Spring Break
Pink Razors stresses first in new album 'First Degree'
By: Dennis Mongello
Issue date: 5/11/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Originally published: 5/11/07 at 3:02 AM EST
Last update: 5/11/07 at 3:01 AM EST
Originally published: 5/11/07 at 3:02 AM EST
Last update: 5/11/07 at 3:01 AM EST
First Degree represents a lot of firsts for the Virginia-based pop punk group Pink Razors. First off, like the Rorschach Records website (www.rorschachrecords.net) says, "They dare cross the two-minute mark for the first time in their short and fast career." What can I say? I like it shorter, faster, louder; then again, I wouldn't mind if some of their older songs like "Dogs in Headlocks" were a little longer. ("Sincerity is So Pretentious" is just long enough though). The album is also their first piece of vinyl that is not pink in any way, shape or form. It's the first time they are using a photograph of a nice Erin Tobey piece as the cover. Lastly, it is the first album for which the first word of the first song title is "first".
Unfortunately, this album also has a last in addition to several firsts. These recordings are the last to feature guitarist/back-up vocalist Mike Morris whom the aforementioned Tobey is taking the place of. He makes it count, though; it's definitely not the first Pink Razors album to rock this hard.
I always hate having to compare bands to each other in order to help others grasp the music I write about, but I find it necessary in this case seeing as searching Google for "Pink Razors" yields results for cell phone retailers and Chixdiggit! fan sites. There are a few band related sites peppered in there though. Anyway, Pink Razors' pop punk sound is seated somewhere between Dillinger Four and Toys That Kill. They feature the same effects assisted higher-than-normal pitched lead vocals that you will hear from Erik Funk of D4. Musically, they are just a bit more pop than D4 but slightly more punk than Toys That Kill. This album is a bit mellower overall, though, like "Totally Nautical, Dude", the lyrics tend to match the more chill sound.
Lyrically, First Degree is a completely introspective look. Jeff Grant really gives the listener a six minute look into his life as it is right now. For example, the title track talks about how meeting a new friend can really turn your life around for the better. The other two songs, "Keepsakes" and "If I Were Me (What I Would Do)," are similarly personal. The first stanza of "Keepsakes" especially reads like a diary entry as it talks about a "house where I once lived with a church across the street." What I really enjoy about Grant's singing, though, is the way he emphasizes certain words. He will have an idea that creates some sort of similarity in the lyrics a few lines apart, like a rhyme, a certain meter or he will use the same word and then really overemphasize that idea in his singing. The best example of this is in "First Degree" with the difference between "You had been" and "I had been" a few measures later. This keeps the music more interesting because it sounds like he is doing a finger slide on his vocal string. This type of dynamic voice is a rarity in the pop punk scene. It also adds more feeling into the words. It lets not only the music and words themselves give meaning to the song but also how he is singing it. You are forced to pay attention to these emphasized lyrics just like you would pay more attention to an interesting guitar riff.
Unfortunately, this album also has a last in addition to several firsts. These recordings are the last to feature guitarist/back-up vocalist Mike Morris whom the aforementioned Tobey is taking the place of. He makes it count, though; it's definitely not the first Pink Razors album to rock this hard.
I always hate having to compare bands to each other in order to help others grasp the music I write about, but I find it necessary in this case seeing as searching Google for "Pink Razors" yields results for cell phone retailers and Chixdiggit! fan sites. There are a few band related sites peppered in there though. Anyway, Pink Razors' pop punk sound is seated somewhere between Dillinger Four and Toys That Kill. They feature the same effects assisted higher-than-normal pitched lead vocals that you will hear from Erik Funk of D4. Musically, they are just a bit more pop than D4 but slightly more punk than Toys That Kill. This album is a bit mellower overall, though, like "Totally Nautical, Dude", the lyrics tend to match the more chill sound.
Lyrically, First Degree is a completely introspective look. Jeff Grant really gives the listener a six minute look into his life as it is right now. For example, the title track talks about how meeting a new friend can really turn your life around for the better. The other two songs, "Keepsakes" and "If I Were Me (What I Would Do)," are similarly personal. The first stanza of "Keepsakes" especially reads like a diary entry as it talks about a "house where I once lived with a church across the street." What I really enjoy about Grant's singing, though, is the way he emphasizes certain words. He will have an idea that creates some sort of similarity in the lyrics a few lines apart, like a rhyme, a certain meter or he will use the same word and then really overemphasize that idea in his singing. The best example of this is in "First Degree" with the difference between "You had been" and "I had been" a few measures later. This keeps the music more interesting because it sounds like he is doing a finger slide on his vocal string. This type of dynamic voice is a rarity in the pop punk scene. It also adds more feeling into the words. It lets not only the music and words themselves give meaning to the song but also how he is singing it. You are forced to pay attention to these emphasized lyrics just like you would pay more attention to an interesting guitar riff.
