Published on Jan 2, 2000
With the rise in popularity of any particular genre of music,
there are bound to be scores of groups who flood the scene and try
to create some noise for themselves. For lack of a better
description, I’d classify groups like Limp Bizkit (whose albums I
have, in an, aah, alternative format, waiting for review) as “anger
rock” – that is, groups who pour their fury into their music,
creating an intense sound.
I’d like to say that Spite and their effort
Bastard Complex are worthy of comparison to groups like Limp
Bizkit – but I can’t. You see, it takes more than distorted power
chords and obscenity-laden screaming to make “anger rock,” and
Spite just don’t seem to have grasped that yet.
For this four-piece group from North Carolina seems to know how
to make a lot of noise and shout a lot – but so what? Anyone can do
that. Where
Bastard Complex shuts down is that it all fails to come
together; whether that’s due to songwriting or the performances,
I’m not quite sure yet.
There is one song where everything does seem to magically come
together – “Calipornia”. The lyrical content isn’t the strongest
that I’ve ever heard, but the band – vocalist Chris Boone,
guitarist Dan Young, bassist John Pratt and drummer Byron McDonald
– are able to keep things interesting throughout the song. Too bad
that they didn’t reprise that magic for the bulk of
Bastard Complex – but at least there is one bright light
that shines in the darkness.
While Spite’s online bio compares them to groups like Rage
Against The Machine and Korn, there is one major difference between
Spite and these bands: often, they lack melody and structure in
their songs. On tracks like “Box Of Chocolates,” “Me And Slim” and
“Thin And Getting Thinner,” it almost seems like the songs are
releases of anger for anger’s sake. The problem is, if you want to
get a point across in these songs, there should be some semblance
of structure somewhere. (Brother, say
that one five times fast.) While these songs might have had
the ability to be powerful instruments for Boone to get his views
across, in the end they sound fragmented and unfocused. Somehow, I
don’t think that was what Spite wanted the final outcome of
Bastard Complex to be.
However, I don’t want to write this group off, ’cause I have
this nagging feeling after listening to
Bastard Complex that they have the potential to be something
special. If only this disc showed that potential right of the
bat.