Noizecore

Someday Came Suddenly is the first studio outing from Ohio post-hardcore / trancecore band, Attack Attack. I was really looking forward to this album because the band seemed to stand out in the myriad of generic hardcore acts in the land of MySpace. When I had heard that they signed to Rise Records, I was really excited to see where they would go; this really was a band to look out for. 

Before I go through the album track-by-track, one thing that did dissapoint me with the album was that roughly half of the songs on the album were recycled versions of previous songs. While they were more polished and overall enjoyable, I felt rather dissatisfied at the end of it wanting to hear something new. It didn’t make the album any less enjoyable, I just felt like I had heard alot of it before and from the few songs that were left it felt like an EP release. 

1. Hot Grills, and High Tops

The album opens with a rap-type beat and a Lil’ Jon-esque yell, followed by some generic gang vocals presumably yelling ‘WHA, WHA, WHA…’ incessantly. Overall, this track was fairly unnecessary. It has some entertainment value and luckily only spans a total of 55 seconds. I mean, screamo-hiphop was innovative, but now it’s been done it just isn’t anything special.

2. Stick Stickly

This track should have opened the album. An explosive start with eerie synths playing in the background before a catchy clean vocal section breaks in. The synth work is definitely sounding more polished; I just love the dance breakdown mid-song. A really catchy song, however, I find it to be more enjoyable in the clean vocal sections. Nonetheless, a good track and a good ’start’ to the album.

3.  Bro, Ashley’s Here

This song was one of my favourites from the album. The intro is reminiscent of Underoath’s recent opener to their latest album, in that the track starts with a seemingly quieter, more unpolished section before the guitars break in alot louder. 

4. Shred, White and Blue

Probably one of the more heavier songs on the album. Austin’s throaty declarations are quite enjoyable towards the beginning of the song, and are well complimented by the more melodic sections. 

5. Party Foul

Now this is one of the more enjoyable tracks, and I think it’s because the synth is integrated alot more, the guitar work is enjoyable however not a great improvement on the previous version. The recording sounds more refined, but overall, the same song as before.

6. What Happens If I Can’t Check My MySpace When We Get There

The title is horrible. I’ll say that now, and get it out of the way. As with Party Foul, this track differed little from the original, which is in some ways good because I did rather enjoy the original. The introduction is great; I just love everything about it. A good track, one of the better tracks.

7. Interlude

Oh, god. The generic dance interlude. It doesn’t really lead into the next track, which makes it sort of superfluous. There’s not much to say: electronic beats, cheesy synths. A nice track, but nothing great.

8. The People’s Elbow

I really enjoy this track. One thing I didn’t like about the new version is it doesn’t outro with a subttle but trendy dance track, anymore. Other than that, a great track with a killer intro and plenty of synth to boot.

9. Kickin’ Wing, Animal Doctor

This is an old track by a new name. I quite like the new intro, however. It’s fun and certainly sound alot less like The Devil Wears Prada’s ‘Hey John, What’s Your Name?’. They seemed to have changed some of the words on me, though, and I can’t sing along anymore.

10. Dr. Shavargo Pt. 3

A really trendy intro to this one. This was my favourite song from the old demos, and was my most played song on iTunes for quite a long time. The new version is just as enjoyable as the last, but remains the same song seemingly. At least it’s no worse.

11. Catfish Soup

I quite enjoy this song. It’s good but nothing great.With, of course, the generic piano outro attached to the end of it.

So, overall, I did enjoy this album but not as much as I’d hoped I would. I think the future challenge for this band is breaking out of a sound that could fall into the trap of becoming too generic. Attack Attack songs do seem to follow a fairly standard formula of build up, someone yells, shredding / screaming, synths / singing, shredding / screaming, synths / singing etc.

…and this could get tiresome unless Attack Attack has something exciting to pull out of hat. This album is well worth a look, but veterans of Attack Attack may be dissapointed.