This ska punk band formed as a result of a lineup change in his former band, Catch 22, and has not only guitar, drums, and bass, but also a trumpeter, a trombonist, and two saxophonists. Few ska punk groups have a lineup quite like this, and Streetlight benefits from this unique sound.
Streetlight's most popular album, Somewhere in the Between, released back in 2007, and while the first volume of a cover project entitled 99 Songs of Revolution was a nice treat in 2011, fans of the band really were waiting for the next big release. Finally, after a major record label dispute and the cancellation of a companion album by Toh Kay, The Hands that Thieve finally released in April 2013.
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Album: The Hands that Thieve
Band: Streetlight Manifesto
Year of Release: 2013
Genre: Ska Punk
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At its core, this album is another Streetlight album. That may sound a bit obvious, but there really is no better way to describe it. It does a lot of the same great things that Streetlight has done in the past, but it doesn't seem to push the band's sound forward in the same way that Somewhere in the Between did six years prior. Does that make it a bad album?
The album doesn't take any time to open up. The Three of Us starts with Kalnoky on guitar and vocals for a good twenty seconds and then the entire band just joins in and has a good time. Streetlight always has had some of the best instrumental fills, but this first one really sounds weak. The trumpet player must have had a bad day in the studio because there's no full sound when he plays in the higher register, which can be a bit distracting at times. The singing's pretty decent, but the lyrics aren't that memorable. Kalnoky is still a great lyricist, so there are some neat nods to other bands in this song like "The Long and Winding Road" but it's nothing too significant. The song also overstates its welcome a bit at just over 5 minutes. It's still a good listen, but it's a pretty weak opener.
Ungrateful, coincidently enough, takes a little while to start up, and the opening is pretty neat. The trumpet player sounds a lot better in this song, and when the whole band kicks in, it sounds full of life. When the intro ends, the song kicks into high gear and sounds more like a modern punk song. The lyrics are much better than the opener - listeners will want to sing along with this one. Kalnoky is still a great singer so it will sound pretty good regardless of what he's singing. This song is a lot more catchy than the song before it. It makes sense why this is not the opener, but at the same time I think this is a better opener than "The Three of Us". Either way, really good song. The shout chorus part towards the end is a nice touch too.
The Littlest Things dives right in to a comfortable tempo that's slower than "Ungrateful" but still pushes forward. The drummer really stands out in this song as being especially talented, but the wind players all sound great as well. The weakest part of this song is Kalnoky, actually, as his guitar work is barely shown off, the lyrics are forgettable, and the vocal backers do a better job than Kalnoky does in this song. That doesn't make it a bad song, but the band sounds a lot less complete without Kalnoky doing anything significant until the end of the song.
The title track, The Hands that Thieve, should have been the opener. It builds up a lot better than the other songs, and when it starts up it's a lot better than "The Three of Us". The lyrics are also better, and Kalnoky does a lot better in this song. The other instrumentalists are really great as well: the sax players really jam in this song in certain parts, the trombonist sounds incredible, and the trumpet sounds a lot stronger than he did in the actual opener. It's not as catchy as past Streetlight songs, but it still works well. The slow bit near the end works really well, surprisingly not sounding too out of place. It's a pretty decent song.
With Any Sort of Certainty reminded me that this was Streetlight Manifesto's album with its more heavy feel. The previous songs sounded a bit reserved and tame in comparison to this song and the songs on prior albums. The lyrics are great, the brass and saxes fit right in, and it's just a killer track. This album would have been so much better if all of the songs were like this instead of having the aforementioned weaker tracks, with the exception of "Ungrateful". This song clocks in over six minutes, but it never gets boring because they keep changing things up, which, for a band with some punk influence, is a bit weird to say, but that's what Streetlight is. If there was any sign that Streetlight was progressing even a little, this song is that evidence. One other track, which comes later in the album, has some evidence of Streetlight changing their sound.
If Only for Memories is the only song on the album to call back to some of the band's Latin influence found in some of their earlier albums. It's a nice change of pace, but beyond that, there's not too much to this track. Like a lot of Latin songs, the trumpeter really shines in some parts, which redeems his weak sound in the opener, but there was so much more room for the trumpet to do a lot more. The song's really catchy, but it doesn't sound very fresh. When comparing this song to something like "It's a Wonderful Life" from one of Kalnoky's older projects, this song really won't stand out. It also doesn't do enough different things to warrant a five-minute run time.
They Broke Him Down, meanwhile, does sound pretty different, being that other track that does something different. The song alternates from a hardcore punk feel to a light ska/rock feel, jumping back and forth and sounding great throughout the entire track. Once again, it's surprising that these two different sounds fit together as nicely as they do. Towards the end of the track these two styles blend together to make a third, more full sound that brings the song to a close. Another great track.
Toe to Toe takes a comfortable mid-tempo and rolls with it the whole song. The focus of this song is really on the vocals, and the lyrics are the best on the album so far, so it really is good. The instrumental fill in the middle is a nice break, and the sax and trumpet solos are really impressive, if a bit underplayed. Unlike the other songs on this album, which tend to overstate their welcome, this song seems to cut it a bit short when it could have benefitted from another short instrumental break and chorus repetition.
Oh Me, Oh My is the best song on the album. The lyrics are even better than that of "Toe to Toe" and the tune just works as a song that anyone would sing along to, especially the chorus. The only concern with that is that this by far the least "punk" song on the album. While the rest of this album sounds like "just another Streetlight album" for the most part, the song that stands out the most is the song that really strays from the band's roots. This could either mean that Streetlight is running out of ideas or that this song is a sign of what is to come. If it is the latter, then the future of Streetlight seems to be a more mature, less heavy rock band with ska punk elements.
The opener of this album was incredibly weak, but the closer, Your Day Will Come, is a great closer. It's loud, it's exciting, and it wraps everything up nicely. When taken out of the context of the album, however, it's not that interesting and doesn't do anything that "The Littlest Things" or "With Any Sort of Certainty" or "The Three of Us" didn't already do. It's as if they cloned those songs, but some really fantastic lyrics over it, and made it their closer. But the lyrics are so good that it really makes no difference. If there weren't three other songs that sounded like this one on this album and a whole other album full of similar songs, this song would stand out a lot more.
But that's the main issue here. If some new ska punk band released this album, it would probably stand out a lot more, but this is Streetlight Manifesto. This band has been around for over 10 years and if there are only two or three songs that stand out on a ten-track album, then clearly something needs to change. An album that had all songs like "With Any Sort of Certainty" and "Oh Me, Oh My" on it would be much more welcomed than an album that has mostly songs that people have already heard, even if people prefer their earlier work. It's not by any means a bad album, but a lot of it is pretty unmemorable. This album still has some really good parts hidden within the familiar sound. In the end, it is still Streetlight Manifesto, and it's hard not to like this album for that reason.
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Music Sample Video:
<to be released at a later date>
Streetlight's website**: http://streetlightmanifesto.com
*I am not providing an iTunes link for this album as purchasing the album through iTunes supports Victory Records and NOT Streetlight Manifesto.
**As a result of Streetlight's conflict with Victory Records, there is no way to purchase this album through their website as of the writing of this review.
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