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Streetlight Manifesto
Victory Records First of all, if you all are going to completely understand this review, you have to know a little background info on the band: Tomas Kalnoky, former front man of New Jersey ska legends, Catch 22, does all of the writing. A good part of this album was written by Tomas as a follow up to Catch’s debut album, Keasby Nights. Well, after Keasby Nights, Tomas left the band along with James Egan and Josh Ansley. Now, about six years later, they have come together once again along with Tomas’ college roommate on drums and two ex-horn players from fellow New Jersey ska band, One Cool Guy. First, they recorded with a 14-piece band called the Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. After they had that little project under their belt, they recorded Streetlight Manifesto’s “Everything Goes Numb.” After I had heard B.O.T.A.R.’s EP, A Call to Arms, I thought I was in love. I thought anything else these guys put out would be disappointing because how could you follow up something so good? But they did it…
The CD starts with the title track and one of my favorites, “Everything Went Numb.” Even after the intro of the song, I could tell I loved it. Blaring horns, a huge build-up into the fast, powerful vocals lines in the first verse - I was sold after only half a song. Songs like “A Moment of Silence,” show Tomas’s feelings about his old band mates in Catch 22. The songs also deal with issues such as friendship and suicide, in songs like “the Big Sleep” and “A Better Place, A Better Time.” They even cover a B.O.T.A.R song, “Here’s to Life.” Lyrically, musically, and in any other way you can imagine, Streetlight Manifesto's Everything Goes Numb has outdone any of its genre within the past decade and in my opinion, is easily the best album of the year in any genre. XROXX Rating: XXXXX (5 X's out of a possible 5 X's) (would give it more if the ratings gods would let me) Andrew Rossiter
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As soon as Streetlight Manifesto’s CD hit the stores, I had it. It was the most refreshing thing I had heard since I started listening to ska music. Everything Goes Numb blends the bands influences of ska, punk, salsa, hardcore, and pretty much anything you can think of. Complex horn lines, insane drumming, meaningful lyrics, and unbelievable bass lines are just a few aspects of this album that show what Streetlight is made of.