Review: Rapid Cities - Machinery Saints

Label: Love/Hate Records

Released: May 2009

In some cases, albums where a band knows exactly where they're going and how they'll get there deliver a level of perfection that earlier albums hadn't. However, there is an urgency that blossoms from the creative free-for-all of a band finding their way as they go. There's a visceral energy that perfection just can't achieve. Rapid Cities may not be conscious of this fact, simply because they're in the thick of it.

Machinery Saints flows with the wild abandon of creativity that can't be restrained. They travel the roads of post-hardcore without regard for safety, attacking the sharp angles and starts and stops and stutters with more rage than plan. Oddly enough though, they remained focused, probably by sheer inertia, and their creativity delivers even as it evolves. While there is more than a hint of math rock throughout the album, the band does their math in their heart, not just their head. Feeling their way rather than planning it doesn't dispel their confidence, but rather bolsters it by simple force of will. Amazing.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

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