Before your red flag goes up, we are not talking about the "crab-core" group, Attack Attack. Don't worry; I was wary of the same thing. No, Attica! Attica! is the complete opposite. It's the moniker undertaken by De La Hoya and Marathon vocalist, Aaron Scott, for his solo folk-punk project. In September of 2009, he released his second full length, Napalm & Nitrogen, but it was only available digitally. Fast forward a year and a half and Black Numbers Records made it available to audiophiles everywhere on a limited run of color vinyl with the addition of a new song.
Napalm & Nitrogen is about what you could expect from a folk-punk artist. However, Aaron's got a better grasp on melody than most these days and adds his own twist to it. He opens the album with "Elk Rock Island," where Scott sings of archaic and organic themes with a distinct voice to nothing more than the comforting tone of his guitar. He picks up the pace on the more aggressive "Five Year Plan," while "Hobo Chili" just calls for a room full of dancing and singing along. Following is "Catch Me if You Can" which has Scott returning to the more warm tone presented in the album's opener. The next track, "Sunday Blues," relieves some tension with a soft and soothing melody, and contains some of Scott's best vocals in the chorus.
Aaron's got two tracks on the album that change up the format a bit by replacing his guitar with a piano. The first, and weaker of the two, is "Tyler and Maria Were Right." It's a beautiful track, but I do find myself skipping it often. Fortunately, it's contrasted with the faster, more upbeat De La Hoya cover, "The Children of the Broken Glass." After the next song, "I Need A Better Cyrano," we reach the second of the piano ballads, "I Knew I Shoulda Taken That Left Turn at Albuquerque." Aaron Scott's vocals and music style has been described as having a hint of Broadway influence, and I would say it shows the most on this track. Soon we reach the album's original closer, "The End of Art," before the new track for the vinyl release, "The Good Ones Go First." While it's a nice bonus with it's additional guitar track and accordion, it would have been better off placed somewhere other than the end of the album since "The End of Art," wrapped things up on the perfect note.
If you haven't checked out Attica! Attica! yet, I highly suggest picking up the new vinyl release of Napalm & Nitrogen. Aaron Scott's a great songwriter and lyricist that has been earning more and more of this writer's respect with expressing great ideals and devotion to the DIY work ethic. It's been awhile since it's original release, so I can only hope he has more on the way soon.
Enter for a chance to win copy of the album by August 1st here:
