Young Machetes

Bought this as a Christmas gift for a friend. Five stars because it arrived in perfect condition with Amazon's sturdy record packaging (if packaged alone it arrives in a rectangular cardboard box that is fitted perfectly to the size of the record). I don't personally listen to this genre of music so I can't rate the content but the friend I bought it for absolutely loves this album to death. She is a die-hard fan of this band and this is her favorite album out of their whole discography.

The best Blood Brothers album

amazing album, great way to find like minds. comes with killer art on the packaging. great way to enjoy a great album

The Blood Brothers sure were a good band, and I can't imagine what the people who have been with them the whole way thought of their break up. Here, on their last album, they don't go out with a whimper. It's easily one of their most concise, not as experimental as Crimes, yet more rapid fire and spastic than Crimes. I think they really have found a really good blend of all of what they were doing before. Sure, this doesn't replace all of their albums-there all special in their own ways-but this album really is a great blend of their styles.The band has stated that six of these songs harken back to their own style, being more crazy and loud. While that may scream "special ed kids imitading at the drive in" to those who (such as I) despised much of their earlier junk, this is not the case. Finely tuned songwriting abounds, considering if the crazy songs are like Your The Dream Unicorn! and Rat Rider. And dang, no aimless rendering either. They never explode into random passages of jumbled beats and aimless screaming like they tended to do earlier.Actually, there are lot's of experimentation, although it's not as noticeable. Songs like Street Wars/Exotic Foxholes show this, as it's some kind of hip hop disco song with a coda into some ambiance complete with an upright bass, floating organs, Timpanis (!) windchime guitars and a cello/clarinet (can't really tell), and Spit Shine Your Black Clouds, a song that stomps out with extreme catchiness, and gets more windy and weird from there. Even then, everything has experimentation with success, even the most hectic. It simply has new sounds everywhere no matter what kind of songs they are doing.Some highlights:*Your The Dream Unicorn!-Allmusic guide stated that this song starts out like a twisted noise punk version of "I Want Candy", and it does when you pick it up (how cool is that? And I hate that song!)! From there, it goes into pure noise rock and even a section that could be referred to as noise dream pop. All in two minutes!*Laser Life-Retro keyboards and a cool pop vibe that you can dance to soon explode into another screaming breakdown with busy keyboards in the back. Awesome!*Huge Gold AK-Man, this one is a total blast, with lyrics about tying up waterfalls in the trunk and starving summer suns in black basements. The jumbled beat while they scream "we take what the _______ we want!" is total bliss.*Set Fire To The Face on Fire-The fearsome opener is as harsh a flaming wall of fire. Johnny Whitney's screams are easily one of the most bloodcurdling of all of the screams he has done.*Vital Beach-Totally off the wall and energetic, the ending will have you neck moving like a bobblehead.Their most catharic song, and the last song they ever did, is saved for last. Giant Swan, while may not be their best song (and mostly just good), is their longest song ever, and it folds out like a cabaret play. It starts out dank in the music (you can almost smell the leftover smoke), then it builds up and crashes, like some dying life. When they sing about the curtains closing, you have to wonder if they were referencing themselves. When it stops, it gives the image of a closed curtain, and the curtain of the career of the band.Young Machetes is their highest scoring album, though I'm not sure you can call it their peek, since many of their albums are fearless, as you need them all! While your at it, give it March On Electric Children a listen to, as it's not as bad as I used to make it out to be. Either way, this is a band that really sounds good to my ears, especially in a genre that can be as annoying and boring as hardcore (probably because they don't color within the lines with any genre, which is a good thing). Check this band out and don't let this band go the way of Nick Drake.

...and he should know, as The Blood Brothers can pack all the energy, danger, screaming and psychosis of a ten-minute Rollins work-out into a 2:02 song. If you need something loud, fast and cathartic, these are your guys.It's hard to describe a band that breaks as many rules as The Blood Brothers do. Coming from a very strict, stultified genre (metal/punk/fill-in-blank-core), there were many rules to break. What at first sounds like messy, noisy, screameriffic art punk with insanely shrill dual lead vocalists coalesces (with repeated listenings) into something totally unique in music, modern or other. If you can stand the repeated listenings, that is.Most importantly to me, The Blood Brothers have something rare among `metal' acts... a sense of humor. One glance at the song titles should tell you what's up...and the lyrics are even better: smart, funny, poetic and provocative. Although their themes of anti-war, pro-environment pissed-offedness aren't unique, the way they express them is, without ever being smarmy or preachy. And here's a hint: If a song has a title like "You're The Dream Unicorn!", it's sure to be one of the most atonal, fastest, shortest, loudest tracks on the disc. And it is!The Blood Brothers actually aren't messy at all, they are incredibly tight as a band. And they'd have to be, considering the rapid tempo changes and volume shifts. Even lead vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney only scream some of the time, although their `regular' voices are quite weird too, and an aquired taste. With The Blood Brothers, what you hear first are the crazed vocals and thundering, ultra-creative drums (courtesy of Mark Gajadhar)...the basses, guitars and keyboards are de-emphasized by comparison.On "Young Machetes", all of The Blood Brothers influences: punk, metal, "Wipe-Out"-style surf, glam, and yes, even pop, mesh into a beautiful whole. More than on any of their previous discs, The Blood Brothers are forging an entirely new form of music from the ingredients of the old. And the songwriting is fantastic, from the anthemic, jaw-dropping opening track "Set Fire To The Face On Fire", to the hi-powered glam singalong of "Rat Rider".I like every track on here, and I don't want to comment on all of them, but I couldn't leave without a few more mentions:"Spit Shine Your Black Clouds": The Beastie Boys wish they could do a funk-stomp like this, but they'll just have to keep dreaming..."1234 Guitars": This starts off sounding like some sort of demented Gorillaz outtake, but soon sets off on a rollercoaster ride through tempos and styles (including a mosh waltz section!)and my absolute favorite is:"Johnny Ripper": If a perfect song came out in '06, this has got to be it. The energy level of this song is incredibly high...and then the `bridge' pops in and it goes even higher. Unbelievable stuff. I swear you can hear sparks flying off of the guitar on this one...Well, this is long enough (too long maybe)... but bands like this only come along once in a blue moon. Experimentation in popular music is usually discouraged by labels and fans alike. There is a lot of hate against The Blood Brothers out there, one only has to read the quips on a music site, or reviews here, to see that. Their future as a band is in doubt; they've announced a breakup, which was then quickly recanted. Now they are on `hiatus' until '08...their label V2 has all but folded. And the band members all have other side projects. This is extra sad to me because I think The Blood Brothers are a national resource. So check `em out before they are just a memory to a lucky few... ;oD

Fast delivery, great item

不本意ながら際物のような扱いを受けてたような気がしてました。しかし、このアルバムはもーものすごいよー。なんか２１世紀のロックンロールをいち早く噛みちぎったような音がしてます。ものすごいです。このアルバムの発表後、しばらくしてこのバンドは解散してしまうのですが、一度でいいから日本で観たかった･･･。ツインヴォーカルですが、その後の２人の活動を見れば解散の理由はなんとなくわかります。が、そうやってその後の活動を見るにつけ、解散が残念で仕方がないバンドなのであります。 Hologram JamsHologram Jams