84/100
Written by: T.Paine
Strung Out has been a band since 1989. That’s still something I find hard to believe, because they create a sound that so many bands today cop hard, but still they manage to maintain a fairly low profile in the current punk community. I always seem to enjoy Strung Out’s music, as their punk/thrash metal hybrid is always good for a few finger-taps, lightning speed drum fills and always huge, and I mean huge, choruses.
“Black Crosses” starts off the album with an undeniable punch, but “Carcrashradio”, which sounds like a failed attempt to write a single, really let me down. It reminds me of the A Wilhelm Scream songs I don’t like, mixed with that terrible time in Thrice’s career when they tried to be a hardcore punk band with (shudder) “pop sensibilities”. It just sounds like a band confused, which is offputting when you consider they have been a band only 3 years less than I have been a human being.
The problem with Strung Out is not that what they are doing, its that there are bands that do it better. A Wilhelm Scream comes to mind, but when I hear stuff like “The Fever and the Sound” and “Ghetto Heater”, I still feel like I’m listening to them mixed with Strike Anywhere. That’s the problem, that Strung Out is an awesome band but they just cant separate themselves from the group anymore. Punks who have been there since Fat Wreck Chords was established in 1990 will love Strung Out (and also Frenzal Rhomb- a story for a different day), but today they just arent relevant. It’s a shame, because all things considered, “Agents of the Underground” is a fine album. It might even be their best since “Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues”, and that’s saying something.
Buy “Agents of the Underground”
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