I Am the Avalanche

I Am the Avalanche (2005)

CherryColaRain

It's been almost three years since the Movielife broke up. They had some good music, some not so good. They were your typical pop-punk band, yet with this edge to music I can't quite describe that made them better than most bands in the genre. Vinnie's new band I Am the Avalanche has managed to put some of the Movielife's best properties into their solid, self-titled debut.

The record starts off with a catchy tune, "Dead and Gone," which will mostly tell you what the rest of the album is about. Most of the guitar work, drum and bass work is actually very good considering the Movielife's past simplicity. Most of the songs are either fun with a catchy rythm, or powerful with some strong lyrics that are definitely noteworthy. And even though most of the album revolves around the emo cliché of girls, they are still rather entrataining to listen to. The single and probably my favorite song on the album, "A New Disaster," is the album's most powerful song and definitely tells you that I Am the Avalanche will be going places if they ditch their pop influences for a more solid punk rock sound. "Murderous" is a downfall, not because the entire song is bad, but because there is this reggae guitar strum going through almost half the song that prevents any strength the song would otherwise carry. "My Second Restraining Order," the album's closer, is actually a breath of fresh air because it's a rather slow song yet not slow enough to leave a "boring" ending to the CD.

I Am the Avalanche are nothing new. Most people will say they still sound a lot like The Movielife. But they are probably one of Drive-Thru's best bands, and frankly, it's just a fun CD to listen to and it is worth the blank it's saved on.