Customer Reviews

March on Electric Children

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

 

 

I'm sorry but as anybody knows....the blood brothers is an acquired taste. if you don't believe me, then get whatever album you have obtained of theirs and try to play it to your comrades. chances are most are too distracted by the intensity of both the musical and vocal content to actually give them a chance. truth is they are really talented musicians, and cheers to a band that has a true punk sound: a sound of rebellion. The material on March on Electric Children is as good as any of their other albums, though the sound quality is somewhere between Adultery is Ripe (so many highs) and Burn Piano Island (Ross Robinson's expertise proved rewarding). This album features some of Cody's best work on the guitar, listen to "Junkyard J....", the self-titled song, siamese gun, or the bridge riff in "Mr. Electric Ocean" to see what I mean. There are many classic B.B. moments on this album, along with a few electionic surprises like "Kiss of the Octopus" or the ballroom dance piano number that closes the album "American Vultures". This album is like anything else they've released; fans will love it, haters will hate it. i'm a lover and not a hater, so i'm right at home listening to what real punk should sound like.

One of the most brilliant punk albums I've ever heard, "March On Electric Children" is my second favorite Blood Brothers album, right behind their swan song, "Young Machetes." I'm not sure what the other reviewer was talking about below, I think the production is wonderful on this album, making songs that could have seemed samey all have distinct personalities. Every instrument sounds glittering and wonderful, except for a few intentionally lo-fi moments...

The Blood Brothers are certainly an acquired taste; at this point in their career (this was their 2nd full-length CD), the vocals are almost 100% screamo, the songs are short, fast and dense (except the wonderful piano-and-screaming-only finale "American Vultures" which sounds like it was done in one take with no overdubs).

But is it "Punk" in the traditional sense? The lyrics are poetic, stream-of-consciousness, and full of shock value (I can't even quote my favorite lines here!) The arrangements are ultra-complex, full of maniac drums, polyrhythmic guitar parts, thundering, ever-changing bass lines, and Morgan Henderson's ovverdubbed keyboard sounds, which are hilarious and add the right touch to songs such as "Mr. Electric Ocean."

My favorite cuts have to be the manic and insane "Kiss Of The Octopus"...the rip-roaring "Siamese Gun" (about a surrealistic trial) and the rousing opener "Birth Skin/Death Leather." The Blood Brothers can fit more energy and ideas into two minutes then most groups can think of for a whole album...

If you can get through the dense Art-Punk arrangements, intentionally in-your-face vocals (remember that Rock Music has a great history of screaming), and opaque lyrics, you're in for a fascinating treat: an album that never ever grows old, no matter how much you listen to it, one that will make you laugh and cringe, and everything in between. Try Something New! xo

March on Electric Children is The Blood Brothers second album, and it hinted at a direction that was to become their signature sound; a loud, obnoxious, crazy, but hugely infectious and highly addictve nature. Plus, it's hinted at that the aural assault they bring never gets old, as most of these kinds of bands are able to do. In the wake of boring, sound-alike hardcore with no soul, the Blood Brothers way of pushing the bar with hardcore (well, if you call their later stuff hardcore) is a pretty good deal. Bands such as this, DEP, Converge are reasons why I like the genre, no thanks to the other ones.

March on Electric Children was released after their debut, and to call it an improvement would be only scratching the surface. While their first album was tuneless, mindless, weak, and dull ______, March on Electric Children made the songs a bit more complex, a bit more adventourous, and actually melodic. That;s the one thing that always striked me as the Blood Brothers being the great band they are. They don't sacrifice. Maybe that's why they were accused of being sellouts, they refused to stick to the boring limitations of the genre. This is the album that marked that. It's the reason why I label The Blood Brothers as the world's loudest pop-dance band, even though to call them that would be pretty impossible. So there's no real name for these Seattle Boys, anyway.

MOEC is a lot different from their later albums. While their later albums delved into heavy experientation, louder, more dense music, MOEC is a bit thinner and more stripped down. But like the best punk bands, the stripped down sound exceeds the supposed limitations of the music. These guys keep it a bit more simple, but no less infectious. But not too simple, as evident by the numerous changes in the songAnd their lyrics are still as odd, quotable, and off the wall as usual. Besides you can't really not love lines like "Click, click bang bang the Siamese Gun!", "Do you remember when we were young, we licked the summer' salty tongue", and something about snapping ribcages. Pure surreal poetry, morbidly beautiful, engaging, what else? Pure Blood Brother, baby!

Birth Skin/Death Leather rocks out hard, and just when you got a grip on the song, it changes into a pop passage, complete with infectious "oh yeahs!". Meet me at the Waterfront After Social, for the most part, contains a wild throw yourself around music, and the title track rules. Siamese Gun is crazy and will make you want to yell out the lyrics as loud as you can, and the closing track, American Vultures, contains a live-recorded, dirty piano. Both vocalists croon infectiously, hitting all the right notes. It's a promising beginning, but yet still deserves to be not outdone by their later albums.

Being an EP, this is a little short, but besides from the meh High Fives/LA Hives, is stripped down, less adventourous, but still the loud, somehow pop inducing, band that was always there. The price of the album would prolong how many repeated listens it will probably get. It's totally worth dowloading (the price is a bit steep) It's not as intense, fully realized or as sonically assaulting as their later material, but these tracks are addicting and worth listening to. Pop at it's loudest and noisy.

7.0/10

I gotta admit that I was kind of disappointed when I first got this album because of the sound being so terrible, of course the Blood Brothers turn everything louder than everything else so there's going to be a great deal of sonic murk, but the guitar sound is awful. The drums are crisp and the bass sounds fine but whenever the guitars kick in it goes a bit haywire. Of course you may find this a turn on if you're into 'underground' type stuff, but after the proficient, clear production on 'this adultery is ripe' I just thought this was a case of wasted potential.

That said, this is a great album despite only being 24 or so minutes and 9 tracks (this ain't prog rock..) and while some of the songs blend a little due to similar riffs, the lyrics to each are distinctive and there are some great pop hooks (oh no!) hidden in the emo/thrash/grind/whatever chaos.

One track disobeys everything I said before by being precisely as clear as it needs to be and by sounding nothing like any of the other tracks. "American Vultures", featuring the two vocalists screaming urgently over a pounding piano line, brings to mind Birthday Party-era Nick Cave. It's one of the best Blood Brothers tracks and points towards the 'cabaret' elements of 'Crimes'. But I guess that's not a cool album cause it's on a major label, right?