Customer Reviews

We Are Only Friends We Have

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This CD was my first exposure to Piebald, even though they've been around for a while. I don't really know what kind of a label to give Piebald, they seem to be a big mixture to me. Either way, these guys are great. I bought this because it was on sale at my local independent record store and because I'd read some good reviews and heard good things. Upon a few listens, I couldn't really get into it, so I put it up and kinda forgot about it. A few weeks later, I came across it again, and something just clicked. The songs became instantly cathcy. The lead singer suddenly had a great voice (which he does, I love it), and everything just stuck in my head. I walked around singing the entire album. The lyrics are well written, in a very quirky, tounge in cheek kind of way. There is just enough of a serious tone to keep the lyrics from being out right funny/stupid. It's got a underlying not very serious feel to it. Which I enjoy greatly. It's nice to hear an album that's just about various stuff, and not your normal "fight the power, this and that [is bad], my life [is so bad] so feel sorry for me" release. All the instruments are played very well, with great skill. Everything sounds great, and all the insruments are arranged very well. Every piano and acoustic guitar fit perfectly with the rock almost kinda punk that Piebald play. It all works to a great effect. This is a very well played, well thought out, well written album. It's deffinatly sparked my intrest in this band, and I'm looking foward to checking out their previous material. All together, "We Are the Only Friends We Have" could be considered pop (I guess), and it could be called punk (kinda), but no matter what you call it, it's a great release and should be checked out by all.

I finally got the CD, and I have to say, it's excellent. Anyone who likes any kind of emo or punk at all will love it. The cliches and lyrics are really funny, too. If you want to know which songs to download, then get "King Of The Road," "Karate Chops For Everyone But Us," "Look, I Just Don't Like You," "American Hearts," and "The Monkey Vs. The Robot." I might as well have listed them all. The only one that I don't like is "Rich People Can Breed." It's a little weird. Some of their softer songs are "Long Nights," and "It's Going To Get Worse Before It Gets Better." For that matter, "Rock Revolution" on their EP is really good, too. All in all, I highly reccommend it. Drop whatever you're doing and run/drive/pedal/skip to the record store right now and buy it.

After being around for a decade, you'd think the rest of the music community would've caught on to Piebald - oddly enough, they still haven't. Piebald's unique brand of tongue-in-cheek lyrics (and song titles), catchy hooks, and Travis' easily recognized singing shine through on this, their third full-length release.

Standout tracks are numerous, as almost every song on the CD might end up being your favorite. The exception may be "It's Going To Get Worse Before It Gets Better," - the tempo slows to a drag, and the song just doesn't fit well with the rest of the album. No matter, the rest more than make up for it. Favorites of mine include: "Fear And Loathing On Cape Cod," "Karate Chops For Everyone But Us," and "The Stalker". Accompanying videos were made for Just A Simple Plan and American Hearts, and are definitely worth a look.

Hailing from Massachusetts, Piebald will be touring with Say Anything and MewithoutYou this fall, via their vegetable-grease-fueled tour van. I wouldn't recommend missing them.

I was fortunate enough to open for this band when they were on tour in California last summer. My friends and I bought all their albums and the worshipping began. When I went to college in the fall I made everyone in the dorm listen to them. The new album is amazing; tracks like "fear and loathing..." keep the signature piebald smartass tradition alive and well. You will not be let down. Buy this today.

Most bands who take themselves at all seriously don't like comparisons, but in the case of Boston's Piebald, my comparing them with Weezer and Ben Fold's Five is unavoidable and meant as a compliment.
The opener "King of The Road" gives their game away - you're in for an album of up-tempo melodic pop-punk with excellent musicianship and fantastic harmonies all the way through. Piebald have all the pop-punk kitschy cliches...high-school nostalgia, heavy metal namedropping (Alex Van Halen gets a mention) and a cynical view of the American dream on "American Hearts". This track also exemplifies the bands' top notch ability. The subtle key-board overtones and jangly, spine-tingling guitars make this track a stand-out for me. The class-room sing-along intro on "Just A Simple Plan" is a nice touch and a clever teaser that sets you up well for a great track. I've been lucky enough to catch these guys live and they rock! Buy this cd!

...because it's solid. Seriously, I would consider this album just as solid as Weezer's s/t Blue Album. For people who say this is the album where Piebald started sucking because they began to shed their hardcore/emo roots, I say give me a break. It's called evolving and maturing as artists. If they were doing the same shtick over and over again, it would get tiring anyway.

Truth be told, if I hadn't heard this album and "All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time," I would have never even moved backward through their discography to their hardcore years. I usually refuse to listen to hardcore/emo with very few exceptions. So all of you emo kids who hate Piebald's newer pop sound, you should consider the fact that it's dragging more people to their older emo albums that would have otherwise been disregarded. I know if I was introduced to Piebald with "Barely Legal/All Ages" I wouldn't have even given it a chance.

To a new fan, I would say buy this album first. Then, work in either direction depending on what you want to hear.

I'm not familiar with any of Piebald's older stuff, but this album is great. Great guitar riffs reminiscent of 70s arena rock, good melodies and vocals. This sounds like a band that's not trying too hard to be "emo" or "indie" or "punk"--just a band that seems to want to make great music. The album is worth buying just for "The Stalker" and "American Hearts," the two best songs on the album.

What can I say? except WOOT WOOT this album is greatness. Piebald is one of the best and most underrated bands ever. they totally own the Beatles. yes i just said that. It takes a few listens to fully appreciate this album, but when you listen to it closely you'll realize its genious. These songs will amaiz you and move you whether they're about a broken down bus, or a stalker, or symbolic monkeys and robots. It's hard to put them in a musical genre or label, and I dont think they want to be in one. Theyre too good for a genre, and if they were in a genre theyd be found under "AWESOMENESS". Their lyrics are smart-alecky and DEEp at the same time. There isnt a band out there that's as funny and effortlessly awesome as Piebald. you'll listen to it for "Long Nights" to come. that was lame but oh well. if you dont like piebald i will come and fight you.

go buy their other albums too. if you do, I'll take my pills.

Everything that made Piebald great has been left off this record for some reason. Piebald used to be different from all the other emo bands they've been linked to, but now they're playing to the same formula. Gone are the backing vocals and the raw, fast paced songs, now replaced by weak, overproduced pop songs. Some bands sound good overproduced, i.e. Brandston's new CD, but Piebald sounds terrible, you can't even hear the second guitar anymore. The demo versions of The Monkey Versus the Robot and Look, I Still Don't Like You were amazing, and I was waiting and waiting for this album to come out and blow everything else they've ever done away. Then I listen to the album and not only did they screw up those 2 songs, but they've found a way to make American Hearts sound weak (by the way this is the 3rd time they've put this song on an album) and The Stalker sound lame compared to the version on Travis' solo CD. I had a chance to meet these guys a while back and they are the funniest and coolest guys on the indie circuit. I really wanted this album to be good but unfortunately it's terrible. If you really want to listen to Piebald, buy When Life Hands You Lemons or If It Wasn't For Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains For Us All.

What ever you think emo is, no one does, this is a band and cd that you'll enjoy.