Customer Reviews

You Can't Fight What You Can't See

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Well, folks, this is it, the competition for the best 2002 record is already over, and the winner is "You Can't Fight What You Can't See." Rock music would have been dead long time ago if it weren't for such innovative records, that I would rank in the all-time greats, along with "Reggatta de Blanc" in the 70's or "Nevermind" in the 90's, even though GvsB's music is not really rock or punk.

This record is simply perfect. GvsB returned to pairing with Ted Niceley for what is - in my opinion - their best record to date. As stated above, the 90's had "Dookie" and "Nevermind" as major influencial records, the 2000's may very well have "You Can't Fight What You Can't See," provided Jade Tree can handle sufficient distribution of this record. This is no rock, this is no punk, this is no electronica, this is just, well, GvsB. The major difference with their previous efforts is that all the pieces seem to be finally in place. The more accessible songs (Basstation, BFF, Kicking the Lights) should have no problem topping the college rock charts, and hopefully the alternative charts. That's the least we can wish for these guys for such a wonderful achievement.

No more electronic gimmickry, this album is back to the solid basslines and straightforward rock of Venus Luxure. All but two or three of the songs really grabbed me immediately, and there are some real classics here. What a pleasure it was to pop this new CD in and turn it up nice and loud! The band has never sounded better.

After a four year struggle with the omnipresent Geffen label, Girls Against Boys has returned to exacting form with a juggernaut of an album. You Can't Fight What You Can't See finds Janney and Co. returning to the striped down aesthetics that made House of GVSB and Venus Luxure No 1.Baby instant post-punk classics. The opening track Basstation flirts with a churning guitar riff and bass line only to give way to a hook most deep sea fisherman would give an arm and a leg for. And while Ressonace may be the most radio friendly song the boys have ever written,it sparkles with the oil-drenched glory of all things Manhatten.The album concludes with " Let it Breathe" in which the slowly building tempo cascades over the chorus. This may be GVSB most fluid and cohesive album to date and I for one ,am just fine with that

I'm not going to compare this to GVSB's earlier albums. All I know is that this sounds so good to me right now. Definitely pick it up. I can't think of a band that has more style or hits harder than GVSB.

I have listened to GVSB since Venus Luxure came out, and that in my eyes is still the greatest GVSB album by far. House of GVSB continued on that sound, built on it, and came out with an album almost as amazing, but the oldies die hard with me, and when Freakonica came out we all expected the hard hitting, raspy vocals, with heavy bass, drums and great amounts of sound attacking from all angles. The disappointment of Freakonica, though it had 2 good songs on it that I enjoyed, left a bad taste in my mouth, and i was very wary of getting this one. I got it last weekend, and it's nice to see that the boys went back to the drawing board, and came out with some amazingly great stuff. With this band, going back to what made you great is not a bad thing, and it has served this band well. This album is worth it, and if you are looking for sound from an earlier time, with pre Freakonica taste, this is it, you wont be disappointed. Venus is still number 1, but this has got some great music.

The albums may vary...slightly. Sure, the Geffin album is only "pretty good." But THIS album is right on. I don't think this band was ever destined for superstar status, but I think they will be remembered as one of the great post-punk bands of the late 90's/early 00's and many years down the road I anticipate outtakes and live performance packages. I just saw a show of theirs from a few weeks ago streaming online and they are still on it, despite being in need of new matierial. They are awesome live and I truly hope they will offer us some some more material in the near future.

after the disapointing freakonica album,( which is not entirely bad just not very good.) i pretty much figured that gvsb were pretty much over and was expecting more product from new wet kojak ( which are fantastic!) and then wammo! out comes "you can't fight what you can't see" I really expected more of the freakonica stuff but was at least a little pleased to find that the album had more structure than the previous. sure it is no venus luxure or cruise yourself , hell i'll even throw in house of... which are classics. but being more than likely gvsb last record at least they redeemed themselves alittle and went out on the highest note that,at this late date they could find.

Like every GVSB record, you have to listen quite a lot of times until you're finally into the album. With "You Can't Fight What You Can't See" it's the same...I had to put on the whole album 4 times until I could decide whether I liked it or not... I remember when I listened to it the 1st time I disliked it, but after 1,5 years it's one of those few cd's you never get bored.

The Album kicks-off with the astonishing "Basstation", a brilliant chorus-riff that -once you're into it- you want to hear over and over again. Addictive as hell and -I believe- their best song ever! "Miami Skyline" and the great "The Comedown" have that very sexy, typical GvsB sound like most of the tracks, except the very catchy "BFF" and beautiful closer "Let It Breathe", which is one of my favourite tracks.

"Kicking The Lights" kicks off with a QOTSA-esque groove but just when you're thinking "wow this 's gonna be the song of the album", the chorus comes into play and screws up the whole song. Sad, but true...

After all, if you like their sound, Scott's sexy voice and want to discover them, this album is great to start with!

It's been a long wait for those of us who know the band as GVSB. Songs such as "Tweaker" only whet your appetite for their live show, hopefully coming to a town near you. It's just a shame that Geffen had to hold the boys up for so long after "Freakonica". The music only gets better.

Girls against Boys have always been about being cool and holding an awesome groove. Older songs like "Superfire", "Crash 17", "Kill the Sexplayer", "Park Avenue", etc. are killer rock songs without anything "meaningful" in the lyrics, but they were cool sounding lyrics. On this album, we are tortured with lines like "I don't like Hollywood", or "Miami Skyline, sunshine, etc." which are crystal clear, undistorted, and they don't sound cool. It really ruins parts of an otherwise great album for me. I like this album. I like "Basstation" and "Tweaker" a lot. I appreciated a lot of what the band was doing on Freakonica, too, but that album was held back as well by what I think is a bit too much conscious concern about what can sell. The band was at their best on House of GvsB, when they came across as totally confident, having nothing to prove. I do think that this record is a step back in the right direction, but not back up to their standard yet.