Nothing More Succeeds With Its War of Words

Nothing More, a San Antonio outfit formed in 2003, does a slow burn as part of its new single "Go To War". The beat strikes me as equal parts vitriol and passion. Vocalist Jonny Hawkins penetrates listeners right down to their marrow thanks to his turbo-charged singing style. The video's bar room scenes, rife with chaos, are absolutely perfect and match Jonny's intensity to a tee. Guitarist Mark Vollelunga strums out a pretty high level of drama, no small level of goodness for a track as venomous as "Go To War" makes itself out to be. Band bassist Daniel Oliver hits all the right strides. The newest drummer Ben Anderson keeps time with fervent aplomb. On the lyric sheet Jonny lets out the most compelling side of his fiery vocal range which pierces listeners right where they live, deep in their guts. His opening salvo gets right to the point. "I don't know what you had in mind but here we stand on opposing sides. Let's go to war. Let's go to war. He then proceeds to get way more introspective with stanza number two..."We arm ourselves with the wrongs we've done. Name them off one by one. Let's go to war. Let's go to war." The chorus line is nothing but pure lyrical gold..."Screaming at the ones we love like we forgot who we can trust. Screaming at the top of our lungs on the grounds where we feel safe. Do we feel safe? The steady churn of the song makes it so very impressionable in the skull. It makes you want to grab some battle armor and climb into the hot seat with them. "Go To War" doesn't let up in the intensity department. You can see blood stains everywhere. The wounds are a pleasure to sport though chiefly because this band has mastered the fine art of wearing its heart on its sleeve, leaving no wound unexposed and ripe for being picked at. The musicianship is excellent, and Jonny can take credit for being no small part of that. Kudos to the actors in the video for ramming home the drama with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. You can tell private lives are being shredded to the bone. Loyalties get severely tested here. If a few beer glasses go flying and inadvertently take someone's eye out who'd be surprised. If you need music to get your angst out to, "Go To War" serves that purpose splendidly. Nothing More generates a winner by settling for nothing less than A-level rock chops.