Reviews

Strung Out is a great band. There's really no other way to put that. It takes a strong group of individuals to carve a name for themselves coming from Southern California, where everyone thinks they're rockstars. But this band has proven album after album that they're no joke. They made it big with "An American Paradox," released in 2002 which made Billboard's Top 200 as well as some music video play. Now they've come out with "Exile In Oblivion," to make sure their fans know that fame hasn't made them soft in the least. It's a delicious conglomeration of punk, rock and metal, a real treat for the taste buds. The album manages to be a heavy dose of lyrical depth while still delivering the stellar rock we expect from this band.   
 
Favorite tracks include track two "Blueprint of The Fall," with its lyrics "Imagine a place where freedom's just a word on the wall/surrounded by the wreckage of towers that could never fall," as well as number six and fourteen, "The Misanthropic Principle." A couple lyrics from that one that stand out are "Look at me and say to me without guilt or compromise/that you care about anything that doesn't jump in front of your eyes."   
 
I can see Strung Out being around forever. Twenty years from now, I'm going to pull out this album and put it on for my kids (I say this hypothetically because I'm not really going to have kids) and they'll love it and think they're cool because they listen to "classic punk rock." Is that what they'll call it then? Regardless, this album is a real good time, a terrific piece of angst and a perfect excuse to spend an hour or so just driving around. There's nothing soft about it, no ballads, no whines or cries. Another great release for Fat Wreck this year!