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 ā€œVice 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 (ā€œRestlessā€) to the condition. Itā€™s that very uneasiness ā€“ an unwillingness to choose the treadmill over the triathlon ā€“ that fuels the bandā€™s forays into new musical territory and Jon Foremanā€™s unflinchingly honest lyrics. You can hear the tension build along with the first chords of album openerĀ ā€œAfterlife,ā€Ā leading into a bold statement of intent: ā€œIā€™ve tasted fire Iā€™m ready to come alive/I canā€™t just shut it up and fake that Iā€™m alright/Iā€™m ready now/Iā€™m not waiting for the afterlifeā€¦.I believe we start forever now.ā€Ā (Bobbie Gale/Ashley White/Bighassle.com)

Songs likeĀ ā€œAfterlifeā€Ā andĀ ā€œThe War Insideā€ take the harder-edged approach ofĀ Hello HurricaneĀ a step further, creating whatĀ BillboardĀ has called ā€œpowerful, anthemic rockersā€¦like an amalgamation of U2ā€™s ā€˜Achtung Baby,ā€™ Linkin Park.ā€ Overall,Ā Vice VersesĀ is a more eclectic collection than its predecessor with quiet gems likeĀ ā€œSouvenirsā€Ā and the title track butting up against the infectiousĀ ā€œThe Original,ā€reminiscent of Foo Fighters, and the biting, largely spoken-wordĀ ā€œSelling the News.ā€Ā The latter is a poetry slam Beck-meets-Beastie Boys style examination of a media-mad nation: ā€œAmerica 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 ainā€™t just what it appears/weā€™re 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.

Photo by Andy Barron

Laters,

Logan Westom
www.loganwestom.comĀ