On September 27th multi-platinum band Switchfoot will release their eighth studio record titled Vice Verses. But before that they will perform a concert at the Spokane County Fair Grandstand on Friday August 16, 2011. Like many bands with a new record due out soon, they will in no doubt play a few of their new songs. After giving their new album a listen, it has made me extremely excited to see them on Friday.Ā āVice VersesĀ is a record of tension and release. It’s an attempt to describe the polarity of the human experience. The sunlight and shadow. The highs and lows, laughter and pain, hope and fear, doubts and belief,ā says lead singer/guitarist Jon Foreman. The concert will have everything, so don’t miss out. But if you do look back here two days after the show the to read about it and see a bunch of photos.
Vice VersesĀ is the work of a band that is so restless, they devote an entire song (āRestlessā) to the condition. Itās that very uneasiness ā an unwillingness to choose the treadmill over the triathlon ā that fuels the bandās forays into new musical territory and Jon Foremanās unflinchingly honest lyrics. You can hear the tension build along with the first chords of album openerĀ āAfterlife,āĀ leading into a bold statement of intent: āIāve tasted fire Iām ready to come alive/I canāt just shut it up and fake that Iām alright/Iām ready now/Iām not waiting for the afterlifeā¦.I believe we start forever now.āĀ (Bobbie Gale/Ashley White/Bighassle.com)
Songs likeĀ āAfterlifeāĀ andĀ āThe War Insideā take the harder-edged approach ofĀ Hello HurricaneĀ a step further, creating whatĀ BillboardĀ has called āpowerful, anthemic rockersā¦like an amalgamation of U2ās āAchtung Baby,ā Linkin Park.ā Overall,Ā Vice VersesĀ is a more eclectic collection than its predecessor with quiet gems likeĀ āSouvenirsāĀ and the title track butting up against the infectiousĀ āThe Original,āreminiscent of Foo Fighters, and the biting, largely spoken-wordĀ āSelling the News.āĀ The latter is a poetry slam Beck-meets-Beastie Boys style examination of a media-mad nation: āAmerica listens the story is told/the hard sell, all caps, all boldā¦begging the question mongering fears/stroking the eye and tickling ears/the truth aināt just what it appears/weāre selling the news.ā (Bobbie Gale/Ashley White/Bighassle.com)
Even if Switchfoot does not play any of the new songs off their Vices Verses you know that a multi-platinum band with eighth studio records is not going to disappoint or their would not still be recording new records and touring. So be sure to head out to the Switchfoot concert on Friday August 16, 2011. If your not in the Spokane area be sure to buy their record when it comes out on September 27th.
Laters,
Logan Westom
www.loganwestom.comĀ