Breathe Carolina – Hell Is What You Make It
Let me go ahead and say this: If you dislike pop or electronic music in any capacity, I would suggest you quit reading right now. You already know how this ends. Go ahead and scroll down to the comments section and leave a spite-filled comment, bemoaning the death of good music or something else along those lines. I know you are just dying to. Humor me, TNR readers.
The rest of you, however few you may be, let us proceed onward. For those of you unfamiliar with Breathe Carolina, they were conceived in Colorado in 2007, formed by the only 2 official members of this group, David Schmitt, who handles the cleans, and Kyle Even, who provides the growls. They independently released their EP, Gossip, which eventually led to their signing. It’s Classy, Not Classic came out the next year, taking most of the songs from the aforementioned EP and adding a few brand new dance-worthy jams. Their sophomore effort, Hello Fascination, gave their sound some much-needed diversity as the duo explored some different styles and song structures. This made for a much stronger overall release, even if it was somewhat hit-or-miss as a whole.
Fast forward to 2011 and Breathe Carolina’s next release, Hell Is What You Make It. What we have here is something in between their first two releases. There is so much less diversity, with the full band only being used in two songs, as opposed to quite a few more on Hello Fascination. Much like I See Stars’ latest release, The End of the World Party, the focus this time around is much more on the dancy, poppy side of their sound. Their single, “Blackout”, is a good indication of this fact, seeing as it features no harsh vocals from Even – not that this makes “Blackout” a bad song. In fact, the song is incredibly catchy; it just lacks most of the edge that made Breathe Carolina more than just another electro-pop outfit. As you might have guessed, you can apply this trend to the album as a whole.
Kyle’s screams are seemingly absent from the majority of the album, sprinkled throughout and unused in several songs altogether. However, Breathe Carolina’s best and heaviest song to date, “Wooly”, features more of him than any previous song I can think of. It has an insanely catchy hook, and some nice breakdowns. One of which includes a sample of the transforming sound from the classic Transformers cartoon series. If there was ever a song they wrote that fans of heavy music might like, it’s that one. My only complaint about this song is that they toned down Kyle’s growls in the final version from what was heard originally in the album reveal trailer.
Showing once again how much dubstep has progressed in America, several songs feature at least a small amount of dub influence. Interestingly, these are among the very few very good songs. “Edge of Heaven”, “Get Off Easy” and “Chemicals” all use it fairly heavily and are pretty good songs. “Edge of Heaven”, in particular, shows off David’s improved vocals which now sound much less autotuned and whiny. However, I would like to direct attention to the abomination that is “Last Night (Vegas)”, which features cheesy, poppy autotune and lyrics that make my brain hurt. It’s also worth mentioning that this song is the beginning of a streak of atrocious songs in the album. Innerpartysystem influence abounds here, which under other circumstances, wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Poppy dance song after poppy dance song after poppy dance song follows. Before you say anything, trust me, I know that this is what Breathe Carolina is all about. Really though, the lack of diversity from song to song is disheartening. In fact, the song “Waiting”, I have found, is quite literally the exact same song as “Blackout”. The verses and choruses are so similar, I had to go back and make sure that I hadn’t accidentally put the record on shuffle. Hell Is What You Make It ends on a good note, however, with “Lauren’s Song”, a track dedicated to a friend of theirs who was killed in a car crash. It is another song that features the full band and is full of emotion and passion. I’m always too happy to see songs that are dedicated to deceased loved ones that actually follow through. “Lauren’s Song” certainly does.
Hell Is What You Make It is a puzzling dichotomy. On one hand, you have some of the best songs that Breathe Carolina has ever written, and on the other, you have some tragically empty club anthem cash-ins. If you are interested in an album to dance to, look no further. The pulsing beats and catchy hooks should keep you happy until the next great dance album comes out. Those expecting more from Breathe Carolina, however, will find that they have taken one step forward, and two steps backward.
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31 Comments
July 10th, 2011 at 11:55 am
ha, 2/5. really nice, and well-written, of course. i never liked Breathe Carolina, they’re one of the typical teen-hype-bands. no more, no less. (:
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Austin Williams replied:
July 10th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Thanks buddy
I’ve listened to Breathe Carolina for a long time, and even as a fan, this was disappointing.
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Aimee replied:
January 25th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Their album was fantastic, quit complaining!
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July 10th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Out of the samples I can safely say that the clubby songs are absolutely nauseating. The song “Wooly” is great though, probably because it features a full band. And I guess that’s why I like the song “Tripped And Fell In Portland” from Hello Fascination the best. I’m gonna give this album a shot, but I don’t have my hopes up. Good work on the review bro, I enjoyed reading it, and somehow I feel that I will have the exact same opinion!
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Austin Williams replied:
July 10th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Just wait until you hear both “Blackout” and “Waiting” side by side. It’s painful.
“Lauren’s Song” is great. I’m sure you’ll dig it at least a little bit.
Dubstep songs will be a toss up for you.
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Luke Amos replied:
July 10th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Austin Williams replied:
July 10th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
You should stop. Forever.
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Jen replied:
July 10th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
http://cl.ly/03282M0Q1Z1L3o093338/dubstep.jpg
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JCCAKES replied:
July 30th, 2011 at 3:18 am
There’s no dubstep songs on the album. bass drops and wobbles =/= dubstep.
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Austin Williams replied:
July 30th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
…I am aware. I apologize for not wanting to say “songs with dubstep influence” every time.
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July 10th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
please tell me that “edge of heaven” is a WHAM! cover. because that would be the only redeeming factor…
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July 10th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Fantastic review bro. I’m intrigued to hear it. sound like one of those albums where you delete most the songs and keep a few gems.
