The Schoolyard Heroes make me want to be young again,
make me wish I still had the guts to jump in the pit
and come out covered in blood and sweat like I used
to. Yeah, believe it or not, I used to be fearless.
Time has taught me to consider the consequences of my actions; these days I keep my distance from the pit. But there's still time
left for you, young one. And with bands like
Schoolyard Heroes around, good reason to tear it up
too.
If it weren't for the seriously frightening metal
guitar-playing slashing through this album (and my chest), their new,
aptly-titled album, Fantastic Wounds, would
have easily been tossed to the wayside. But the
Metallica/Iron Maiden riffage blasts with the
single-minded determination of a machine gun, and that,
essentially, saves this album. What does not are
claims that lead singer Ryann Donnelly sounds like the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, because, with the exception
of a few instances, she does not. Rather, Donnelly's
sassy, snotty vocals recall a grittier Gwen Stefani or
spunkier Siouxsie Sioux, and her angsty vocals are
mediocre at best.
But you don't care about that kind
of thing when you're young, so this can be overlooked.
While the album begins tough and scary — with the
brief, thrashing "Body Shots," hardcore-influenced
"Panic in the Year Zero" and spastic, penetrating
"Serial Killers Know How to Party" — the CD becomes
increasingly soft and accessible, melodic and even
sweet in places; check out such tracks as the brooding, emotionally
charged "Centaur: Half-Man Half-Motorcycle" and the
impassioned, mid-tempo "Nothing Cleanses Quite Like
Fire."
Schoolyard Heroes are just what their name
implies: heroes for those still playing in the schoolyard. Anyone over the age
of 22 will find saluting
this album with devil horns mighty difficult.
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