Comeback Kid – Symptoms + Cures
You know something awesome about writing reviews? You get new music. I have a pretty extensive collection of tunes, nearing 80 gigs nowadays. I‘ve been asked by my friends if I actually listen to all of it. The answer is yes, yes I do. However, there are albums that receive more plays than the rest. The latest album that I received from the Canadian hardcore punk band, Comeback Kid, will definitely earn a spot amongst those frequently played albums.
Punk rock was my favorite genre before I transformed into a metalhead. With Comeback Kid’s combination of hardcore and punk, it is the perfect combination for me. I would make comparisons to bands like Stick to Your Guns and Rise Against, but better, in my opinion (Sorry Jen). Symptoms + Cures comes out swinging with the hard-hitting and aggressive tracks, “Do Yourself A Favor” and “Crooked Floors”, and it sets the pace of the album perfectly. Catchy melodic guitars, with fast and hard hitting drums are present throughout. Gang vocals and catchy hooks also are used, and used flawlessly (See tracks “G.M. Vincent & I” and “The Concept Says”). At times the gang vocals almost reminded me of The Dropkick Murphys or Flatfoot 56 without the bagpipes. The passionate vocals make you want to listen to the album over and over again so that you can yell along with them.
As the album progressed, I began thinking “I bet these guys are awesome live”. So I ventured on over to youtube and searched for some live videos of them…and…
Holy crap.
The adrenaline and passion that these guys put into their music is unparalleled. I hope and pray that these guys come to a town near me before I die…or they die, whichever comes first. You can even feel yourself getting excited when you’re simply sitting and listening to the album. Heck, when I first gave the album a spin was via my iPhone in the backseat of a minivan, while driving down a country road at dusk. I still couldn’t help but express a little bit of the produced excitement by having a personal mosh-pit. It got really intense when the final track “Pull Back the Reins” began. Let’s just say… my family gave me weird looks.
Symptoms + Cures is a perfectly named album for me, because it was exactly what I needed to listen to at the time. I could be biased thanks to that, but I believe this is a stellar release. There are no complaints that I can come up with. It is a non-stop adrenaline rush. Every song is heavy hitting and jam-packed with passion. I recommend that you pick this album up, stat.
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17 Comments
August 28th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Solid review Jonathan. There are portions of this album that remind me a lot of V.O.D and their For The Bleeders and Imprint discs. Very cool record, that's for sure.
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Jonathan Anderson replied:
August 28th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Thanks man. V.O.D? I've not heard of them, gotta check it out.
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Kyzee replied:
August 30th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
What? You've never heard of V.O.D… wow… how can u have 80 gigs of tunes and no VOD? As that guy Lee mentioned… For The Bleeders… u need 2 get that disc asap. As for CBK… I'm really diggin this record… kind of a good mix of more of their Turn It Around/WTD stuff and stuff off Broadcasting… and live… they slay!
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Mike replied:
August 30th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Double Whoa!!!
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August 28th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Time flies remembering when I was in highschool listening to Figure Four a friend said ever heard of Comeback Kid side project fan ever since.
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August 28th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Seeing them in November, gonna be fun!
And also, one of the veeeery few 5's I've seen. Cool.
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Jonathan Anderson replied:
August 28th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
lucky! Enjoy it!
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August 28th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
This definitely isnt my style. It makes my ears bleed a bit. But good review nonetheless!
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August 29th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Better than STYG? Psh, I think not.
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Kyzee replied:
August 30th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
STYG… BBBBBOOOOOOO… mediocre at best. CBK lays waste to them x 1000…
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Jen replied:
August 31st, 2010 at 12:45 am
It's all a matter of opinion and preference. Straight up hardcore compared to melodic hardcore. Apples to oranges really.
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August 29th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I loved Broadcasting. Took so long for this to come out, super excited for it, especially because I haven't heard any decent hardcore music in awhile.
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August 30th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
"I would make comparisons to bands like Stick to Your Guns and Rise Against, but better, in my opinion…"
Okay, well that line sold me, as well as the 5/5! It looks like I know which album I'm going to be buying next…
Brilliant review!
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Jonathan Anderson replied:
August 30th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Thanks!
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September 7th, 2010 at 9:48 am
This album is perfect, seriously Im addicted to it.
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September 8th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
This album does give off a Vision of Disorder vibe. Very enjoyable for sure. Great review.
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September 15th, 2010 at 12:55 am
Man, I haven't heard the name Comeback Kid in aaaaaaages. A blast from the past. Good job on the review. I'll have to check this out since I'm a fan of punk and hardcore.
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