MIDTOWN

"FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW"

Review Date: 06/21/04

Rating: 10/10

Rewiewed By: suj

Midtown blasted onto the scene in early 2000 with the motto "hey, it's just rock and roll"and with branded across their chest they've never stopped. now years later with a past riddled by chaos of being dropped from record label and yet they've continued as band and crated their best record to date. They didn't see being dropped by a major label (MCA) as a failure instead it was more like a blessing in disguise to take a new lease on life and the music they make.

Backed by no record label Midtown was left to their own vices to create the record they've always wanted to, a record that would truly show who they are, a record not filled with the token-pop-punk track forced by a label, a record that would show what Midtown is all about. The album’s title, "Forget What You Know," is just that and when going into this album forget what you knew about this band because what your about to hear is Midtown stripped raw, eyes widened, and baring their soul.

The album begins subtlety with a slow building dark chant and its here within the first 5 seconds you know that your in for one hell of a ride. Once the chant ends you quickly are blown by cymbal crashes, and then the familiar vocals of Gabe Saporta. The song "To Our Savior" is hardhitting and makes you want to clinch your fist into the air with every shout of "so hard to believe what your looking for..." Then comes the first single entitled "Give It Up" and with a chorus that goes “Give it up, give it up, don’t fall for the same things, give it up, don’t fall for mistakes that I’ve made” it will be truly hard your to give this track up. This is song that will be playing on constant replay within your head. The pounding of its bass lines, the grungy guitars, and the ability to have all three singers blend their voices together is just icing on the cake of a great song. Also within this track we get our first glimpse of what this Midtown album is akin to accomplish - that is to blow your minds. This glimpse I speak of is a soft piano which fades into the background. The sounds, the gentle melodies, and the subtleness of it all is what makes both this song and the whole album a beautiful thing...

"Is It Me, Is It True", fits perfectly here on this track list as it slowly brings the pace of the album down and acts as catalyst into the minute long intoxicating piano instrumental "God is Dead." And just as you feel yourself getting settled "Whole New World" begins with guitars a blazing. Soon after the music fades low as the vocals begin to smooth you over in an almost Kurt Cobain kinda way. This is hands down one of my favorite tracks off the album as its just a straight-edged rock and roll. Next up "Empty Like The Ocean" hits with its opening line, “make my body motion” and the song does just that. Its musical treats to move your feets...

Now were at the midpoint where "Nothing is Ever What It Seems" begins in a way that closely resembles that of Jesse Lacey and the boys of Brand New. And with that in mind one can only imagine what a midtown/brand new song would sound...this my friends is it. Then we hit an “interlude” instrumental entitled "The Tragedy of the Human Condition" which is one best interlude I’ve heard in recent memory. As The vocals pick up we enter the mid tempo song "Waiting for the News" and with lyrics like “even though we sleep together, we’re alone” its really hard not to marvel at the greatness of this track...you'll know what I mean when you get a chance to hear it.

"Until it Kills" is another of my favorites off this record as its an acoustic of sort. mellow and soft, yet gathers together the undying rock. "Hey Baby Don't You Know that Whores" is fast and unforgiving with its pumped up guitars and occasional shouts of a hypnotic "hey!" The next track "Help Me Sleep" is straight up rock and roll and much like "Whole New World" it has that Kurt Cobain vide to it... Then comes "Manhattan" which parallels Brand New’s Tautou with its lullaby-esq mood which then progress to unleash the beast. Lastly the final track "So Long as We Keep Our Bodies Numb Were Safe" is the closest to sound like a track off of their last album "living well is the best revenge" except for the fact that its better then anything off of said album and it ends in trance that literally melts you down.

It’s a album like this that you realize that the band truly set out to create something beautiful, something crafted with the best intentions that being their own, and something that is crafted as much for themselves as for the general public. And in the end you’ll be playing air guitar, you’ll be pumping your fist, and you'll finally come to realize what you've been missing out in the world of Midtown.record up and learn from one of the originators.