Devour The Day Hasn't Earned Respect Yet

If I'm lumped into the category "unhip douche" for admitting this, I'll take my medicine like the Y chromosome that I am. Cookie Monster shriek vocals don't impress me much. Reason why is if the singer has something undeniably powerful to say he shouldn't be pulling off the equivalent of burying that thought deep inside his sphincter. Devour The Day shoots itself in the foot with its single "Respect" precisely because their whole shock and awe style wraps around Cookie Monster hyperbole. That's unfortunate. There's a ton of positives to crow about. Blake Allison makes no bones about how displeased he is with the woman who did him wrong. You are solidly in his corner as he gives the poor lady a thorough tongue lashing. Where he comes up with the spare energy to bash skins like a insane asylum inmate who found where the handcuff keys are kept is anybody's guess. Put neatly Blake is able to keep up with his pandemic fury. Then he shrieks the title's name. He took a steady stream of water and ratcheted that up to riot gear flood gushing proportions. Say it, don't spray it remains an effective suggestion here. The line "Face it, you wasted the work that we did may as well have been not too polite commentary on his turn at the mike. We get a convincing back history. We're drawn into the complex web comprised of a naive sense of how friends can't exactly stay that way under duress and then Blake, thinking out loud or not wonders how his woman lives with her soulless connection. After Cookie Monster kills the mood you wonder what business Blake has asking for respect when Cookie Monster vocals come off as the ultimate bullying tactic. Fired up in his own right Joey "Chicago" Walser colors in the lines with a bass attack that matches Blake nasty stride for nasty stride. Closer to the close of this rock romp Devour The Day wisely clams up long enough to let all the instruments zip around the room like a balloon that's recently had the air drained cleaned out. "Respect" passes the sniff test musically because the firm foundation that makes for an uncompromising attack on the human psyche stretches without breaking. Had Cookie Monster been left out of the party I could easily be saying these two gents have an undisputed chemistry that sounds provocative as the playback rolls. As it stands Sesame Street's resident sweet treat digestion machine ruined the no-hit game. Going forward I would imagine Devour The Day would be best deserved picking a sonic identity and staying faithful to said identity. They can leave the artistic theater dramatic twists and turns for when this phase the band's career has grown well established. Here's hoping Lady Luck smiles on them. "Respect" may not merit such treatment but the working parts are in nifty working order to allow for the possibility of a nice long run in the rock racket.