OK, so let's fast forward to 2007...from the mecca of punk rock, New Bedford, MA, comes A Wilhelm Scream with their fourth release. Wow! It's probably not fresh nor contemporary to use the word "crossover" like it was used in the 80's to describe crossover metal and punk bands, but I think it's highly relevant. With their intricate song-writing, lyrics that actually make you want to read the CD booklet and a blistering pace, "Career Suicide" is an instant classic. How many releases can you say that there is not one song that you might skip over? I can probably only come up with a handful. This is one of those rare finds. It's fun from beginning to end, they don't take themselves too seriously (see video for "I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz"), they take closed fist punches at the state of the music industry and the musicianship is first rate. Let's begin at the beginning, "I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz" launches the assault, it's a quick, tidy diatribe against the punk commercialism. "5 to 9" is a complex tempo-change driven showcase of the song-writing found on the entire "Career Suicide" release. How do you describe this music? It's got lots of dueling guitar metal-esque harmonies, angry hardcore vocals and memorable choruses that hang in the air long after you've hit pause. This release captures the raw power of say Pennywise and couples it with the complexity of Rise Against and rounds it all out with some Lawrence Arms melodies. "The Horse", "Die While We're Young" and "Career Suicide" are each excellent, yet entirely separate. This release is an "experience". Each song is truly distinct, but when you have finished with "We Built This City", the sum of all its parts equal an impressive, towering effort!!!! Well done! In a town known for its sea-faring heritage, A Wilhelm Scream have unleashed a whale of a record and punk rock is better because of it.
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