It's always nice when a band comes up with an interesting concept for their album. Concept albums can be pretty lame if the subject matter can't even hold the listener's attention. Endicott definitely came up with an interesting concept for "The Words In Ink Don't Lie." The album is based around a kidnapping, but rather than follow one person's experience, the lyrics are written from the perspective of the kidnapper, the victim, and the victim's family.

However, just because an album like this has a cool concept behind it, doesn't mean that the music itself will be compelling. In the case of Endicott, they got the first part down, but the music on this disc isn't nearly as interesting as the idea behind it. That's not to say that it's horrible, but I wouldn't be listening to it, if not for the writing of this review. The singer's voice really doesn't do much for me either, as half the time he's doing the not quite a shout but still not quite singing thing. Of course, this record wouldn't be complete with some random screams thrown in as well. The music generally has a rock vibe to it, and while Equal Vision would contend that this band is pushing of the bounds of rock and punk, they're doing no such thing. The fact of the matter is, most of these songs just don't go anywhere, they basically just plod along, doing everything that they're supposed to do, and before you know it, you're on the next track. It's pretty easy to see what's coming next, the screamed vocals show up at just the right times, but the singing parts still leave enough melody to interest the people who don't like harsh vocals.

This band's effort to make something different is admirable; they just haven't accomplished it with this release. The idea behind this album is great, but the music is mediocre at best. In the end, we're left with a record that will probably gain Endicott lots of new fans, while leaving others to wonder what people see in this release. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with this effort, considering the stuff that's been coming out of Equal Vision lately.

MP3: Chain Letter