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December 11, 2024


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Archers of Loaf
White Trash Heroes (Alias Records)

By: Alex Steininger

Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, this four-piece band expands on the typical rock sound, incorporating everything from soft pop and hard rock to industrial-ish beats. With three full-lengths, 2 EP's, and a B-side/rarities album behind them, these guys are well experienced.

But even with all their experience, they seem to fall into a trap of mediocre rock. One minute they're distorting the vocals and trying to be pop-industrial-rock ("Banging On A Dead Drum") while the next minute they're dipping into delicate pop ("Slick Tricks and Bright Lights").

They can never decide what they are, jumping roughly between twisted, melodic rock, hard rock, or forging into the industrial realm of things. It was because of that I could never get into the album. They started off with "Fashion Bleeds," a power-rock song with a catchy guitar hook thrown in, but from there they begin to lose your interest when they take two minutes to get into the good stuff on "Dead Red Eyes."

As for the rest of the ten tracks on this disc, they just cover too much ground in too short of a time. They lose the listener, and their creativity, in the mesh of these different styles. If they picked one style and focused on it, maybe then they could be amazing, but the way it stands they are mediocre at best. I'll give this disc a C-.

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