Adair - The Destruction Of Everything Is The Beginning Of Something New
After seeing Adair open the Taste Of Chaos date in San Diego, California back in February, I got Adair’s new album The Destruction Of Everything Is The Beginning Of Something New and was really eager to hear what the band had to offer in their recordings and rate it side by side with the live performance. The traditional blend of post-hardcore and pop-punk is evident in the band’s endeavor, and while Adair doesn’t seem to put out anything incredibly groundbreaking, The Destruction… is a commendable effort to do well at what has already been done.
Along the same lines of A Thorn For Every Heart and The Classic Case, Adair has a certain poppier/catchy sound with fewer screams than other popular “post-hardcore” bands like Alexisonfire or even The Used. The album The Destruction… seems to be revolved completely around the concept of relationships, which could easily earn it the label of “emo” by the mainstream (I won’t give it that label though because Adair is hardly anything resemblant to Moss Icon). “For you I’d go to Hell and back. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do.”(the destruction of everything).
Musically, Adair doesn’t tackle much outside the normal comfort zone of modern post-hardcore and retains a more basic quality that would get a simple riff stuck in your head. This album is not for anyone looking for complex integrated riffs and layered melodies. What Adair does well is the integration of all elements of instruments into a collective sound that is catchy and pleasing to listen to. After hearing the album, I could tell you if I heard an Adair album, but before, I could probably mistaken the sound for a few other bands. The Destruction… is a big step from their EP, but it still lacks something of an identity.
Tracks like Barricade The Doors, Separate Your Jaw, The Diamond Ring, and The Ghosts Of Who We Were all show melodic sides of the band that could easily get them fans who like bands like The Used, My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, and the such. Tracks like I Buried My Heart In Cosmo Park offer a heavier side to the band that is heavily drawn from a familiar sound The Used puts out. The album lacks more tracks like this, and I think it would balance out the band’s sound a bit.
Lyrically, the album progresses with extended metaphors of relationships and loss that actually work well. “I trace your silhouette across the sky with signal flares and smoke; listen as the tanks roll in to wipe away the past six years.” (barricade the doors.) In other instances, the lyrics are lacking in substance or just plain awkward. “This is not right. This is not right. Lock me up in Guantanamo Bay and throw away the key.” (i buried my heart in cosmo park.) I must commend the band on being able to put together a complicated metaphor and be able to sing it in a way that is still catchy and appealing. “Steal my breath, taint the air. Every bone in my body’s been broken. And my life is a jaw wired shut, my voice is is my curse and my shelter from the pain.” (the diamond ring.) One of the most complex-sounding songs on the whole album, I really enjoyed the last track The Beginning Of Something New. It’s a bit heavy on the relationship concept that was taken throughout the whole album, which brings the impact of the song down just a little bit.
Bottom line is that this album is catchy and appealing to listen to but is hardly groundbreaking on any terms. It’s a great evolution from their EP in 2003, but it still has areas it could grow such as some lyrics and perhaps some more complex guitar work. The content of the album with relationships is a bit heavy so perhaps some new topics next time mixed in there would be good for diversity. “We’ll live our lives in warm embrace. We have only just begun.” (The Beginning Of Something New).
TRACK LIST:
01. The Destruction Of Everything (Valley Of Fire)
02. Barricade The Doors
03. The Art Of Staying Alive
04. I Buried My Heart In Cosmo Park
05. Separate Your Jaw
06. Folding And Unfolding
07. The Prison Island
08. The Diamond Ring
09. In The Corner, Quietly Dying
10. Mouths Join In The Cold
11. Vanity And Death (Their Faces Crumbled Away)
12. The Ghosts Of Who We Were
13. The Beginning Of Something New (City Of Hope)