Cymbals Eat Guitars – Warning
SoundCloud
Staten Island alt rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars waste no time in grabbing your attention on their third full-length album, Lose. A simple but beautifully tender piano riff rolls out from the opening bars of “Jackson”, and from there the record rattles across the other tracks with ferocity. Despite the quality of both Why There Are Mountains and Lenses Alien, there was a sense that the listener was being deliberately positioned outside, a sense of willing isolation that radiated through both LP’s. On Lose, chief songwriter and vocalist, Joseph D’Agostino, is finally allowing his audience to come in a little closer — but be warned what lies within isn’t particularly pretty.
Forged by the death of a close friend in 2007 and turbulent experiences in D’Agostino’s youth, Lose is without a doubt the band’s most human record, as it recalls anecdotal memories of heartbreak, solitude and abuse. Rather than present these aspects in a straight-up, open letter format, they are muddled and merged with the more abstract and poetical slants of songwriting Cymbals has shown before. D’Agostino’s words aren’t always clear and cohesive — he has a tendency to wrap them up in language, alternating between screams and whispers. Even if the lyrics themselves are blurred at times, the intentions and the emotions behind them are not. There are regretful, sorrow-filled accents underpinning the vocals on “Child Bride” and the aggressive snarls that punctuate tracks like “Warning” and “Place Names” need no analysis. This approach not only sees the group counter any would-be reluctance to open up, but it proves that it’s not always what you say that matters, but rather how you say it.
The explosive passion and introspective meditation shown on the album is backed up wonderfully by the band’s musical direction and the evolving nuances which add the dot to many thematic exclamation marks. They’re still operating deep within the realm of 90s production and the alt rock stylings of that time period. Loud, fuzzy guitars build up atmosphere, cut into offensive angles, layer into density, strip down into vulnerable quiet and mesh with keys, bass, drums and even brittle strings to create fully stacked compositions that aren’t afraid to alter their identity midstream. This is nothing new from Cymbals Eat Guitars but their delivery feels somewhat stronger here. Coupled with the willingness to be more open, this makes Lose the product of a really good band moving forward with both power and poise.
