Awkward Thought

Ruin A Good Time (2003)

Jim

Awkward Thought doesn't care what I say in this review, in fact, they care so little about what reviewers think that they devoted an entire song and section on their website to it. "Write a review, say what you want, don't care if you think I'm wrong, if you don't like this music, you can shove this fucking song", I'd love to stop right here, just to make the band happy, but I can't. The song "Take Your Music And Shove It" is the band's tirade against, well, everything. But, I won't let one obnoxious song completely sour me on this release, because it's not that bad.

For those of you who don't know, New York's Awkward Thought, play a straight forward brand of hardcore reminiscent of bands like Agnostic Front, Striking Distance, and Blood for Blood(not in a bad way). So what you end up getting here is some meat and potatoes hardcore with the occasional metal tendencies thrown in for good measure. The vocals could be better. It's not so much that they're bad, it's just that they lack the energy that the rest of the music has. They're the typical fast shouting vocals, I wouldn't mind them if there was just some kind of fluctuation every now and then. A little variation would go a long way towards making these songs more interesting.

The band is probably at their best on the song "Required Contributions", a sarcastic diatribe directed towards corporate America and the government. The aformentioned "Take Your Music And Shove It" is probably the worst track, and also features the worst lyrics on the whole CD. Saying crap instead of rap lost it's ability to make me laugh a long time ago, and I certainly don't want to hear it in a song. Throughout the entire disc, Awkward Thought maintains a fast pace and rarely lets up enough for you to catch your breath, yet you can't help but bob your head to the beat. The songs are also quite catchy and I can see them invoking much shouting and finger pointing at a live show.

Awkward Thought isn't breaking any new ground and they aren't shattering any barriers, but if this style of music is your thing, then I see can't any reason for you not to give this band a shot. If you don't like it, don't tell the band, because this band is "sick of what you say" and they "wish you'd just fade away".