Contract's four songs are Crime In Stereo's last for the New Jersey imprint Blackout -- the Long Island quintet has jumped to Nitro. But they go out swinging, offering the angrily anti-draft "New Harlem Shuffle" as well as "Long Song Titles Aren't Cool Anymore Because the Rest of You Fuckers Are No Good at It," which encourages the kids to give up the eyeliner and "'my girlfriend's dead' sh*t." It's an unveiled stab at the wishy-washy world of emo/post-hardcore, which means Crime In Stereo are bitching. But they back up the ...
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Contract's four songs are Crime In Stereo's last for the New Jersey imprint Blackout -- the Long Island quintet has jumped to Nitro. But they go out swinging, offering the angrily anti-draft "New Harlem Shuffle" as well as "Long Song Titles Aren't Cool Anymore Because the Rest of You Fuckers Are No Good at It," which encourages the kids to give up the eyeliner and "'my girlfriend's dead' sh*t." It's an unveiled stab at the wishy-washy world of emo/post-hardcore, which means Crime In Stereo are bitching. But they back up the lip with songs that return righteously to East Coast hardcore of 15 or 20 years ago (Gorilla Biscuits, Rites of Spring, etc.) CIS revisits the limitations of those bands, too, with wordy lyrics and songs that rumble along without a true dynamic. ("Jesus Is My Ride Home.") From the looks of their press photo, the members of Crime In Stereo were barely in elementary school when their hardcore heroes were making music. But that's exactly why the passion and power that drive Contract is so promising.~Johnny Loftus, Rovi
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