Our Last Night - Building Cities From Scratch
When a band that gets lots of attention from its EP, the full length often has become a disappointment to die-hard fans. Prime examples were the harsh criticisms for Name Taken, Bayside, Senses Fail, and The Early November, all bands who had lost a certain faster element for more mature sound. Ultimately, each of those bands prevailed over the criticism and became large icons in the music scene today (except for Name Taken, whose break-up was a sad moment for me). When Our Last Night started getting fans from across the country and even the world, I began to get hesitant on the idea of a full length being recorded. I got a message one day from a friend who had told me about the new recordings of Our Last Night. I was still hesitant because I liked their old material so much and didn’t want to see the same thing happen as all those other bands. He urged me to take a listen to the new stuff, and I complied. All bullshit aside, hearing those couple songs caused me to add one to my profile on Myspace, go out to one of their shows to do pictures, and get a CD for myself. Our Last Night is certainly an exception to the trend to EP to debut LP.
As the first track clicks to a start, the most evident element of the band is the screaming of Trevor. Yes, it is true; Trevor is a young kid who can pull off some insane screaming. Since I had seen the band before and witnessed the twelve-year-old scream first hand, I was not as shocked as some other people have been. What I noticed though was the maturity that had developed in the sound of Our Last Night. All elements of the EP that I wish had been a little more tight or a little heavier seemed to be accounted for in the LP. While some songs strongly resemble a Boys Night Out or Silverstein style sound with mixes of screaming and melodic singing, heavier hardcore-influenced songs are evident and powerful on the CD.
Nothing Says “I Love You” Like A Restraining Order is a perfect example on how a band can show its heavy side once in a while effectively and flawlessly. The band has certainly grown a lot to be able to provide effective, kick ass breakdowns and still maintain a balanced performance with their melodic side. Tear Her, I Will Be Revenged is a prime example of the mix Our Last Night does with heavy and more melodic sounds so that you can’t even tell the difference any more. The guitar work on this piece is exquisite, most notably at the end. Part II is an unleashed fury of what resembles a heavy Silverstein track.
Another hard-hitting song is Six Fists Hit Harder Than None, which sounds like a mix of Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, and Alexisonfire. It has a well-placed section of loud-speaker talking which fits perfectly with the rest of the track. The end became closer and closer for me, and then I recognized a guitar line. Could it be the first song I ever heard from Our Last Night? Indeed, the band decided to re-record The Truth We Can’t Handle. The differences aren’t staggering, with no big changes like many people whine about when a band does this from an EP version. The quality is better while maintaining the intensity and speed of the track. Die-hard fans will not be upset about this reproduction; on the contrary, I am sure they will be happy to have a version now that sounds as heavy as it was intended to be.
The Waiting Room resembles a collective and prime example of what Our Last Night does well. The guitar lines are intricate, the drums complex, and the vocals stunning. Towards the end of the song, there occurs what I like to call a “moment,” where all momentum of the track builds up to an explosive end. The song immediately leads to the final song, which is ironically called Beginnings. The track plays on the heavier side of Our Last Night, complete with breakdowns and the such. It ends with another “moment” to my satisfaction.
Our Last Night has never let me down, and this CD is a testament of that. After seeing them twice live, owning their EP, and now owning this, I can officially say that Our Last Night has grown so much as a band. From their show with Senses Fail a while back when I first heard them to a recent show with Haste The Day, their talent has certainly gotten them to get huge in the underground of the Northeast. In an area of New Hampshire where there is little excitement, Our Last Night has lept beyond those bounds to deliver one of my most anticipated releases of 2005. The quality of the CD, artwork, and song structure is certainly a vast improvement for the band and one of the most commendable debut full-lengths I have had the opportunity to pop in my player.
TRACK LIST:
01. Blankets Of Bullets
02. The Capture And The Captor
03. Nothing Says “I Love You” Like A Restraining Order
04. Tear Her: I Will Be Revenged
05. Part II
06. Six Fists Hit Harder Than None
07. The Truth We Cant Handle
08. The Waiting Room
09. Beginnings