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Austin Williams replied:
July 10th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Sounds pretty accurate to me.
Thanks for reading, buddy. This one has some good dance songs. You’ll like it, methinks.
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July 10th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
The dude with the blonde hair has the worst haircut ever.
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July 10th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
SPITE FILLED COMMENT.
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July 10th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
So confused. The screaming parts sound so fun…but the autotune ruins it for me. :/
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Chris replied:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:33 am
Yeah, from the samples, it sounds like a pretty stark contrast. I don’t necessarily mind it, but it’s almost night and day. I definitely like some electronic music, and I like autotune to an extent. I will probably check this out.
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Austin Williams replied:
July 11th, 2011 at 2:49 am
The best songs are the ones that put the contrast to good use.
The most interesting thing about this album might be how there is a direct correlation between the poppyness of a song, and the cheesiness of it’s lyrics. It’s downright tragic.
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August 3rd, 2011 at 5:00 am
I enjoy this CD a lot, and it surprises me that’s the case. There are a few songs that don’t appeal to me, but the majority of it is solid. I don’t mind the lack of heaviness, because there are other bands that do heavy way better than Breathe Carolina could ever hope to. It’s better for them to pursue what they’re good at, than to try and do something just for the sake of not alienating fans of when they tried to do it before. Some of the lyrics cracks me up though. Who would ever think some of these electronic beats with clean vocals would have lyrics about killing bitches and shit.
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Austin Williams replied:
August 8th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
The songs don’t have to be heavy to be good! I don’t care much about the heaviness, though there is usually a pretty solid correlation between the heaviness of one of their songs, and the quality of those songs.
Their debut It’s Classy, Not Classic didn’t have ANY heavy songs on it, and it was great. They just struck a good balance between poppy and aggressive. HIWYMI is way more lopsided towards the poppy end. I just can’t get into it the same.
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August 5th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Purely because of the gems hidden amongst the autotune, I think this album deserves a 3/5. ‘Hello Fascination’ was the band’s strongest album because all the songs bar ‘Can I Take You Home?’ has Kyle’s screaming which gave the album something that separated it from the next Ibiza club anthem type band. However as ‘Get Off Easy’ from Hell Is What You Make It’ would have featured as one of the softer songs in Hello Fascination, it’s one of the harder ones in HIWYMI. I adore ‘Wooly’ for its originality and frankly fantastic breakdowns with good screaming (and less of the autotune thank-you-very-much) and I feel it’s a shame Kyle wasn’t featured more as it’s him that makes this song my favourite. On the other hand, Last Night (Vegas) almost made me lose faith in this album and certainly knocked a star off. The irritating, tinny, poppy feel gives it a place amongst many clones of modern pop songs today. And it saddens me that as the screaming and rock guitar become more scarce and the volume of tinny pop is turned up, their next album might find itself amongst Justin Bieber and other cloned pop artists. As Jonathan said, Last Night (Vegas) and Gone So Long along with a few others will find themselves in my computer’s recycling bin to make room for Wooly, Lauren’s Song and the other gems that hide under the rubbish.
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Mary Jane replied:
August 5th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Also, nearly forgot to mention, Chemical does pretty well without screaming that gives what’s good a bit of diversity.
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Austin Williams replied:
August 8th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
I love how you pretty much agreed with my entire review point by point haha.
I really wish Kyle was more prominent on this record. If you’ve ever seen their live show, he is by far the better performer and truly loves and appreciates his fans.
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August 20th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Quite frankly, their new album is filled with over repetitive songs, which turns me off. Breathe Carolina was one of my favorite artists, now I believe they are losing themselves just a little bit. The new music is catchy but unfortunately very disappointing. Where’s Kyle? I believe they are basing the music all around David, based on his appearance and his vocals…/:
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Austin Williams replied:
October 6th, 2011 at 2:21 am
Kyle does plenty of clean singing on this album, more than any of the previous ones, I’d say. I really hate it, because Kyle is so down to earth, and really seems to love the fans. When I saw them at Scream It Like You Mean It, he was really engaged and thanked everybody he could for coming out and supporting them.
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September 22nd, 2011 at 8:48 pm
I agree with a lot of what you wrote, actually. xD
I did miss a lot of Kyle and his screams, too. But I heard he did a bit of singing on this album?
Not too sure, but it’s okay.
I actually met David & Kyle once, Kyle just seems a lot more… go with the flow/cooler?
So, yeah, I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t hear more from him. :/
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Austin Williams replied:
October 6th, 2011 at 2:25 am
You’re 100% right. He sings a good bit live and on the album, which I don’t like, because his screams are really what set them apart. It’s a shame. I like him a lot more. I have a hard time seeing them get heavier after this, though. :/
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October 6th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
albums sounds like remixes of good songs
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November 3rd, 2011 at 5:00 am
Ive been Listening to Wooly for two days straight. Honestly. I like the album, its a good mix of their old and new. Seems like Kyle worked really hard on his screams in that song comparing to their old stuff though, You can actually hear a pitch change and i enjoy it. Its a good review, I’m glad you didn’t review and just down them like everyone else usually does. Every album they come out with has those songs that make you want to hit replay and the ones you just skip. So this is like that as well. Good review though.
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Kenton replied:
November 3rd, 2011 at 5:09 am
Also, I forgot to say i really wish they had Kyle screaming more as well. Forgot to add that.
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November 9th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
you all suck. breathe carolina kicks ass. I would like to see you do better.
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