"There is no god that can save me / Because I was not created by one!" Daniel Fried yells on "New Immortals," one of the tracks from VIDEO's new LP, The Entertainers. Diabolical anguish is just one of the things to be expected from a band whose lineup includes members of Bad Sports, Wiccans, Radioactivity and the Wax Museums, but here, the Texas punks deliver more than what's predicted. After a hellraising 2011 debut and a handful of singles, they've returned with a vengeance that brings things to a contemplative place.
The Entertainers opens with an ominous piano instrumental that sets a murky tone for the majority of the album. The title track picks up on the melancholy and amps it up with fuzzy guitar that plummets into a sea of walloping drums. This energy is maintained throughout the album, but apart from blistering riffs and heavy-hitting percussion, what stands out most is Fried's narrative.
Crestfallen and frustrated, he proclaims that nothing can save him ("Nothing Lasts Forever"); that he will never taste freedom ("Shackles"); and that his hopes and dreams are never good enough ("Never Enough"). There's a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and it shines brightly on the closer, "In The End Of It All," in which Fried leaves us with a positive message that encourages living with purpose and not succumbing to darkness.
While The Entertainers is still deliciously snotty, underneath the muck lays something more — something visceral, poignant and brimming with substance.
(Third Man Records)The Entertainers opens with an ominous piano instrumental that sets a murky tone for the majority of the album. The title track picks up on the melancholy and amps it up with fuzzy guitar that plummets into a sea of walloping drums. This energy is maintained throughout the album, but apart from blistering riffs and heavy-hitting percussion, what stands out most is Fried's narrative.
Crestfallen and frustrated, he proclaims that nothing can save him ("Nothing Lasts Forever"); that he will never taste freedom ("Shackles"); and that his hopes and dreams are never good enough ("Never Enough"). There's a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and it shines brightly on the closer, "In The End Of It All," in which Fried leaves us with a positive message that encourages living with purpose and not succumbing to darkness.
While The Entertainers is still deliciously snotty, underneath the muck lays something more — something visceral, poignant and brimming with substance.