Search - Custom :: Fast

It's not always about you, mister

schwartzla | Arizona | 04/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alright. First off I want to say that it is impossible for one to like this album just because they like the melodically good but greatly over-played "Hey Miser." This album is NOT about Hey Mister! Think more along the lines of Incubus really, really baked and a little pissed. (though Custom cannot beat Brandon's harmoniously blissful voice) This guy also brings to mind the music of Smashing Pumpkins, but his voice sounds nothing like Billy's whine. It is, however, very difficult to compare Custom to any other bands, because for one, he is a solo artist and therefore has a very unique but non-compilation sound (since he doesn't have band members to please, just himself). Don't get me wrong; each one of his songs is very different. He sounds like a cover artist almost, because he has so many different kinds of songs, but they all keep his own steady element to them. So here's and idea, if you don't have a good enough one yet:
"Beat Me" is melodic and catchy with the "woo woo, uh huh" in there, but with super crack charged lyrics; all I can say is that its good! Its similar to "Pepper" by Butthole Surfers (without the monotone voice) or "Loser" by Beck (but a little more powerful).
"Streets" is a great song because it starts out very mellow and all of a sudden breaks into rage. That sounds weird and really tacky, but he pulls it off quite well with some good old-fashioned power chords.
"Morning Spank" is probably the best song on this album, only rivaled by "Mess". Not only is this song a damn good piece of advice, it is also really catchy and just GREAT! There some weird parts where acts like the guy he's yellin at, but it totally works and its funny. The only down a part toward the end where he sounds like he is going into seizures; it reminds me of Jason from Korn, really. But that part is over soon enough and then it busts back into great Cake-esque drone with killer drums and good background horn.
"May" is my third favorite song mostly because it is a beautifully packaged song with a lot to say. Its the kind of song you think of when you are sitting in a dark, shady room, escaping the summer heat and stress. It's got a spot on up and down rhythm to it.
"Mess" is good! This is like ear candy. How can you go wrong with "but i bet they're not all super jinxed, black cloud, bad lucked sh**, magna psycho mood swing lunatics like me." all squeezed into 6 seconds. This song is addicting!"Daddy" is one of those songs that you have to listen to all the way through to really like. It has a great chorus in it that I have found myself jumpin around to in public grins. It's just great! You sorta start with a "Night at the Roxbury" head bang and it builds from there! There is a part where all the music stops and a choir just starts singin and it sounds like a southern hymn, minus the religious part!
"Like You" is also really good and very similar to "May." It gets a bit boring after you've heard it a few times, but its something you can always come back to because its just an overall melodramatic song. There is some good instrumental in it and he muted his voice a bit so that its very monotoned but the overall effect is very cool. It's like a calm, dreary rainstorm.
I'm not going to say anything about "Hey Mister" because that song is so overplayed that I have just started skipping over the track. If you haven't already heard it, you live in a hole.
All I really want to say is that this CD cannot be judged "Hey Mister." Do not buy it because you like that song. Listen to a few of the above mentioned tracks and if you like them, buy it. Everything on here is listenable. Its one of the few CDs that you can just put on repeat and listen to all the way through. It's a real emotion trip and it goes up and down a lot, but it's still a really good ride. I must say, however, and ever so bluntly, that you have no taste in rock music if you do not at least like one song on here. This is not poppy, R&B style crap, nor is it the "pop-punk" (punk music, by definition, cannot be "pop" so that is therefore an oxymoron and completely stupid) that's splattered all over MTV. It's grungy, with some alternative theory, a bit of metal, and a slight bit of hard emo. This album is an exceptional use of instrumental harmony (electric, acoustic, horns, symphony, synthesizer, great bass, etc.) and vocal variety (monotone, spastic, gospel choir, acapella, screaming, everything else). And hey, guess what, I'm gonna repeat again, ITS NOT HEY MISTER!"

Worth Adding to Your Collection

schwartzla | 05/14/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My husband had been humming the words to 'Hey Mister' at least a week, so I thought I would check the album out. I decided to purchase it after reading the online reviews. The reviews are right on: this is a great CD but it does try to cover too much ground stylistically. The strongest songs on the CD are the ones that have their own unique flavor. Definitely NOT the ones that reminds you of imitation Cure or Eels take off. However, I'll still listen to the album and love it because what's good is so very, very wickedly good. Even if 'Hey Mister' became popular by being banned, the lyrics are just a riot. 'Beat Me' is good and 'Morning Spank' is best at full volume, anytime. It the whole album could follow those harder lines instead of deviating so much, the album would never leave my CD player."

A solid debut

Griffin | illinois | 03/25/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Custom bursts out with clever lyrics on views ranging from sex to love and anger to hate.With help from Duncan Shiek,the music hits hard from begining to end with an abundance of diversity.I highly recommend this album to put you in a rockin' mood.Peace, love and brown rice.Yeah,Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"