Customer Reviews

Histrionics

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the band that should be getting the attention Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Hawthorne Heights and the like are being showered with. This is one of the very few modern commercial power-pop emo bands that display a sense of timeless songcraft that transcends the trendyness of their genre niche. With that said though, less than half of the album really does manage to rise above typical genre fodder, but in those moments when it does you know something special is happening. This is a band to watch for sure.

Diaries: It almost had me at first, but by the one minute point it was boring me. This is a dull rigidly commercial song without any distinctive hook, riff, melody, or chord progression. 6/10.
Histrionics: Awesome. The synth beats, harmonic guitar jangle, and undeniable vocal hook. It's so short though, you need to listen to it three times in a row. 10/10.
Rock My Body: Blahness. 6/10.
Prepare For Something Else: Great song. 8/10.
In The Set: Has some organic guitaryness, really reminds me of Four Year Strong's old ep, albeit much more slick. The chorus is just mindless filler. It's not much of a song. 6/10.
Gone With The Guillotine: Another mindless powerchord and octave-chord chorus. Worst song yet. Reminds me of Brand New somehow. 5/10.
Case Closed: Great song. 9/10.
Lo: The synths add something. The chorus is ok. 7/10.
Darkside: Pointless 30 second instrumental. 6/10.
Valentine's Delay: Starts out very ATDI/Secession Movement/Controlling The Famous. That part I'll pass on. It gets good later though. Then duller again on the chorus. So it's 1 good part to 2 blah parts, that's not a good ratio. 7/10.
From The Window To The Wall: Awesome. 10/10.
Circle Of Death: Great song. Killer vocal harmonies. 9/10.
Kalamist: Rigidly conventional commercial overproduced gloss-rock-drone blahness. The worst vocal performance on the album. 5/10.
Pace Yourself: Nice jangly harmonic guitar, but the production is suffocatingly sterile, and the vocals are a bit overwrought. Tone down the vocals by half and record it more organically and I could really dig it. The vocoder at the end is pretty sweet, hardly trendy or emo, just weird and kewl, they should do more stuff like that. 6/10.

Hopefully their next album will work in a bit more electronic stuff. As generic as the majority of this album is, this band is creative and worth watching. Despite being largely disappointed with this record I will be hanging to hear what they do next.

Ive listened to many great albums, especially albums of this nature. Only an idiot would classify this under any category! This is Genuine warm-hearted music. Vocals that savor that peice of your soul that tells you, "I've been there before" stinging your every move throughout the day. This is the kind of album that has something significant in every song that stands out from the others. The Rhythms are warm and have very strong direction. No song on this album should go unheard. I strongly recommend this album if you like The Starting Line, with The Early November kind of Rhythms, or if your just looking for a great album dont let this one go. Like they say 90% of good music goes unheard, dont let this one be one of the 9/10. This album has won a place in my cd case. Believe me thats an honor enough. Buy This Album!

With an advertising budget of zero dollars, this band has managed to capture one heck of a lot of loyal fans. Listen to this CD, and you will know why. Buy this Cd now, and when they explode with their next album on a new label in 2007, you can act like you knew all along.

I loved the band's first ep Star is Dead so I couldn't wait for this album to be released. Just as I expected, it is amazing. The music in Case Closed is hypnotic as is Seth Trotter's voice on Pace Yourself. The lyrics to Prepare For Something Else, my favorite song on this album, are very emotional and well written. Plus I love the album title!

The Higher has returned to steal your heart all over again with their long overdue follow-up to their five-song EP "Star Is Dead" released on Fiddler Records in 2003. Little did the world know that "Star Is Dead" would only provide a small insufficient glimpse into what the band had concealed deep down. Two years later, "Histrionics" takes us higher. Higher than ever expected.
Not only has Seth (vocals) expanded as a vocalist, surprising us all with the diversity of his voice, but with the added backing vocals, perfection is met. There is no denying that Seth's voice is the icing on the cake, a significant ingredient, but the true taste comes from further down, the wholeness of guitar riffs, bass lines, and drum beats. The melodies alone are enough to take you to somewhere you've never been. It's obvious that the influence on this record cannot be pinned on one single genre. Play the album once through and you hear inspiration drawn from something as poppy as Michael Jackson to something as classic rock as Pink Floyd. And in the midst of all of that you receive a completely different sound with each and every song.
We aren't in high school anymore. And neither is The Higher. An obvious distinction drawn from their last EP. But only if sex, drugs, and rock and roll constitute as growth. As The Higher prepares to become as overexposed as the city they come from, Histrionics leads the way.
The only problem with this album is the fact that you cannot remove it from rotation in your CD player.

Do I even need to type a whole review?
This cd is amazing.
every song.
That's final.

Five young lads from the most glutinous city in America known as Las Vegas are trying their hands at another rendition of pop punk and ironically enough, their sound is befitting of a band that hails from an area solely devoted to guilty pleasures. Their "Histrionics" album is a shamefaced delight for those who don't want to admit that pop punk does have an obvious catchy element which tends to seep into your subconscious mind with pretentious, bratty vocals and audaciously pop inspired beats. Any number of pop punks bands could be comparable to this band. From THE STARTING LINE to BLINK 182 and virtually anything else in between, THE HIGHER fall in line and give those who love this style everything they want musically although it lacks much in the way of individuality or originality. Point blank, if you like pop punk you will love this. If you hate that style then you will not been too keen on this release. It certainly wasn't a poorly developed record but it won't raise any hairs on your neck or have you begging for more.

I have seen them and know one of them and thier great!!! I live in Vegas and its great to see a band that rocks this good!!! They are a personal favorite and their so good to see in person too! I love every song and to the person that said some of its boring, its not! Every song it great.