Excuse me if I trail off, I’ve been writing, emailing and posting things for seven hours now and I’ve made about 12 bucks. That’s the life of a writer, but anyways I couldn’t get to my yoga without putting some words down about this nice album that I Surrender Records put together called Our Voices AKA guys from bands 20-something-year-olds still cry over. Somehow they managed to score some of the most well-loved and respected in the game and if you’re a fan of any of these guys, it’s likely you’ll love their contributions. If you’re not a fan of all of them, it’s easy to look past what they’ve done on this album.
I’m like Kamau Bell (only not cancelled) because I’m totally biased when it comes to anything Adam Lazzara touches. It’s all golden and it never rusts, even when it’s this folk rock take on life with “Because It Works.” I didn’t expect anything less than pissed from Vinnie Caruana’s “Sick Down to My Heart” and wasn’t let down there. Then you have the other half of the record…I’ve never been a fan of Bayside or Saves The Day at all BUT I will say Anthony Raneri’s “String Me Along” was better than I expected when I hit play. I wish he’d bring that happier tone to Bayside and maybe I wouldn’t be mad when they toured with my favorite bands. “Diamonds & White Gold” by Chris Conley on the other hand, not so much. I felt like it was one step away from being an unwanted Violent Femmes cover.
Who knew I could get past Raneri’s Kermit the Frog vocals and actually tolerate something he did? That being said, again, if you’re a fan of these dudes then you’ll like the record but don’t be that surprised if you end up enjoying at least one by someone you went in with a history of disliking. Raneri and Lazzara do something a little different, Caruana remains an angry man and Conley wasn’t for me. I Surrender Records Presents Our Voices is out now.
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