"Dynamic post-punk trio A Lesser Evil includes Matt Weiss (vocalist/guitarist), Rob Davis (bassist) and Mike Davis (drummer/vocalist). This Cranbury, NJ group has been working together for nearly seven years now: overcoming several personal obstacles, recording a few self-produced releases, touring the region, and essentially growing as young musicians in the search to find their sound, maturity, and identity.
The band’s latest 2010 effort, “These Old Streets” is a hard hitting 5-song EP packed full of variety and utter intensity. It’s a feel-good hardcore record that undeniably expands upon the notable transitions made from the youthful debut, “Quit Work-Make Music” and 2008’s disc, “Enormities” which received an “enormous” amount of praise from devoted fans and local critics. However, “…Streets” most clearly identifies with the group’s development over the course of time in the local punk scene. The EP was recorded with Steve Greenburg of Lamplighter Recordings, with the help of backup guitarist and friend Zach Miller, whom in a personal interview Weiss praises for Miller’s excellent work on this outstanding and most recent accomplishment. “He really did do a great job,” states Matt Weiss. One thing’s for sure, this musical endeavor stands out among the rest for A Lesser Evil.
The EP opens powerfully with “Commuter State”--which can best be defined as three minutes and fifteen seconds of overwhelming emotion-filled vocal work and hard rock-driven instrumentals. This song is the first attack in a long battle of hardcore experimentalism. It successfully alludes to the remainder of A Lesser Evil’s new and impressive enhancement. The only thing this song did not successfully accomplish was turning me off from the rest of the EP, it in fact made me eager for much much more.
“Model Behavior” opens with a well written moody delay pattern…a staple for A Lesser Evil’s more recent work in which they’ve seemed to represent influences from bands such as Thrice with their quiet soft-spoken parts and The Dillinger Escape Plan with the loud and forceful portions. This song relieves you from the gritty hardcore nature of the music, and takes you into a more tranquil side of the record, but only temporarily--before shaking into yet another post-hardcore oriented verse with scratchy, intense, and defiant response vocals shouting back to Matt Weiss’ clean vocal harmonies—filling in with authoritative “chugging” rhythms. It’s clear that A Lesser Evil has also grown when writing bridge and interlude sections overall, because they perform a very unique and wonderfully done lead section in this piece during a bridge. The song certainly assaults from beginning to end—ultimately ending in total progressive accord.
The centerpiece of the album, “Old Streets” is a refreshing tasteful piece of hardcore punk infused with pop, and in my opinion, most indirectly speaks for the future ahead of this band. Its true sensation comes from the raw passion within the vocal and guitar harmonies so masterfully prepared by Matt Weiss (vocalist/guitarist) and Mike Davis (drummer/vocalist), who split most of the record’s vocals almost equally. To be honest, this song blows me away. The arrangement is just as rigid and hardcore as it is beautifully refined and pleasantly melodic at one time or another in its duration.
“Run Me Down” is a fast-paced ‘kick in the face’ punk rock anthem. Weiss even admits it to being “definitely the most punky [sounding song]” on the EP. It demonstrates that A Lesser Evil, while growing and expanding, has never lost their firmly planted roots in punk. Carefully placed guitar leads and fills culminate with the ever-aggressive rhythm section dominated by Rob (bassist) and Mike Davis. Ultimately, the three comprise a picturesque punk song-almost, done anatomically...except for that ever-so addicting sound that A Lesser Evil brings to the table as a supplement. I believe this is also a sound that will eventually become a trademark for this band’s success.
“These Old Streets” ends with an untitled instrumental outro piece composed by the band. This song is the conclusion to a raunchy and stunning record. The album is surely distinguished by its progressive charisma and hardcore blend of modern post-punk which is so deeply embedded within a multitude of other styles and persuasions. It’s so different that one can hardly put his or her finger on just what he or she is listening to at any given moment. Ultimately, the outro piece allows you to reflect on what you’ve just heard by enjoying some more calm and less destructive music, almost creating a period of solace—a return from the chaotic and shrill--from the raw intensity that this EP delivers in its first four slamming tracks.
Needless to say, this album undoubtedly shows the progress and growth that A Lesser Evil has made in their time together. They have dropped the ‘screamo-hardcore’ edgy approach that leaked into “Enormities” and have gone with what I believe to be a more distinctive and developed approach that suits them far more naturally. So, what will come next for this young New Jersey trio you ask? If it’s anything more remarkable than what they’ve accomplished in their most recent release, “These Old Streets” then they will soon become the face of a climbing inimitable elemental genre which will overtake contemporary rock music through the underground and local scenes. Good luck boys!"
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