Attack Attack! :: Attack Attack!

It’s been awhile since I’ve indulged in my high school screamo guilty pleasures and with the help of a coworker, I’ve discovered the band Attack Attack! (I’m not THAT excited; that exclamation point is part of the band’s name)

With a sticker plastered onto their album cover of AP magazine touting them as one of the big bands of 2010, Attack Attack! uses typical rocking hardcore guitars, electronic beats and samples, growling and screaming lyrics coupled with melodious singing, gang vocals and even a little bit of some R&B all up in the mix! This all makes for a very interesting, yet appealing listen.

Starting off their sophomore, self-titled album with “Sexual Man Chocolate,” the band uses a complex-sounding piano intro which then leads way to metal guitars that get your head banging and screaming vocals. The chorus breaks down into melodious singing and more of a focus on the band’s electronica influences and eventually makes way to a catchy chorus meant to make you dance. This song alone pretty much encapsulates what the band is all about when it comes to the weapons they use in their war against dull music.

In “I Swear I’ll Change,” I was immediately sucked in when the strings made an appearance. Again starting off a little on the slow side, the ghostly reverbed guitar and background noise that sounds like windy howls off in the distance of a foggy cemetery, “I Swear” builds up like a mad man using an entire string section and “clean” vocalist Johnny Franck’s howling. The echoed effects on his voice add to the eerie vibe then programmer/keyboardist Caleb Shomo’s growls straight out bring out the monster in the song.

“Shut Your Mouth” is one of the departures from the album (another is “Fumbles O’Brian”) that gives the listener an about-face. During an interview at Bamboozle 2010, lead guitarist Andrew Whiting stated, “it’s electro that the states haven’t heard before.” Featuring electronica artist McSwagger, the song is chock-full of programming devices, synths and vocal effects (including the dreaded auto-tune). Surprisingly though, with so much going on and it being such a difference from the raucous guitars and screaming found everywhere else on the album, the song is a very interesting listen. I’m especially fond of the lyrical content, which sends a message to all those one sided relationships where the girl is way too clingy; a welcomed departure from emo boys seeming too clingy themselves.

Taking a hint from the slow jam sub-genre (and contradicting my last paragraph), “Lonely,” the final track on Attack Attack!, is a piano-laced, hip-gyrating song, complete with electronica effects. Featuring Jason Cameron of the band Bury Tomorrow, you’d swear you heard this song on Los Angeles R&B radio station Hot 92.3 (until, of course, you hear the programming effects). I’ve never heard Bury Tomorrow’s stuff, but Cameron seems to totally pull off that thick, caramel-y, “lover” voice.

As far as this band being one to look out for, I’d say I agree. Attack Attack!’s sophomore attempt is definitely something different in a world of screamo. Though they have a lot of the same characteristics of the genre, they throw some stuff in there that you’d never expect. I’ve seen it with From First to Last (one of my few favorite screamo bands that I still listen to) but Attack Attack! takes it to the next level. I look forward to see how this band develops over time as they seem quite the ambitious little critters! Definitely pick up this album if you’re into something different.

Buy the album at our record store on Amazon

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Enter the Shell – Jon LaJoie