Band: Advantage
Title: Say Your Best, Do Your Worst
Label: N/A
Release Date: 2009
Review By: Scott L
Tracklisting:
01. Something More
02. Falling Down
03. The Menace
04. Place To Call Home
05. No One Cares
06. Let It Go
07. Living To Die
08. Better Off Without You
09. What You Wanna Hear
10. Elliot
11. Everything’s Fine
12. Slow Down
13. I’m Alive
14. Lost In Eternity
There are some CDs that have you jumping up and down because they just do everything right. And then there are some CDs that have you clawing at your ears in a fruitless attempt to stop the torture. I think this CD lands right about in the middle. I wasn’t awestruck by it… but I wasn’t crouching in the corner, holding my head, and babbling “make it stop” either. For what it’s worth, there were things that I liked… and there were things that I didn’t like.
Advantage is a 4-piece out of San Francisco, California. Arising from the ashes of what was once The Quick And The Dead, Advantage takes much of the same sound and add to it a dash of pop and a dash of punk. And, no, that doesn’t mean that they’re pop-punk… far from it.
“Say Your Best, Do Your Worst” is 14 songs and lasts almost 45 minutes. Unfortunately, much of what you get during those 45 minutes is pretty indistinguishable from one track to the next. There are touches of diversity here and there, but for the most part it’s all pretty similar. Add to that the fact that the vocals have a tendency to grate on you… and I have to admit that this wasn’t the easiest CD for me to get into.
That’s not to say that there aren’t aspects of the CD to appreciate… like the opening track, “Something More” which shows off some crazy vocal range. And “Place To Call Home” which comes in with an almost hip hop vibe. Ultimately, if you’re a fan of The Quick And The Dead, chances are you’ll be able to get into these guys. I’d compare them to bands like The Years Gone By, Call It A Night, and Hometown Anthem… only not quite as polished.
Lyrically, Advantage wanders a little bit, but is for the most part creative and encouraging. “Living To Die” is a prime example. It starts off “if I could never have it better in my life / tell me why am I living to die / ‘cause everything I know I do inside / is contradicted when I hide / but I will try and do it right” before bringing it around, “I wanna know You’re there / I wanna feel your presence around me / I wanna be by Your side”.
The standout track was the CD opener, “Something More”. They chose this track to lead the way for a reason… it’s about as catchy as they come. And, again, the vocals are pretty sweet.
Overall: Advantage has put out a decent, albeit somewhat repetitive, release. There are bright spots in there and the potential is obvious. Personally, I would have scaled this down to 6 or 7 tracks and dropped an EP. But that’s just me.
www.myspace.com/advantage