fact that they play the style of music that first got me into punk rock. This record is quite a bit less poppy than their earlier releases, harking back to the days of The Broadways and the first Lawrence Arms album; bands that created gritty yet melodic personal/political pop-punk which bore a resemblance to Bivouac-era Jawbreaker. This is The Gibbons' fourth release, and first long player (eleven songs), following a split CD with Caulfield, a four-way split 7", and a self-titled 7".
"Faces and Names" starts the album off with a jolt; awesome ultra-crunchy guitar. The vocals are absolutely pissed off, but in an accessible way - he's not growling or screaming, or even yelling, but the same desperate tone is carried in Bobby's approach, without sacrificing the ability to understand the message. The lyrics deal with the injustices we face throughout life in both ourselves and others, and why they occur. Definitely a great start and one of the best of the album. "Basement Politics" is about the punk/indie scene in Detroit, but it could really be applied anywhere. On the local level, the lyrics definitely ring true -- "Eastsiders don't dance, everyone knows that / no, we're far too scandalous." The song is a cry for more involvement...more political action, more do-it-yourself, more emotion, more thought, more truth: "If I could write the words to keep you up at night, I would / and I would write melodies that would make you cry if I could." Musically, the drums in this song are fantastic. You could easily dance your ass off to it.
"Back East" starts off with another dancey drum part. It's a somewhat more "radio friendly" song than the first two, with personal lyrics about a deteriorating friendship/relationship during a trip to the East. The guitar here is really nice, especially during the building drumroll leading to the last verse of the song. This is a slight throwback to their earlier releases, in both lyrical content and style. The fifth song, "Competing Dreams," continues the interpersonal lyrics and similarity to previous material. The words are a little on the cheesy side, but not in a bad way: "I was half hoping that my car would break down / under the weight of all my worthless shit / let the looters have it all, I don't need it." There are some nice stop/start parts toward the end that are pretty fantastic.
"There Was a Time" is an angry, nostalgic look back at the past, prior to being jaded and cynical about the power of honesty and music. This is the fastest and most aggressive song of the record, and perhaps of all their material to date. Despite the fact that Bobby is singing about giving up on music - "I used to sing my heart out 'cause I meant it / do you believe it? / Feels like so long ago that I needed it / can you conceive of it?" - the emotion portrayed through his voice is almost overbearing. You can really tell he's giving it his all; it practically drips cynicism. There's a very neat little section leading up to a Jawbreaker quote: "'There's keys in their eyes but they lock from the inside' / and I'm tired of trying, so tired of trying." Things pick up again, and the end of the song is absolutely pissed. Amazing closer to the a-side.
The second song on the b-side, "Wars Don't Fight Themselves," has a very dark, gloomy feeling, much like earlier Jawbreaker. It's about being young and poor, the lack of options, and the choices you're faced to make. Continue living in poverty, dead-end slave labor, or the army. The music and words are absolutely hopeless; pleading. "Getting Used to Anything" is the last "real" song on the album, and easily one of the best. Similar to the rest of the album, this is very angsty music, but this song seems somewhat "hopeful." While still condemning the sad state of Detroit, there is a longing for the possibility of change for the better. "But it's never the right time, no it's never the right place / I keep telling myself this is temporary, it's only a phase," "This city, this country has a problem and I'm tired of making it mine." Whether you live in Detroit, or any other city, you can relate to the alienation, loneliness, and hopelessness that sometimes seems to smother and choke the life out of you.
The record closes with an acoustic number, "Urban Crop Circles." This song is beautiful. I don't think I really need to say much; the lyrics better express anything I could possibly think to describe it with:
"The windshield is a gasmask / to smog piled up all day / Jackhammers are living headaches / Exhale and dream of escape / For some skyscraper needles / are heroin in the blood / Hipsters crashing on the evening / leaving bottles in frozen mud / But it's a burnt, choking isle / some cremating iron log / Trapped in the throes of industry / is a restless Midwestern love / And to wonder how it got here / why did it get so bad? / Emptiness and alleys / never looked so sad / But death is a new beginning / and the fear is just a fog / evaporating slowly / Daybreak in the city..."
