At first listen you will think that Pain Tolerance is more a warning label than the actual name of the band. Meaning you need a high one in order to listen to it. “Change” should be taken as a sign to the band to do so before they drown in a sea of bad reviews and EMO self hate.
My first impression is just that: EMO. I hate EMO. There is nothing more annoying than guys wearing girl slimming pants half down their butts like the wannabe rap kids did 20 years ago – it’s a plague unto society. They whine and complain about how sad they are while their parents make a lot of cash and they drive hummers. They’re not emotional – they’re just stupid. EMO is a trend that combines really lame store-bought punk and goth ware from the Hot Topic with junk you find at the Abercrombie and Fitch store as well as ghetto hats from a Lids store and some bad belts from Wal Mart. Originality is NOT stealing five styles, sticking them in a blender, and seeing what churns up.
Music is the same way with blenders churning and different styles coming together to form something cool. Pain Tolerance – I have a lot, thanks. I needed it. The vocals are uniquely whiney and the music accompaniment is equally as repulsive. I want to say something nice – and be constructive – but they make it very difficult. Ok – um, the lyrics are well written. Now if a good band would perform them that would be great.
The question though is if the band redeems itself. Well – the band does. They have some slamming music on a lot of the tracks. The lead vocalist is a tool. The backup vocalist should punch him in the face, make him cry, then take over because he IS good. They could change from EMO to Hardcore in five seconds flat and THAT would be a good thing. “Just Go” is a good track that showcases what could be done if the lead vocalist was smothered under his slimming pants. “Severed” is a gut crunching track until the vocals decide to come in – then you just need to down some cyanide and call it a day because there is some odd filtering going on to make him sound nearly like a man.
Stick to Rock Band and Guitar Hero or find a genre that works for you like EMO because Rock is not what you are doing. Well – the band is rocking at least and if you can turn down the vocal tracks and just listen to that then you are golden.
However, if you like something unique and a bit odd – things EMO sounding with a very small amount of industrial metal and you have a thing for Faith No More you can certainly take a listen. There are some parts in the annoying vocals that do not sound forced and then translates to being decently done but on the whole they don’t work.
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More Information
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http://cdbaby.com/cd/paintolerance
