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And so the emo-core phenomenon continues, aided by these four young, good-looking, but angst-ridden teenagers from Toronto. At least I hope
they're teenagers - much older than that and they should be consulting their
physicians for a hormone imbalance.
If you need a description more specific than emo-core, think Good
Charlotte without the arch humour or Linkin Park without the rapping and
you'll have a fairly good idea of what to expect from Billy Talent.
The music is, of course, heavy and riff-laden with a pleasingly deft touch
employed by be-quiffed lead guitarist Ian D'Sa which is reminiscent of the
very marvellous At The Drive-In (RIP). However, as soon as the vocals kick
in, it all becomes a bit laboured. There's no doubt that frontman Benjamin
Kowalewicz can howl like the best of them and when there's a good chorus
such as in the single Try Honesty, he carries the hook masterfully. But when not searing his vocal cords, he just sounds like he's wallowing in a
sea of self-pity.
The lyrics range from earnestly asserting clinical depression ("I'm sick
and I'm twisted/I'm broken you can't fix it" on River Below) to just
silly: "Everybody needs some sympathy/Santa seemed to miss my chimney"
Kowalewicz complains on Line And Sinker. Poor lamb. Perhaps if Santa
hadn't been quite so negligent, Ben wouldn't be quite so angry and could
have successfully auditioned for the next N*Sync.
Still, it's worked out pretty well for him; as it is he's probably got
thousands of black-clad schoolkids moshing away at Billy Talent's undoubtedly loud,
sweaty gigs, punching the air to their admittedly anthemic choruses, and
annoying their parents by playing the album too loud in their bedrooms. A
career of heavy rotation on MTV2 beckons and there can't be many teenage
rockers who wouldn't give their eye teeth for that.
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