reviews
TANGZINE
There isn't too much artistry in punk rock. In fact, I would say that it is non-existent if it weren't for the creativity of The Blamed. Beginning as one of the forerunners in the Christian punk underground (for the sake of argument, that's what I'm going to call it), The Blamed has shaped and re-shaped into a punk/hardcore band that holds a balance between artistry and heaviness. It's not often that a band can pull this off (the only few I can think of are Saviour Machine and
Octane Blue, but those are far-reaching comparisons) with all the blandness that eats up the market. The Blamed's hard-hitting punk and hardcore grooves blend wonderfully with the new rock elements that are prevalent in recent albums.
My only complaint on this album is that most of the songs are too short, but often there is a reason for that (or maybe it's just the punk rock coming out). "Short Of a Miracle" showcases a beautiful and driving bassline over the bold (and driving) guitar and keyboard with the short lyric line: 'Lay me in the ground. One week of peace is all I need to show you all that I am free. I am the beam of light that shines on you.' Maybe it's important that that song is so short (1:54). The pumping follow-up, "At Least We Have Each Other," changes from tranquil to rocking in no time at all.
Plenty of nice surprises make their way onto this disc. The inclusion of piano, cello, clarinet, and other un-punk instruments makes for a great listen in itself. Special guests ranging from members of Selfmindead to the ever-talented Johnathon Ford on bass contribute beautifully the music on the record. For you computer kids, there's a music video of "At This Moment" (the rocking opener to the CD), an interview with the band, and the band history as given by Brian Gray himself. Heck, there's even a soft, love song on here ("The Piano is Playing Our Song"). This is truly punk rock in all facets that punk rock was built on... going against the norm.
Mix tape song: "short of a miracle" -Lars "Marina" Gotrich
DECAPOLIS
As many of you know that come here and read the reviews, I'm not always the biggest fan of hardcore. But the Blamed, who I would say fit the hardcore tag, are a band I have actually really enjoyed lately. With "Isolated Incident" the band brings us their best release to date. They bring creativity and innovation to hardcore. They have vocals that you can understand and sing along to, "I'm on the outside looking in trying to find out who I'am at the expense of others"…and I was singing along with those lyrics on the first track on my first listen to the album. But probably the thing that stands out the most on this release is the musicianship. Intricate guitar parts, driving drumming (as well as various other forms of precussion) and moving bass lines all come together to make a great listen. -Tom
Call them the chameleon of the "Christian" punk scene. Or, call them a bunch of guys who refuse to remain stagnant and want to grow musically. Whatever you call them, The Blamed seem to have found what works best for them. Picking up where the band's "Germany" EP left off, the Chicago quartet throw in their old rock influences and a dash of Fugazi influence into the formula. Stand out cuts on "Isolated Incident" are "At This Moment", which opens the disc. "To See You As You Are Seen" where vocalist Grey pleads, "I want to separate myself, help me see what you see," this song also features a nice tasty groove towards the end. "At Least We Have Each Other" with piano implementing catchy guitar lines, "NXNW" which also makes good use of piano and rocking guitar riffs and finally "The Finest of Society's Philanderers" featuring some grooving bass work.
While "Isolated Incident" lacks in vocal melody it excels in guitar interplay and almost danceable grooves. The production is solid. It's quite obvious The Blamed spent well over 21 hours on this release. (sorry, lame joke about the band's first album) Look for Bryan Grey and crew to keep stretching their creative muscle on future releases. -Brett
FINE PRINT MAGAZINE
The Blamed is back...again.
If you have any preconceived ideas of what this album is or should be then forget about it. This album will spit them right back in your face. Instead of following the formulas laid out by the music snobs for indie rock, “emo”, hardcore etc., they have ignored your silly rules and smushed the genres together and more importantly...they make it work.
Usually catchy songs tend to lean more on the side of poppy songs so when I caught myself sitting at a desk at work suddenly humming and singing along to the phrase "you broke your promise, you’re not the one," I was very surprised. This album is gritty, kick-you-in-the-face rock and quite a bit away from being poppy, but yeesh if they aren’t catchy. Moving away from the hardcore/punk tag, the Blamed has unleashed a rock and roll demon with Isolated Incident.
