From First to Last:
Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count
Label: Epitaph
Release Date: 6/29/2004
Review Date: 3/7/05
First things first, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to name your album after a line in the movie Heathers. It’s still too soon. These guys look like D Generation’s goth kid brothers. They play the ever popular rocking emo pop, except these guys do it with a bit more fury and more experimentation than most. They’ve already got their ballad in place to follow up any break out rocker that they might have. Ok, that’s not fair, they also have some pure angst energy rockers and good sense of humor. It’s half emo rockin’ pop and half “we’re going to burn this place down with our headbanging rock.” The album is a pretty fast paced affair that plays uninterrupted until the end of the ballad Emily and then picks up again to the end. From First to Last is at their best when they dare to step outside the genre, as in the “hidden track” at the end. They are at their worst when they sound like every other band doing the same thing or decide to use the death-metal-scream-into-the-mic-until-the-levels-overload cliché. They want you to “feel like you're watching the wrong band but listening to the right music” but may you may fell like you’re watching the right band making the wrong music. Smart-assed remarks aside, these guys could end up being something really interesting if they push their experimentation. The hidden track (Dead Baby Kickball) is something I could get behind if they dropped the unfortunate metal –rap. If I had to go see a band that makes this kind of music, it would probably be these guys.
Online Action: www.fromfirsttolast.com
Online Action: www.epitaph.com
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