A Day to Remember
In their video for 'The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle', A Day to Remember have employed ugly but well endowed sex dwarf, Ron Jeremy, to show off his moves. No, not that kind of Ron Jeremy move, his dance moves. You should see him teaching a granny to floor punch, you'd been amazed. Amazed at the fact that Jeremy manages to do his job when he can't even bend over. Then again, I suppose you don't have to be a sexual gymnast to be in porn films...probably helps though. Now you may be asking what relevance is this to A Day to Remember's debut album? Well, it's the most interesting talking point around quite a dull album. I was going to write about days to remember but all of those would cause major embarrassment for me and I've decided not to implicate myself by telling you drunken stories which have now become the stuff of legend, some of those are really not so much days to remember but days to forget. Anyway.....
Victory Records has been the home of some to some great bands (Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Comeback Kid, Grade) and some not so great ones, like A Day to Remember. I'm not too sure whether it's something to do with my age that I'm so disillusioned now with the whole screamo scene but when there is a staggering lack of originality to what you are listening to, it tends to leave you a bit cold.
Musically if you were to combine the singers of The Movielife, Senses Fail and Fall Out Boy together and then at points, too many points for my liking, use the dark growl of any metal-core band, you would have the sound of ADTR's singer Jeremy McKinnon pegged. With so many other bands using Jekyll and Hyde style vocals now, it becomes quite irritating, that constant juxtaposition between sweeter than sweet emo voice and rough shouty, snarl. After three listens to the album (yes, I am a fair critic) I have had to fast forward through those Jekyll parts and some Hyde, literally cringing. But vocals aside, this type of American sound has become so formulaic that you can literally predict where the breakdowns are going to be and where guitars, bass lines and drum patterns are going to go.
This is not to say that everything on the album is a total waste but there are not many saving graces here. The down pace in 'The Price We Pay' is merciful and well appreciated, with not attacking you with its two pronged vocal attack and leans towards the sound of a lo-fi Finch. This album will appeal to a wide market who will no doubt go and get ADTR emblazoned somewhere on their body, but in terms of doing something interesting and different, there is no sign of that here.