Box cars with cheap brakes made for accidents
Improper maintenance has its consequences
A fuse blows, a cord snaps
Matter has a breaking point
Flesh, like these, is a weak beam
Likely to break under the slightest weight of temptation.
twothirtyeight are as in touch with their music as they are with their spirituality. With lines like,
"There is this beautiful disease in her parks and in her trees," in reference to Portland, Maine, and "It gets so awful quiet," in reference to the late-night stillness that deep spiritual thinkers have come to love, it's easy to see that these guys are poets as well.
Musically, they're bringing something to the genre of Christian rock that is long overdue. With the release of Blenderhead's Muchacho Vivo and then the advent, and demise, of Roadside Monument, it seemed that indie rock would once and for all find a place in the annals of Christian music.
Unfortunately, nothing of late has rooted into the scene (other than the low-fi indie sound of Soul Junk, which is perhaps the best thing that could happen). And although Blenderhead is making a comeback, the bands known for emo-core guitar noise are still largely secular. twothirtyeight is the exception to the rule. Their music is spiritually moving and forward.
Their indie rock style is poppy, yet mature, with chord progressions that rival some of the more famous secular bands, and lyrically hold more integrity. They blend the pop-punk, raw guitar sound of MxPx's Pokinatcha with the elaborate intricacies of Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary and come up with something that sounds a little like the Promise Ring and stylistically all their own.
A near EP, matter has a breaking point opens with the pop-punk punch of "just dropping (a line)" and "to the concerned" before breaking into the emotional "a beautiful disease," "this is why i wait," and "a suitcase from your nightstand," and then into the clean piano and acoustic sound of "you made a way for moses." Few bands have so beautifully blended the more pop styles of punk rock with the serious musicianship and artfulness of indie rock. The breaks, builds, and beats leave you expectantly awaiting the next cymbal crash as each song builds with intensity into a highly proliferated pulse.
The album, although poppy and catchy, does not start out strong. It took a few listens to appreciate it from its inception. But once the ear catches the progression of this trio's work, the last crashes of "far from comfort" will leave anyone screaming "IT GETS SO AWFUL QUIET," until the stars above split, and the heavens are opened, and the Lord of Glory himself comes down on a white horse with a host of angels to make some noise.
The only complaint that I can really muster is that this album is far too short and far too long overdue.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Josh SpencerThis sophomore album by Two-Thirty Eight finds them returning to their friendly, poppy fusion of alternative rock, emo, and pop punk. Plenty of distortion and melodies wrapped up in decent songs, with no extremes or anything very memorable. Most songs start soft and slow, then the guitars kick in, build, and fill the speakers. It's stronger than their last effort, but Two-Thirty Eight still sound…HM Magazine #79Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThese guys keep cranking out the songs, and evolving in sound, as well. This emo band is discovering more and more the joys of pure pop heaven - mixing it, of course, with those lovely guitar tones you hear in the emo scene. If The Juliana Theory cannot prove the theory, I'm sure these guys can pull it off. The first two songs here, "Just Dropping (A Line)" and "To The Concerned" a simply gems…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by ConradEmo-pop rock. At first I was thinking this band was going to rock, but the first two songs fooled me. Following two rocking songs came five slow and boring songs - only one of which kept my attention either musically or lyrically. The album ends with a really good rocking song. If all their songs were the more upbeat style, I would have given them a B+. But the five slow songs in a row make this…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by Tom BastianWhen I first put in this CD I thought it was Local H. The beginning riff sounds exactly like a classic Local H tune. But that's basically just the intro to the first song, which is called "Just Dropping (a line)." Not sure if the band meant to do that or not, but at any rate it was pretty cool, and the song turned out to be a great tune. I guess these guys would fall into the whole emo rock…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by TimI like this band. They rock live and they rock on CD. This goes to show that not all emo music has to suck. They have great guitars, and drums. The songs aren't as catchy as I would like them to be, but nevertheless, they are still pretty darn good. B
