Casey Jones, for those not in the know, is an unapologetically straightedge hardcore band. Originally a side project of Evergreen Terrace, this Florida based five-piece decided to make this band more "serious." They are more of a modern era hardcore group that has mid-to-fast paced music that sets up the crucial breakdown to mosh to. They do add hints of melody to their formula with dashes metallic riffage. The vocals have a different style at times that have truly unique sounding inflections that really caught me off guard.
The Messenger is the latest album from this tongue in cheek straightedge outfit. The production really makes the album sound good. The lead off track, "1 Out of Three has an STD," has a humorous set of lyrics. The verse part of the vocals has a kind of off kilter melodic arrangement that more than caught me off guard. I had to listen to the song a few times to truly process what was going on with them. "Lessons" has a different person doing the back up vocals that balance the lead vocalist rather well. The song kind of has elements that one would expect from a So Cal punk band.
The Messenger seems to get noticeably stronger from this point out. "Nothing to Lose" has a pretty good bass break that really kicks the rest of the song up a notch. "Any Port in the Storm" is my favorite track on the album. From start to finish it's a good song.
The opening has a great melodic guitar part, the chorus is catchy with more of those back up vocals that I spoke of earlier that round out the part nicely, and the outro is real good and finishes it off just right. "Sober" is pretty good, and "Medic" picks up the pace and
energy of the whole record. The guitar sounds on that song really stand out. "Bite the Dust" keeps this energy going, but the best part of this song is the unique rhythmic quality. It is unlike anything else on the album.
Casey Jones did a pretty nice job on this record. Any fan of the more modern style of hardcore would probably really get into what the band does on The Messenger. There are some good songs here that definitely had me bobbing my head.
