Perhaps the Most Disappointing Sophomore Release Of The Past Decade
Written: Mar 21 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: a few decent songs, be them ska, reggae, or punk
Cons: most songs are too short, underdeveloped, much too alike
The Bottom Line: Battle Hymns is probably the band's second best album, but that isn't saying much, given how good the debut is, and how inconsistent they've been.
MattA75's Full Review: Battle Hymns by The Suicide Machines
With their 1996 debut album Destruction By Definition, Detroit's The Suicide Machines became a somewhat underground smash, selling 200,000 copies of said debut and apparently positioning themselves for a massive break out sophomore effort. After all, 1997 became the year of punk and ska acts breaking out to mainstream success, most notably the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish. The band's label, Hollywood Records, had large hopes that the band would be able to continue the genre's success into 1998.
But by the time Battle Hymns, the band's second disc, was released in April of 1998, ska-punk had lost its latest moment in the sun. The band was met with resistance from both radio and MTV. But the lack of commercial success of this album isn't just due to the timing of its release; the fact is is Battle Hymns is a case of the sophomore slump, a slump the band even today has not seemed to really break out of.
To the band's credit, this is the only one of their four releases following Destruction that is anything truly close to the sound the band crafted for that album. The songs range from straight up punk aggression to reggae and ska to a fusion of the two. And there are a bunch of moments on this disc that is well worth your hard earned cash.
Give, the longest track of the record at two minutes and twenty seconds (more on that later), is a reggae/ska tune featuring a simple guitar chord repeated layered over a slinky bassline laid down by Royce Nunley. It's a simple track about looking in the mirror and knowing who you are and who your friends are.
The band recalls The Clash'sLondon Calling days on High Society, a song that moves from breezy reggae chords to a full on punk assault. Confused is an appropriate title for the track sporting the name. It is literally a schizophrenic song, moving from a briskly paced reggae number to a more ska structure before once again exploding in punk rock angst.
The ultimate problem I have with this album is that 22 tracks are crammed into just over 31 minutes of time. The songs range from the oh so creative four seconds that is simply titled Punck to the aforementioned two minute twenty seconds of Give. The four seconds of Punck is jaxtaposed with the five second closing 'reggae tune' Jah. Talk about head scratchers.
Besides the short track times, the other problem with the album is that it all sounds the same after a while. Whereas Destruction By Definition could be considered a creative highpoint for the ska-punk genre, Battle Hymns could only be considered somewhat of a creative lowpoint.
For example, tracks 15-17, What You Say, Speak No Evil, and Empty Room, all have guitar intros that are nothing more than slight variations on the same chord progressions. You're left wondering if this is really the same band that created one of the absolute best albums of the 1990s just two years prior to this.
Despite its shortcomings, and the fact that many songs sound an awful lot like the one before it, this is the only other Suicide Machines release besides the aforementioned Destruction By Definition that I could even consider recommending to punk fans. I'm not big on the "Band A shot their wad on their debut" argument, but if there is one band who has consistently given this argument water, it is the Suicide Machines.
Fans of Destruction will probably find enough to like here, but newcomers should start at the beginning. Everything after this finds the band creating music that can be considered mediocre at best.
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