Reviews

When reviewing a band, I find it useful; even after listening to the CD, to check their account on a website used by many that will go unnamed (ironic that they have a song called “Myspace” on their CD.) I logged into their site and turned off my headphones to take a look around. Their site contained that which would meet the status quo of an up and coming band site: band logo on the wallpaper of their page, tour dates, banners; so I thought it couldn’t do any harm to check the pictures. The captioned pictures contained Chuck Norris references, the word “gansta’”; these kids cannot be a day older than 17. So I went to check in on Flicker Records’ website. It states that the guys are “barely old enough to vote.” So I was wrong, they’re barely a day older than 18, my fault.
 
The website served more than to state the ages of those in the band. It tells of how they’re fed up with the usual “self pity” of modern rock music and wanted to do something a little more uplifting, something expressing self worth and the enjoyment of life in general. It made me wish it was 1994 again, I was in sixth grade, and I could appreciate life with these kids. Unfortunately, as one who faces real world problems and can’t skank around in leopard print thrift store shoes all day, I don’t have time for songs like “Teenage Heartbreak.”
 
The bands naïve, almost pretentious style of music meant to uplift the human spirit actually aids in making me angrier than eating glass while listening to a Cannibal Corpse CD.  No offense to the guys, it’s great to have a happy outlook on life, I’m tired of the self loathing in the music industry too. I’d like to state, though; that just because I’m annoying by self loathing doesn’t mean I’m ready to draw on the sidewalk with dandelions and have mustard squirt gun fights.
 
I’ll be the first to admit, some of the songs made me chuckle a bit. The song “Myspace,” written about the absurdity of internet romance, made me give the CD a second listen. I think the songs funny, but feel like they didn’t capitalize on the concept. Like I said, it made me chuckle, not laugh.
 
The more serious side of Eleventyseven may be a tad more tolerable, but no more than a tad. The song “Reach That Far” reaffirms their sole source of motivation: God. I’m not to judge what a band writes songs about, but the lyrics itself didn’t serve to impress me as I though the religious conviction of a searching youth would. I have never met an eight-teen year old who wasn’t a tad curious about God, but this serves more as a worship song than anything of exploration or youth. I’m not asking them to question their faith, only to reach out to kids who have questioned (I say kids because I’m quite sure their target audience isn’t Nascar dads and stay at home moms.)
 
Eleventyseven’s full length CD, “And the Land of Fake Believe” has good intentions. The plight of those who look on the bright side of life opposing not only the manic depressive lyrics of modern emo and the pent up anger and aggression associated with hardcore is not one of ease. But to make a statement that does little more than oppose another’s statement is one of limited potential. Keeping in mind these kids are young, I’ll give them two stars, but maybe they’ll be one we’ll hear something promising from in the future.