House of Heroes - "Say No More"
Year: 2006
Label: Mono vs Stereo
Favorite songs: Make A Face Like You Mean It (Vampires), Buckets for Bullet Wounds, Fast Enough, Pulling Back the Skin
Lyric sample: "Wake the dead / Serial sleepers slay with words unsaid / Sleep with the light on / And keep the loneliness away / I feel the darkness anyway / And I, I wish for the dawn / Rise up, O Sons of God"
As with most music, hearing is believing. More than usual, though, I'm finding it difficult to give House of Heroes a fitting description. They are rock, yes, but inside that I have trouble narrowing their style. It's a little bit Brit rock, a little bit indie, a little bit progressive - or something. Trying to label it doesn't do it justice at all. I received the album for Christmas having never heard the band, only to find out that they are a sensation.
House of Heroes embodies a lot of the things I really admire about music. For one thing, they are three-piece. This to me harkens back to the early days of Switchfoot. Three piece rock bands impress me if they are good, because each band member carries such responsibility. In this case, every member is greatly talented and their synergy is inspired. Unlike so many bands that simply throw power chords and stock lyrics together and call it a day, Say No More shows us a group trying hard to make art with integrity. Their songs have complex arrangements, relying on the guitar and bass to pick up each other's slack in a brave balancing act; yet they are always melodic. The newer version of the record contains two new songs not included on the original release, "The Invisible Hook" and "You Are the Judas of Your Cheerleading Squad." The latter is one of the more amazing songs in my recent memory. It's a real trip, with its changing time signatures and numerous, divergent elements. It's kind of a counterpoint to more straightforward rockers like "Mercedes Baby" which have their own charms. Vocalist Tim Skipper is also a courageous lead vocalist, and his specialized timbre fits the group's style perfectly. He has a lot of power, range and subtlety and he puts it to work here.
Beyond that, I love their lyrics. I didn't realize how much even until I began trying to find a lyric sample for this review and couldn't really encapsulate them. That's not to say they don't have good quotable lines you can pull out, but they mean less out of context. The band's writing is passionate and very well though-out. They make me stop and think. Astoundingly, House of Heroes basically does everything well. They have boiled their music down to its essence - they give us an almost raw experience of art that feels very pure and honest. The live performance is great as well. I saw them at Ichthus a year or two ago and they were among my favorite shows. For all their creative ability and experimental songwriting, they're pretty danged catchy, too. Give this band a chance if you can stomach something different from the watered down mush on the radio.
