Even the positive “Tonight… On A Very Special Episode,” is so depressing. He sings about suicide, and giving life another try despite all the failures one might experience — but his use of words make this song sound somewhat autobiographical. Like this thought had run through his own mind, and his conscious was the one being positive about life — meanwhile in the song he is the one singing ‘I’m not the boss of you/ (not me) you can give in if you want to/ (not me) razor blades and running water/ (not me) but hey, I’m no messiah’ to someone contemplating suicide. This song reminds me A LOT of “Driving Home” by Hot Water Music. The similar “Perpendicular Cross-Talk” repeats ‘life’s not fair and it’s a bumpy ride/ so keep your chin up motherfucker/ have some pride.’
But like I said, the sun shines on the weekends only for Lubrano, and the previous 5 days are hell. Any sense of positivity you may have taken away from the former mentioned tracks will be shot right down by A Single Unifying Theory's closing three tracks. “Galactus: Devourer Of Worlds” sounds like the theme song to why people go to Alcoholic’s Anonymous: ‘a tear rolls down my cheek, and off my chin/ it burns like hell, and it tastes like gin/ I’m a mess and it scares the shit outta me.’ “What Would Bruce Campbell Do?” is no better, with its most emo lyrics stating ‘I make a point to disappoint/ I wrote the book on self defeat.’ You would think that admitting to alcoholism and self-defeat would be a great way to end a downer of an album — but think again. “Things Explode For No Reason” closes the almost 33 minute long debut, and has it’s most brutal and blunt lyrics about deception- ‘(one of us) got kicked in the face by trust/ (and one of us) is getting away with it.” Damn, this is one bitter young man.
Personally, these last three tracks are my favorites because of their straight-from-my-journal, heart-on-my-sleeve lyricism. This album might appeal to fans of Smoke Or Fire, Latterman, Kid Dynamite, Strike Anywhere, Hot Water Music, Against Me! or Alkaline Trio. This appealed to me because it was released on one of the most reliable record labels in the business, Deep Elm.
For more information on Small Arms Dealer or for MP3’s please visit their homepage at SmallArmsDealer.net or their label at DeepElm.com.
Edited: [!--GH--]
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