Although released autumn 2005 in the U.S., Armed Love was already packaged and shipped out across Europe nearly a year ago. And although legal problems kept the album from being sold across the Atlantic, there was no stopping our old friend Mr. Internet.
Just kidding. As far as I know, no one in the U.S. got it illegally. Either that, or no one wanted it. Alternative Press rated this album a 1 out of 5. Why? Well, first of all, T(I)NC has never been fairly judged. Having Dennis Lyxz�n, vocalist of the legendary Refused and Swedish sex symbol, as singer puts the band in high expectations. Although this is T(I)NC�s fourth album, the public has never stopped holding Refused�s reputation over T(I)NC.
While those of us who have learned to love Lyxz�n and company�s anti-capitalist revolution-breeding indie pop, there are reasons this album did not reach certain expectations. The sound is much more cheerfully danceable, whereas the previous releases were much more socialistically danceable. The album�s idea revolves around something Ch� Guevara said about real revolution being fueled by love, and I guess the band decided to be much more optimistic with this release: in sound and in lyrics. Instead of Dennis singing about abolishing work and overthrowing the bourgeois, he sings about sharing dreams and cute little black masks.
The musical side of Armed Love is very diverse, especially considering a similar style in America is much more static (i.e. The Strokes, but comparing T(I)NC to The Strokes is just blasphemy). However, their keyboardist also left the band, and they did not fill her position in this album. I heard she actually moved to the States and joined Bleeding Through. Ah, just kidding.
As musical as Armed Love is, you can listen to it as much as you want, but it will definitely not inspire you to overthrow the corporate class and dismantle private property contracts. In spite of this shortcoming, the album will really put you in a good mood. It makes you realize, hey, not everything about communitarian philosophy is about uniformity and red books, you can also have fun while you besiege and destroy the halls and malls of the upper class. And that�s the important part, which I saved until last and buried in a super long paragraph.
So remember, just because AP took a dump on this record doesn�t mean you should either. Enjoy it for what its worth, check out the nice bass lines and catchy guitar chords, get up and dance under the communist moon. This album will be the international anthem when the revolution reigns victorious, or something like that.
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C.L. '05 |
