8.23.2006

Unites States - Divorce Songs




[Iron Pier]

I could see United States easily fitting in with bands like Braid, The Promise Ring and Piebald, all before they got mega famous. United States doesn't really sound like any of those bands. If anything, they are more D.C./Fugazi influenced. I mean I could actually imagine United States fitting in with these guys on a show ten years ago. They're the type of band you would imagine got interviewed in Anti-Matter and Norm wrote something about meeting the singer in a vegetarian restaurant and how they've shared a special friendship ever since.

Lately, there's been a lot of bands really successfully aping the past. This isn't so much a band that was influenced by the post hardcore/emo of '96, but morseo a band that was influenced by the influences of the post hardcore/emo of '96. It's kind of a weird mindfuck theory, I know, but it's true.

Nonetheless, if you pick up what I'm putting down, this is a great CD. It just has this energy and genuineness about it that most bands lack. If you are a dude who grew up in the 90's wearing a sweater to shows and dating a girl with a short haircut, this CD will make you grab on to your backpack straps and sway back and forth. If you're a kid growing up right now wearing thrift store clothes even though your parents could provide you with new clothes and you're dating a girl who wears the same size jeans as you, you can erratically snap your fingers and knock your knees like Navin Johnson to this CD, and that's the beauty of it. It brings together sensitive types from all different time lines to go fly kites and write journals with each other. You can't ask for anything more.

United States on Myspace