It is hard to find a music lover who does not like
Streetlight Manifesto. There are undoubtedly some out there, but I haven’t run
into one yet. What this says to me is that Streetlight goes beyond genres, and simply
translates into good music.
I have been a “super-fan” of Streetlight Manifesto since Everything Goes Numb came out a few
months shy of ten years ago. People like me patiently wait for releases to be
recorded, re-recorded, mixed, re-mixed, mastered, delayed and finally released.
We loyally bought (and sometimes still listen to) Keasbey Nights and pretend the songs on 99 Songs of Revolution: Vol. 1 were originally written to be played
that way.
When I heard that SM were breaking up and releasing what
will probably be their final album I had some mixed feelings. I think that
there isn’t much room for them to work in their current situation; ska-punk just
isn’t popular, Victory Records has a strangle hold on their collective testicles
and claims they owe them another record, and they have to listen to annoying
fans like me say “the new album is good, but it’s no Everything Goes Numb.” Throw in that Tomas Kalnoky is a
self-proclaimed perfectionist and the struggle just seems to be amplified. Knowing
this I didn’t have a clue what to expect from The Hands That Thieve. The questions were mostly answered last week
when the record leaked. (Disclaimer: I don’t encourage illegal downloading, but
I do encourage you at least give the album a listen on YouTube. If Victory
really wanted it down that bad, they would get it down like they did for ANY Toh
Kay The Hand That Thieves video that
surfaced).
The album starts off strong in typical SM fashion, with a
track called “The Three of Us” which starts with Kalnoky’s classicly clean
guitar strumming and the proclamation “I will never defend the man who makes a mends
with the enemies friends//I will never pretend” before kicking in to a full
band instrumental segment full of weaving horn lines and the quick, clean drum
and bass work you have come to expect from the band. As it builds to the core
of the song you get everything from skanky guitar riffs accompanied by thick
gang vocals, to bouncy breakdowns layered with almost metallic guitar riffs.
All in all it is the way a Streetlight album is supposed to start: with an easy
intro, abrasive kick in, winding tempo changes, and overall really damn catchy.
From there, it moves to “Ungrateful”, which is reminiscent of
a Catch 22 song. It starts with a lo-fi Dixieland muted trumpet then eventually
kicks into a high paced punk tune along the lines of “Supernothing” by Catch 22.
This is where the listener might start feel like they’ve heard these songs
somewhere before. It isn’t a bad feeling by any means, almost a sense of familiarity.
It is almost as if the band brought together elements of every album they have
worked on, including Catch and Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution.
One of the few expectations most had for the album was that
it would not be kind to Victory Records. To make a long story short, the band
and the label don’t get along too well. It feels like every song has at least one
or two jabs at Victory in the lyrics. The title track’s chorus proudly
proclaims “and we will bite the hand that feeds//we will not turn the other
cheek”. Of course all of Kalnoky’s lyrics can be interpreted in different ways,
but with all of the anger from the band, it is a safe bet that a lot of the
album is directed toward Victory.
One aspect that I enjoy is the length of the songs. This is
not for the typical punk attention span, with the shortest song clocking in at
3:52 and the next shortest over four-and-a-half minutes. While I’m usually not
too keen on long songs, I like that the melodies, horn lines, tempo changes,
and sense of unpredictability all have room to maneuver throughout the album.
The model for this is “With Any Sort of Certainty” which breaks down into an
ambient section and a chanted chorus, and before building back into the structure
on this 6:22 venture.
While the band has said they are not fully breaking up, the
album just seems to be closure for them. A final hurrah, “fuck you” to Victory,
“thank you” to fans, and homage to all of their previous work. I hope that isn’t
the case. I hope the band goes on forever. I wouldn’t even mind if they take
years to release records. I guess we won’t really know until it all pans out.
Punk is OK score: 8/10 (For the record, I would have given
this record a good 9/10 if it felt like it was worth the 6 years wait)
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