Higher - Histrionics (CD)

Outstanding Sophomore Effort

By John  May 28, 2005 | 1 out of 1 found this Histrionics review helpful

Pros: Good Guitars; Songs that Stay In Your Head

Cons: Hey, its Pop/Punk

After building a strong base of fans in their hometown in Las Vegas, this young band toured the country on the basis of a 5 song EP, called Star Is Dead. It showed a lot of promise, but, they took their sweet time on doing their follow-up. Recently I... saw them play with Taking Back Sunday, and the new stuff sounded terrific. This CD has since found its way into my player and refuses to come out. The irony in a lot of the lyrics shows a surprising maturity for a band this young. Circle of Death sounds like it should be a metal song, but, instead, is an acoustic take on the ties of friendship that, if you let them, will hold you back from your dreams. Histrionics is a brief acoustic pop sounding gem, that comments on the manipulators out there who use their magnified emotions to get what they want, asking "How many times can we watch him crumble?" Gone With the Guillotine features searing guitars and talks about the futility of sitting around talking when you know the break up is about to happen anyway, opening with the line "The storyline drug out for hours/ The fixed up alibis are taking off and causing conflict in my mind" Then there's Rock My Body, a misleading title, which manages to incorporate an incredible guitar solo, followed by a Cher-like voice effect on the fadeout, that somehow manages to "work" perfectly. My favorite is Valentine's Delay, a song that features the best guitar licks on the whole CD, which sound completely unlike most of the usual fare you would expect on a pop punk album, while the singer complains "I never said, that I wanted to be saved/ Pass the shovel here I am to help you dig my own grave". Read more Less