The official synopsis of the Mistletoes and Warheads album “Great” to the End! Reads something like this: “Great” to the End is a modern day revolution story following one leader’s fall and struggle to save what he holds most dear to him. Early on, stricken with tragedy, this carefree leader finds himself in a maddening battle between his desire to remain in the past and his duty to build a future for his nation. Distracted from his duties by a downward spiral of depression and romance, he neglects his people’s needs and fails to soothe the problems of a dying nation. When his decisions come back to haunt him, will he run or finally learn to let go? Mistletoes and Warheads unleash an epic rock opera leaking with political commentary, crazy love, and chaotic youthful bliss.”
Alternative/Garage band Mistletoes and Warheads have once before graced the pages of Jamsphere, with “What Am I?” album. On the occasion we affirmed that this band’s experimental music, was based on creativeness not on audio quality, and that Mistletoes and Warheads did their thing with panache, raw energy and a poppy alternative punk edge.
On “Great” to the End, the trio stick much to their original formula, not losing any of their creative edge and organic freshness, but this follow-up album has something a little different – and is so much the better for it. Here the band combine infectious motifs with some very effective musical arrangements and melodies, that are by turns, easy on the ears and great fun to dance to, coupled with their usual clever lyrics.
This may sound contradictory considering the official synopsis which describes a rather serious underlying theme. But I can assure you it is not. Hey, don’t you remember dancing to Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”? That handled a damn pretty serious theme too!
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Putting together a concept album, featuring 21 tracks, and lasting just under 1 hour and 10 minutes is surely a daunting task for any band, but Mistletoes and Warheads have somehow managed it though, this album is full of bustling guitar riffs, dirty punk rhythms, haunting lyrics, and so much energy and emotion; you can really feel that the band have put their hearts and souls into the music.
It feels like there’s been a real effort to write from the heart, to write about things that truly mean something to the band and as a result the vocals also come across as more sincere, more evocative and more captivating. This is an album not made to be divided up into endless stops, skips and starts. From the opening track it grabs hold of you and refuses to let go until it’s finished telling you its story.
And you will listen again, and again, discovering something new each time, while being sucked further into that sometimes distorted, and at others dissonant, brutal or even beautiful and melodically soaked, raw sound.
Standout tracks for me are: “Those Consequences”, “Transform Yourself”, “You Say I’m Bad”, “Evergreen Hearts”, “Drop the Key”, “Will Your Heart Cry”, “Raise Our Flags” and “Having Heart”.
Mistletoes and Warheads have certainly matured since their last album, but they are still not afraid to experiment, making sure that at the same time they do not completely disappear into their own world of impenetrable creativity. The album is set for release on May 21st, 2013.
Mistletoes and Warheads who have been active since May 2011, are based out of Rochester NY. The band is currently made up of Nelson Scott, Justin Au-Yeung and Andrew Love.
OFFICIAL LINKS & WEBSITES:
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