Twothirtyeight

Item: You Should Be Living
Author: BW Diederich

You Should Be Living

(2002)

Reviewed by BW Diederich

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Label Tooth & Nail RecordsDecapolisOctober 2002

americana emo indie rock

Twothirtyeight are from Florida and have just released "You Should Be Living" on Tooth and Nail Records. It's their third full length release.

There's a popular, and in this reviewer's opinion true, view of America where most people aren't really living their lives and instead fall prey to a sort of mindless existence. Some people are totally happy working a normal 40 hour week at a normal job, but the majority of people complain constantly about their jobs and their lives. They're tired and they need a saving of some sort.

Twothirtyeight has written a record chronicling their every thought. This is a totally different band than the one we all saw on "Regulate the Chemicals" and especially on the records which came before. Chris and company are tired of seeing everyone "killed in 40 hour increments."

They started out as an emo outfit even their label owner made fun of. It took tragedy to bring out honesty, and even though their first record was honest, it wasn't good. An e.p. and an album later they had distanced themselves a bit from the whole Florida emo "scene," if you will, by playing intelligent Cursive influenced rock and roll. With this new record, though, they've blown away everything they've ever done before both lyrically and musically.

I keep referring to the new sound as "Americana inspired indie rock" and yes, you can totally quote me on that. The band's collective slight drawl has affected the singing and playing finally. From the first riff and the first line the tone is set, world weary and tired of living mindlessly. Chris starts with a "Modern Day Prayer" to God asking Him to simply help them find their way back to the right road. They lost Him, "in the boom of lowered cars," and in the "parties that grew into the yard." And where do they go to look for Him, in the outlets for a mindless country. God is in the "sad and holy glow of t.v. lights" and in the "blood and the bruise of back alley fights." The final declaration of the song comes in as a repeated mantra. Full on harmonies and a riff inspired by Springsteen over any indie rock band tell us Chris is "totally depraved, buried alive," and he "couldn't help myself to save my life."

The next four songs chronicle frustrations and the tedium of this "life" Chris and company are calling us to escape. It sort of culminates in "Step into the Light." One of the album's slowest tracks, the chorus is dirge-like, repeating "I don't really want to change" over and over with beautiful backing vocals and ambience over the top. This is the crisis we all face. We're unhappy in this life, but change is work and change hurts. Chris assures us, "don't be afraid, come sinner or saint, everyone here is a human tonight." Step into the light, you should be living.

One of the album's most raucous tracks is next. A purposeful dichotomy perhaps? I have no idea, but "Sad September" is an ode to the drudgery of school work. Long known as their "rap" song before its release due to the amazing 45 second or so section in the first part of the song. It's a mini speech any high school kid will understand. "Hey! what am I doing here? There's light outside, THERE'S LIFE OUTSIDE. I'm stuck inside this classroom." It ends with ruminations on the oddity of life after high school and the way the stereotypes we fit ourselves into in high school plague us for life.

Immediately following all this is the album's biggest departure. "Pretend to Choke" starts off just like most of the other songs on the record, but then the chorus hits. Total doo-wop style background vocals and the music, OH! the music. It calls to mind the Beach Boys and old CCM stalwarts P.F.R. and even the Beatles. The beautiful harmonies swell and swell only to fade back for the second verse. "It don't do me much good here, the earth is changing every year."

"Rhythm and Blues" is an ode to the classic working man. Chris muses about his toil making someone above him rich with minimal, blues inspired accompaniment. And then the last song is upon us. "The Bathroom is a Creepy Place for Pictures of Your Friends" is the longest song title for Staples so far, and the simple acoustic number is a short, witty note about how creepy it is for him to bathe in a friend's bathtub with pictures of strangers staring at him. It's honest and fits in perfectly in some vague way.

I think this is more than just a record full of incredible songs. Twothirtyeight is calling everyone to action. "You Should Be Living" isn't simply a title, it's a friendly suggestion from a fellow tired soul. The most refreshing thing about this record is the quiet acceptance and acknowledgement that most of the time our cries to God and our frustrations aren't huge productions, but come simply out of our abject weariness from being tired of life and tired of "living" a life you don't enjoy. "You Should Be Living" is simply a tribute to all of those feelings, and it starts on the right note, pointing the way to an answer. And musically? This is a solid record and easily one of the best this year.