Keeping the screaming and occasional gang vocals, they mix it up a bit on this record with the help of Selfmindead members, the simple yet effective slices of piano on “At Least We Have Each Other” and “nxnw”, an instrumental (“Talking Philosophy On the Streets of Oslo“), and singing with soft background vocals (“The Piano Is Playing Our Song“). At times the flitting between styles in the songs becomes distracting. If they stick around the sound of “The Bat Storm” and “The Finest of Society’s Philanderers” the Blamed will be ready to rock it and roll it on forever. -Fay Jakymec
HM I haven't met many fans of The Blamed. I don't know why. Is it because they change their sound a little every album? Or is it their tenacious loyalty to an old school hardcore gruffness in a slick new school world? I suspect mostly it's because over the years The Blamed have developed two things foreign to most hardcore/punk bands: 1) musical ability and 2) the courage to take chances.
They've done old school punk, thrash, hardcore, metal, post-hardcore, and a fusion of all the above. Now they're improving on the prog postcore of last year's Germany EP, adding what could be called rock n' roll (baby). Tight and angular one sec, loose and melodic the next. Moody Radiohead/U2-ish basslines undergird the music in surprisingly groovy ways. One song ends with tribal drumming and tambourines; another features a keyboard and soft singing. The album is layered with different tempos, time changes, and tones; each listen unveils new delights. They don't put their drummer on the front of the stage during live shows for nothing (though the echoing garage production keeps his kit sounding like a trashcan on a few songs). Ideas flow freely from their sweaty pores, but they seem to get bored quickly with each one no matter how powerful. Creativity is their strength but also their weakness; they don't stick with any sonic texture or riff long enough for you to really sink your teeth in.
The last three tracks almost overcome that unnerving tendency, by taking time to just pound you. The low end in track 11 digs a dirty trench that keeps the band to a single line of satisfying crashcore, as a spoken voice asks "do you need more light to shine on you?/do you need more exposure?/if the whole world could see your pain/would it open the door to healing?" Track 12 is a sprawling, bleeding number, almost like a psychedelic hardcore drone. The final track is a solid head-nodder of a riff with dissonant noise breaks and Brian Gray's rough barks in the background.
With their exploratory leanings and mad skills, The Blamed are posed for greatness. They just need to quit overloading each song with cleverness, and stretch out the coolest parts instead. Nothing a good producer can't fix.
Isolated Incident is perhaps too adventuresome for hardcore kids, and too undecided in its songwriting for genre-free music fans. But hey, isn't the point of hardcore (and rock itself) to shake, shatter, and topple our complacency? To keep us on our toes lest we fall prey to the forces in society and ourselves that would medicate and enslave us? Maybe The Blamed's frustrating hit-and-run style does exactly what it should. -Josh Spencer
SINAPU
The new release from this sympathetic band is a logical follow-up to their great “Germany” EP. The sound hasn’t changed dramatically; the biggest difference perhaps is that there’s more variety in the use of instruments. At the end there’s a cool part with a bouzouki and percussion which gives it a nice oriental feel, and keyboard and dat tape found their way into the sound of The Blamed.
The first two bands that come to mind are to my opinion still Snapcase and Hot Water Music, but when I heard “The Piano Is Playing Our Song” I thought that “their song” has to be U2’s “Boomerang” ‘cause it’s build on the same chords. The track has that whole U2 Unforgettable Fire -era vibe around it, including the “A Sort Of Homecoming”-like lyrical content. It’s no secret that Christopher is a big U2 fan so I might just be right. The cd is enhanced and in this case it means that it has 2 interview videos and a video for the song "At This Moment". Another cool thing: their friends Marko, Michal and Timo from Selfmindead play on some tracks of this album as well. Great cd. -DS
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BANDOPPLER
Here's the rub, kids. You can only call yourself post-something if you have been that
something long enough to know how to go beyond it. So, if The Blamed say they are
post-hardcore it's probably acceptable. Defining how something is post-something – in this
case post-hardcore – however, is another rub in itself. And basically this new rub falls on
our shoulders, a challenge if you will, issued by the band labeling themselves as such –
daring us to know what the crap we're talking about enough to call them on their bluff; or to
nod our heads like children just told not to touch the new VCR while our parents go to the
store.
