History Invades's debut is produced by Christian indie-rock hero Jason Martin, yet The Structure of a Precise Fashion lacks any semblance of Starflyer's smooth and slick shoegazer pop. This is a jaunty scream/sung rock recording, bearing a complete dearth of subtlety, instead full of brazen musical styling.
More often than not, this reckless clash of elements and broken song structure works very well. "We Ran Out of Bridges So We Burned Down Our Houses" impressed me, utilizing a nigh-danceable rhythm, thrusting basslines, and consistently altering lyrical tones to deliver an intriguing four minutes of sound. Track two is a more tidily structured number, composed of urgent guitar lines and possibly the most conservative vocal delivery on the record (they only get close to screaming once).
The band clearly has a vision they're trying to realize. But they seem to have missed their mark overall for this release. For all its uniqueness and intriguing ideas, Structure zips by without ever quite properly grasping the listener. The blame can be placed primarily on the lyrics. The theme of modern societal doom throughout is easy enough to pick out, and though it's filled to the brim with angst, it feels oddly stale at times with none of the lines effectively cutting deep enough.
The first release by this 'democracy of operatives' is very promising, but it needs further development in key areas. Still, their ideas are very creative and they have great potential as a unique and exciting act.
2.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis July 2005Reviewed by John DurkeeMany great things can be said about History Invades new album, The Structure of a Precise Fashion. The fact that it's produced by superstar Jason Martin is rather odd, since this album lacks any of the subtlety that makes Starflyer so good. This album is spastic and angular. Containing post punk sounds, utilizing many different tempos, noise, and a more technical side than melody focused. Spoken,…Opus 2005Reviewed by Jason MoreheadConsidering that Jason Martin (Starflyer 59) manned the boards for History Invades' The Structure of a Precise Fashion, and that the liner notes mention the likes of Andrew Prickett (Cush, The Prayer Chain) and Josh Dooley (Map), you might expect to have a pretty good idea of what to expect. And you'd probably be wrong. Whereas the aforementioned individuals' bands are all on the dreamier, more…Similar sounding releases
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