Published on Nov 19, 1998
There’s something about East Coast punk rockers The Fiendz that
strikes me as odd. One of the forefathers of the new punk movement,
their latest disc,
Cole, doesn’t have as urgent of a sound that I would expect
from bands in this genre.
Of course, seeing that Jerry Jones and crew have particularly
gone out of their way to continually change and develop their sound
with each album, this would probably be taken as a high compliment.
While the music on
Cole is somewhat intriguing, the almost laid-back power-punk
style is one that takes some time to get used to.
Lead vocalist/guitarist Jones, bassist Larry Assuntino,
drummer/vocalist Joe Darone and guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Joe
Mahoney are obviously a talented group of musicians, and The Fiendz
is as tight a musical collaboration as one would expect to hear.
(After over a decade together, the band should be.) Producer Tim
Gilles (who also contributes backing vocals and other musical
touches) knows this band’s sound well; he’s been involved with most
of the band’s albums. (I would, however, have raised the treble
level just a shade – no big deal.)
What is confusing about
Cole is that it’s musically all over the spectrum. The
opener, “Listen To Me,” might make the listener think that they’re
about to settle down with an album of power pop. However, the
addition of horns to some songs (“Scene,” “One I Dream About”)
almost gives the album a ska feel at times, even though
rhythmically the songs weren’t really ska.
Through it all, Jones and crew deliver a potent message that is
hidden behind solid musicianship and harmonized vocals (from
“Spent”: “All used up, you lost your magic / And you know that’s
fuckin tragic / But you’ll never take the kid out of me”). I would
dare say that the lack of a real punk flavor to the music blunts
the message of the lyrics at times – and that, in the end, works to
the disadvantage of The Fiendz.
Oh, it’s not that the casual listener won’t enjoy
Cole or that they won’t get all of the messages that Jones
and crew sing about in these songs. But unless you sit there with
the liner notes and read what is being sung, or you listen very
closely to the songs, chances are you’ll miss some of the messages
that make up the punk ethic of The Fiendz. Granted, this is an
album that is worth multiple listens. But I wonder if most
listeners would have the patience to go through such a discovery
process.
I could rant about The Fiendz committing the cardinal sin of
throwing on a “hidden” track at the end of the album… nah.
Cole could be called the punk album for those who don’t like
punk, as well as a pop album for those who don’t like pop. It’s
still satisfying, though it might have been better for The Fiendz
to have picked one musical style and attacked it full-blast instead
of straddling both lanes of the musical highway.