On aesthetics of the visual kind, Germany digs for an arty, midwest metropolis library rat
vibe – scrunching its makers together on a rooftop, letter-boxing their 'rule of thirds' Euro
posture, and highlighting must-see backpack tour destinations on its opening. On aesthetics of
the sonic kind, which are supposedly the more important factor – although delightfully the two
aesthetics are well coordinated – The Blamed shadow punch through six and a half songs of
organic brown egg chilly punk rock.
Creative? Yes. Mood intensive? Oh yeah. Mood is what this EP is all about. Powerful? Good
question. Yes, these songs are powerful, but, as their post-hardcore tag might imply to you,
they are not of the snot-nosed radical energy. These songs are what you might call of the
rainy day rebellion – gray, morose, yet still pretty fired up about something, even if that
something is hard to see through the fog of feeling weird and depressed for no particular
reason. In fact, come with me out on a limb, kids – this is probably going to be one of the
most underrated albums of the year, because the beauty of this project is that it is so ugly
and so darn subtle.
Scratchy gang vocals, punk and subdued metal riffs, gothic structures, superficial cliches
and bravado: Germany will not impress you right away. It wasn't until about the eighth listen
that I noticed what was going on here. The Blamed call these songs post-hardcore because they
are rooted in the base elements of the scene, but don't quite fit into it. Why? Well, because
there is this other layer coating them; that whole gray mood, old army jacket,
vagrant-staring-at-you thing. It's eerie. Real eerie. And not at all explainable. Maybe it's
the cryptic lyrics in "Wounded / Overwhelmed" or the brilliant tempo and tone manipulation in
"Running Away can be an Ugly Thing." Maybe it's just as simple as a bunch of JPUSA guys
mirroring the entropic, drab, mysteriously technicolor mundane surrounding them every day in
downtown Chicago. Or perhaps it's just because The Blamed know something we don't and that in
itself incites a cold paranoia.
Whatever it is, and whether you appreciate current or past hardcore punk rock or not, you
will probably find some intriguing, maybe even down-right-enthralling chills in Germany, if
you listen to it long enough to feel it. Don't expect the Blamed of past, though. This is a
POST project after all, and for once what is usually a pretentious, overly ambitious tag fits
perfectly. -Earl Campbell
SINAPU
A while ago, The Blamed had their first overseas tour in a couple of European countries,
and a lot of those dates were in Germany. Guess where they got the name for this 7-track EP
from? Being around for a real long time, their music has changed with every release. They
played punk, hardcore, even had a metal edge, but it's hard to describe the sound of this
particular EP. Maybe "emo" comes closest, but then again this is too much r&r to be labeled
like that. I hear Snapcase, Hot Water Music, I don't know... and I don't care. It's groovy,
vivid, and I like it. Their new album should be out soon and they'll play again early 2001
around here in Europe, so go check them out yourselves ! And oh yeah... rumours go that they
even had Bill Clinton play some sax on the last track of this EP. -DS
TANGZINE
Since its first release in the early days of Tooth and Nail records, the Blamed has gone
through a variety of changes, disappearing and then resurfacing in Chicago with their third
record Again. The record¹s follow up is an EP named after a country the band thoroughly
enjoyed on their last Europeon tour.
Originally released on Grrr Records, Burnt Toast Vinyl released its own version with
different packaging. Even before listening to the record, the packaging accents the band's
creative and artistic vision, which takes the old Blamed sound and expands it to create an
artistic punk/hardcore record. Anyone exploring this particular side of hardcore and punk is
bound to be compared to Fugazi and while that comparison is fair, the Blamed have created
their own style of agressive hook-filled music that is a much needed break from cookie cutter
hardcore and punk bands.
Seven songs long, the Blamed commands attention and strives to create post-hardcore music
with a different twist. Though much too short-lived on this EP, the Blamed pack a mighty punch
of catchy and intriguing music that thrusts the band further forward than anything else they
have done to date.
-Matthew Ralph
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