I hated Doublethink when I first saw them a few years ago. I had heard good and bad things from people; they were a shoreline band, so I felt I had to become more familiar. After I had, I regretted my decision. At least I�m honest, I was a little weary about reviewing this record, knowing I would want to be nice to not hurt any friends or acquaintances, but not wanting to sugarcoat something I didn�t like. All is well now, the record rocks�hard. I have found myself listening to it on my own time. Doublethink is Scott Brown, Tyler Seely, Graham Benedict and new drummer Zach Carta, the replacement for Jesse McVaney, one of the best young drummers in CT and brother of Garret of Radio Phlyer, Lorenji Shift and The Halo Jump fame. Jesse is the one who played on the record; he has come down with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and had to be replaced. Scott has progressed as a songwriter, singer and guitarist, and this record is evidence. The music reminds me of a lot of things, nothing I can put my finger on, I think it�s a melting pot of a lot of music I like. This is a 5 track record with a hidden track as well. It starts out with the emotional �Personality�, which proves Scott�s voice has matured and become quite melodic without losing its edge. Jesse�s added piano to the verses adds to the simplicity of the lyrics. The use of a drum machine break doesn�t hurt either, Doublethink know how to this kind of thing tastefully, which is always a plus! Nest up is the craft guitar riff in �Just For Tonight�. This band has many influences, including Aussie rockers, Silverchair, which is evident in the music; I see another influence shining through however, British band, Muse. Maybe it�s just me, but I see a little Matt Bellamy in Scott. Back to the song, it�s a relatively brooding track that rocks hard, again with fairly straightforward lyrics: �Be yourself, just for tonight�. The third track is a semi-acoustic song that is more experimental. Its name, �Tin Box� is used a lot in the lyrics as well. Jesse�s melodic drumming adds a lot to the track as well as the intricate bass work, but it�s Scott�s lyrics that again prevail: �Tin box again, she�s in my head�. I�ll have to find out what that means exactly! Track four, �Easy to Believe�, starts out with absolutely balls-out guitar, it�s almost speed metal for a second or two, but it�s enough to grab your attention! For a second in one of the verses, it does sound like Scott is rapping, I believe that it�s just urgent shouting, but a Doublethink rap could be worth the laugh! This song goes into an odd interlude of slap bass, drum machine and screaming, with crunching guitars topping it off, again, with the better production quality of this release, Doublethink pulls it off just fine. The last official song on this record is �Someday�, which is an acoustic track with a string arrangement and lovely backing vocals. Scott sings, �I�ll be a man someday�, I think he already is! The hidden track I am going to assume is entitled �Joy Machine�.
It�s in my opinion, the hardest hitting track on the record. The drumming is rampant as well as the guitar. Scott�s vocals echo Kurt Cobain at times, but the music overall is a bit more for�Smashing Pumpkins fans. This is no easy task considering this is a quite young band, none of your typical pop/punk/emo songs about girls here. This is a hard-hitter and an all around mature record, by a band whose name actually means something. Look it up on www.doublethinkonline.com
