Band: Attica! Attica!
Album: Dead Skin/Dried Blood
Label: Red Leader
Overall Score: 4/5

Someone get Aaron Scott on the phone right now. I mean it. I don’t know what he’s trying to pull with Dead Skin/Dried Blood, but I’m not buying it. Acoustic music that isn’t mopey and whiney? Is that even legal? If there’s anything that we’ve learned from the Chris Carrabba’s of the world, it’s that you should not, by any means, have fun with this genre. Attica! Attica! is ruining everything.

This is the part where anyone who has actually heard Dead Skin/Dried Blood tsk-tsk’s and points out that songs like “Motion Sickness” and “We’ll Always Be Home” are pretty decidedly bleak. And they are. There is definitely no way to dance the night away (Lionel Ritchie style?) to those songs. Which would mean that I’m pretty much dismantling my own intro right now…except I’m not. While the piano balladry of “Motion Sickness” and “We’ll Always Be Home’s” minimalism and strained vocals are true to form for kleenexcore (although, for the record, they are actualy good songs), beyond this point, Dead Skin/Dried Blood turns around and is even, dare I say, fun.

“A Dirge For The Underground” pulls in a churning guitar and bouncy vocals that give the song an extra helping of edge to immediately knock away any sort of “folk rock is wussy” prejudice. “The Party Party” has an incredibly catchy melody that will be hard to get out of your head long after the album ends. “Frostbite” and “Flamethrower” leave behind two of the biggest impressions on Dead Skin/Dried Blood. “Frostbite” has a campfire-ready appeal to it, between strong harmonies on the chorus and the quiet presence of an accordion. “Flamethrower” ends the album perfectly, taking the melody and lyrical cues from “Motion Sickness”, but speeding it up and adding in a clicking beat, breathing new life into the style.

In addition to being a great album musically, Dead Skin/Dried Blood is also a smart album, tackling subjects like war and politics in addition to the everyday touring songs. Better yet, Aaron Scott provides vocals that, even when handling reasonably cynical subjects, show glimmers of hope. If you’re sick of acoustic and folk being stripped of any and all signs of grit or an upbeat tone, Attica! Attica! is going to make you feel a whole lot better.