My Top 40 Albums - #23

#23
The Classic Crime - "Albatross"

Year: 2006
Label: Tooth & Nail
Favorite songs: The Coldest Heart, The Fight, Flight of Kings, The Bitter Uprising, All The Memories
Lyric sample: "I can't stop moving cause I'll feel dead / Give me a second and I'll turn it into a year that you won't forget / We'll make them read our stories / Yeah we'll make them eat their words / We'll make their lives seem boring for what it's worth"

There are few things I like more than rock music with a pulse, and The Classic Crime pumps with the best of them. Landing somewhere in between Anberlin, Number One Gun, Forever Changed and Fall Out Boy (though only in the vocals for the latter) with hints of scream-o and heavier styles pulling at the edges, The Classic Crime is a lively new band that makes me excited as I listen. The vocalist has great range, clarity and power. His style blends perfectly with the crisp guitars and melodic songwriting. It's emotional without being angsty, tender without being juvenile, and appropriately celebratory without being corny. The sometimes simple progressions never seem too simple - the rap of the drums and the skillful lead guitar passages urge the songs on to something greater. The verses are filled with energetic riffs and the bridges take sometimes dynamic and pleasing turns. It's one thing to crank out a modern rock album, but it's something entirely different to make each sing uniquely entertaining so that the record never really falters. Each time a new song begins, I think "ooh, I like this one." Even the songs I didn't initially like are growing on me.

There are harder rock songs like "Blisters and Coffee" and "The Poet" that will please heavier rock fans, and youthful, punkish romps in "All the Memories" and "I Know the Feeling." The best songs, though, are the ones that defy easy categorization. "The Coldest Heart" begins with a bouncy, almost ska-like guitar sound and maintains its kinetic energy into the chorus. The catchy hook is a high point of the album, and the song ends in a raspy shout. Albatross can be edgy but it is rarely dark. Most of the songs are hopeful, or at least come across that way.

More than many recent records, this one has some thought-provoking lyrics; or at very least, interesting ones. Looking for a lyric sample often lets me know how much of the artist's lyrics have staying power. It was hard for me to pick one moment from a record full of intriguing turns of phrase. Even the cryptic lyrics that I couldn't explain coherently to you if I tried manage to somehow resonate with me and feel true, like they are saying something about my experience though it may not be the way I would have said it. That's not a very good explanation, but I think it gives you some insight into the way I view this CD. It's always something I can put on and enjoy, and that is worth volumes.