Pierce The Veil's Texas Two Step Won't Linger In Your Heads Forever

Pierce The Veil gets an A plus for hammering home guitar grit that is bound to stay in the brain pan sizzling away for a spell. The drums pummel as advertised. Vocally I don't have any real gripe. Vic Fuentes gets needed attention and knows how to run for his life with it. Melodically the band's "Texas Is Forever" selection reminds me of a stock car racer at the top level of acceleration right before he hits the wall, winds up in a body cast, and becomes the heartthrob of female fans everywhere, not for his brains but for the stones it took to put himself in that mess in the first place. If you're expecting "Texas Is Forever" to be some tribute to the Lone Star State you'll come away bearing the scars of a jilted lover who never made it past second base. This song comes to you straight from the "Misadventures" album. Good way to look at the song itself come to think of it. It's a misadventure in barbed language, overwrought rage, and translator necessary interpersonal dynamics. At least the instrumentation makes its mark, albeit at the expense of lyrics being clearly heard. Mike Fuentes knows how to drum ferociously. Jaime Preciado gets real quality elbow grease behind his bass. For these truths I stand grateful. However, what am I to do with words like, "Here we are. Can you tell that story it's my favorite one. You fucking disappointment, I can't entertain you anymore. These stupid states of mind. Everyone punishing me all the time. Why? Classic paranoia does not a pleasing listening experience make. Want some gratuitous violence with your unsettling diatribes? Then, as a Texan might put it, mosey on over to "Here we are, crashing once again into the center of your moonlit face, our caved-in ribs, your tears, they fall on my tongue, and our lips are letting go, as we laid on the side of the road." Not exactly moonbeams and rainbows, is it? Everything's bigger in Texas, apparently including the carnage report. "Texas Is Forever" counts as highly misleading advertising. If anything the chorus appears to come down on the side of condemning it, hence the line "If Texas is forever where's your home sweet home?" Does't sound like they're rooting for the home team, does it? I give the nod to Pierce The Veil for revving up the speed, for employing all the witchcraft at its disposal to show off what's redeemable about the San Diego foursome. That doesn't excuse it from favoring not so thinly veiled hostility over lyrics that might justify the sympathy vote. I also give street props to the band for zooming up and down the limits of their respective instruments, dazzling unsuspecting bystanders along the way. Nothing worse than staying in one place ethos wise and then expecting to be applauded for the sweat exerted for the cause. Due to the raw nerves cut open to bleed all over the rough cut turned final product I regretfully must conclude that "Texas Is Forever" won't last longer than five minutes inside any self-respecting listener's eardrums, fan of the hardcore genre or not.