INCOMING!

THOSE EPITAPH-ENLISTED SWEDES DO IT AGAIN!
Millencolin pulls out all the stops on Home From Home, hustling their way through 13 tracks of love, retaliation, loss, and self-affirmation. Though they lack the grit of a band like Sick Of It All, I think it’s pretty obvious that that’s not the sound they’re going for. Somewhere along the lines of NOFX (minus the humor), these sonic dive bombers employ the latest technology in catchy hooks and skate-punk melodies to get your foot tapping. Unfortunately, that’s about all they do. Honestly, at times I thought I was listening to the soundtrack for NBC’s SK8 or Just Deal. While the more message-laced tracks like “Afghan” and “Greener Grass” proved interesting, songs like “Fingers Crossed” and “Man or Mouse” left me feeling like a dad stuck chaperoning the senior prom. Also from the land of plump blondes, The Hives come thundering in at a totally different angle of assault with the appropriately titled Veni Vidi Vicious. This album leaves you like Kurt Vonnegut: stumbling out of the slaughterhouse and into a musical landscape that resembles the shelled-out Dresden. In just under a half-hour, The Hives manage to disembowel, decapitate, diagnose and resuscitate their listeners, and they do it all with style. The tracks churn with a fierce rock undertow akin to the simplicity of The Ramones and Sex Pistols, along with the pure need to just “get the fuck down” that comes with musicians like Rocket From The Crypt and Chuck Berry. You’ll finish the album bloodied and still be begging for more. Veni Vidi Vicious is perfect for any ass shaking/kicking occasion, be it bar fight or bar mitzvah. Shalom!