In
response to the question no one anywhere ever asked, "What would
it sound like if Avril Lavigne joined hed(pe)?" comes Sumo Cyco
and their debut album Lost
in Cyco City,
a blistering and vicious assault as awesome as anything released by
Powerman 5000, hed(pe), or Limp Bizkit at their fiercest and most
productive. Sever's vocals make music already mind-numbingly awesome
sublimely awesomer.
The
Avril Lavigne comparison comes easy and early. Sever's vocals sound
remarkably similar, but Sumo Cyco crunches harder and longer than
anything Lavigne has produced in ages. Some of the Lavigne attitude
shows up, but very little of Lavigne's relationship tropes appear. A
significant amount of boasting and aggression do show up in tunes
like "Fighter" and "Like a Killer," but the level
of violence in Sumo Cyco's lyrical content puts anything in Lavigne's
library to shame. Despite the inherent threats in "You won't
survive it/Let's start a riot!/Cry cry cry cry Murder/Cry cry cry cry
Murder" the tunes come across as ridiculously anthemic with
catchy hooks and lyrics that stick in your skull long after the
album's ended.
Leaving
the comparison behind, a look at Sumo Cyco's Lost
in Cyco City
on its own merits still leaves me in awe. I am in love with this
album, from the vocals of former pop star Skye Sweetnam (now Sever)
to the power drumming of Andy Joseph (aka The Wolf), the driving bass
of Ken Corke (Thor) and the melodic supporting rhythm guitar work by
Matt Drake (MD). Not one song in this album lets up, and the only
time to catch a breath is between tracks.
Lyrics
like "Condition is dire/like a guillotine wire./All my
desire/Come on fuel my fire" don't always make a ton of sense
beyond their poetic sound (guillotines have ropes, whereas garrotes
depend on wire for their impact, and "garroting wire" fits
the space, but I guess more people know guillotine than know
garrote.) It must be remembered, however, that the line "I pack
a chainsaw/and skin your ass raw" from "Break Stuff"
by Limp Bizkit makes about as little sense and that tune was one of
their biggest hits.
Before
founding Sumo Cyco as an effort to gain more control of her career
and move to a more rock/punk/metal sound Sever recorded two pop
albums of a style and quality to earn her a spot as opening act for a
Britney Spears tour. Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of her
current sound with its reliance on strings and drums, high-quality
production values and very little reliance on digital wizardry and
synthesizer. Given the probable trajectory of a pop career, the move
to punk and metal assures Sever/Sweetnam a longer career, more
independence and more artistic integrity.
Given
the quality of Lost
in Cyco City,
I can only hope that career, independence and integrity continues,
pushing Sever to keep punching out singles and albums. We'll all
benefit, and maybe Britney Spears will take some advice and do the
same - it would certainly be better entertainment than watching her
shave her head.
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