Everything Goes Numb by Streetlight Manifesto (CD, Aug-2003, Victory Records (USA))

Album Features
UPC:	746105020924
Artist:	Streetlight Manifesto
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2003
Record Label:	Victory Records (USA)
Genre:	Hardcore/Punk, Ska

Track Listing
1. Everything Went Numb
2. That'll Be the Day
3. Point/Counterpoint
4. If and When We Rise Again
5. Better Place, A Better Time, A
6. We Are the Few
7. Failing, Flailing
8. Here's to Life
9. Moment of Silence, A
10. Moment of Violence, A
11. Saddest Song, The
12. Big Sleep, The

Details
Playing Time:	55 min.
Producer:	Thomas Kalnoky, Tomas Kalnoky
Distributor:	RED Distribution
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Streetlight Manifesto: Tomas Kalnoky (vocals, guitar); Daniel Ross (alto & baritone saxophone); Jim Conti (tenor saxophone); Jamie Egan (trombone, trumpet); Josh Ansley (bass); Paul Lowndes (drums).Personnel: Streetlight Manifesto (vocals); Tomas Kalnoky (vocals, guitar); Steve Ho, Jessica Davidson, Lico (vocals); Robby Krieger (cello); Jim Conti (clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Dan Ross (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); James Egan (trumpet, trombone, tuba); Josh Ansley (bass guitar); Paul Lowndes (drums); Chris Bailey, Shane Thompson (percussion).Audio Mixer: Jason Kanter.Photographer: Tomas Kalnoky.Streetlight Manifesto's competent, lively ska-punk debut sets jittery, usually very rapid tunes to singer/guitarist Tomas Kalnoky's ultra-fast vocals. (Kalnoky also wrote all of the material and produced the record.) It's much like hearing a hardcore punk singer supported by much cheerier melodies and varied rhythms than most hardcore punk bands could muster. The lyrics, too, aren't too far afield from hardcore, with their breathless narrative thrust and pumped-up vibes of prickly despair, uncertainty, assertion of individual identity against the odds, and fleeting images of violence. In truth, the actual lyrics Kalnoky's singing are, for the above reasons, often no easier to decipher than those heard on many hardcore punk records, though they're much less grating on the ear. And though they're helpfully printed in the sleeve, he's prone to jamming many words into very little time, so that some of them have to be reproduced in such small print that they're difficult to read. The band does prove itself able to concoct a variety of rhythms and arrangements within the ska-punk format, the accelerations and decelerations adding some drama, the horns adding some spy movie-like creepiness at times, and the frequent use of minor keys distinguishing Streetlight Manifesto melodically from some of the group's competition. ~ Richie Unterberger