Search - House of Heroes :: Suburba

The music is tight and the vocals ROCK!

Carmen Metcalfe | Jacksonville, Florida | 08/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got hooked on House of Heroes with the album "The End Is Not The End", it had excellent lyrics and was just an overall great album. I love how this band really knows who they are as musicians and delivers every time. As to be expected from this group, this new album brings a lot of rock with very powerful lyrics that will put a smile on your face. The production of Suburba is as close to perfect as is physically possible: the drums are punchy, the guitars are driven without losing clarity, the vocals are crisp and clear and the background instrumentation and effects are non-obtrusive while layering the sound. Simply put, the music is tight and the vocals ROCK. I love playing this album loud! Buy this album, you won't be disappointed."

Really great album - but overshadowed by The End is Not the

T. Ching | SA, USA | 08/04/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I say I am a House of Heroes fan, that's an understatement. If there's a concert nearby, I'm there. If there's merchandise to be bought, it's mine. I'm still listening to House of Heroes' original works, such as Say No More, What you Want is Now, and of course their self-titled. Though HOH hasn't become mainstream quite yet, i'm proud of what they've managed to do and create a name for themselves, as well as amazing music.



Now onto the review for House of Heroes' latest work: "Suburba."



I really liked the beginning of this album. Once you start the first track, it's hits the ground at full steam and you're simply numbed by the power and beauty of the lyrics, beat, and vocals. I can't think of an album this year that has had a higher standard of quality. However, upon reaching the latter half of the album, only a few songs really caught my interest. I could write on and on and on about the album itself, but I'm sure a listing of tracks with a brief (or not too brief) would be preferred. So here we go.



1. Relentless - The songs starts in an extremely upbeat feel and tune, and the chords bring reminiscence of the album "Say No More." Sets a great tune for the album as a whole.



2. Elevator - Will undoubtedly become a personal favorite by many fans. Props to AJ Babcock, bass player on their team - he made this song magical with it's insanely catchy beat and progression. This song is unique and unfortunately no song comparison to any previous works and other artists come to mind. You simply have to listen to this song to see for yourself if it's what you like.



3. Love is for the Middle Class - My God. What a great song. Just like elevator it is extremely poppy (but in a good way, i swear), minus the heavy bass. The entire song is cleverly written ("I said I better make the cash, love is for the middle class"). This song as well is unlike anything House of Heroes is done - but again...so good.



4. So Far Away - By now most artists will have faltered in delivering catchy songs, in an album. But of course, House of Heroes ain't no 'most artists.' So Far Away sustains the magic of the album through a series of progression that really bring out the beauty of Tim Skipper's vocals. If you ever have the time, check out the lyrics as well - great for relating to those that are in a difficult spot.



5. God Save the Foolish Kings - this song switches the mood of the album back to the power pop filled with amazing riffs done by Tim himself. Also guest singing is Stephanie Smith, a label mate of House of Heroes. If you hate everything about rock, pop, and music in general - this songs throws that all out and forces one to reconsider the power of music. One line I find inspiring as a growing Christian - "But I met God on the street tonight, and he said 'Choose your battles wisely, or you'll never find me.'" This track is probably the most well known of the album, and most importantly, my favorite of all 12.



6. Salt in the Sea - close your eyes and imagine yourself in a cove seeing the calm of the ocean and waves rolling gently onto the sandy beach. that's my immediate reaction to this song. the album switches back to a soothing and calming tone. Drums take a step back and chord progression in sync with Tim's vocals take the lead. Again, a great song that sustains the beauty that only House of Heroes can realize.



7. Independence Day For a Petty Thief - This song feels like a throwback to the old days of HOH, specifically Say No More and their Self-titled. I.E - harder riffs, and vocals that are less soothing. This song is relatively the hardest one in the album. roughly halfway through the song, their is a tone change, and becomes heavily beat oriented with several segments that define classic rock. I didn't quite click with this track, but maybe after a few listens i'll reconsider.



8. Somebody Knows - I'm not quite sure what Huose of Heroes was going for, a semi country rock track that's oddly out of place, or an experimental song that shows the diversity of the album. Had this been HOH's first album, I'd give more slack, but this track feels forgettable, especially compared to their better tracks that is has been preceded by.



9. Disappear - this track adopts a sense of being in a dream very early on. It is decidely slower than the first 7 tracks, and most vocals are done at a lower volume. Just long the previous song, I felt that House of Heroes could have done better with the consistency in the track.



10. She Mighty Mighty - definitely the oddest track on the album, in my opinion. Just take a quick look at the lyrics - "She so powerful. My lady, undeniable,

She drop bombs of truth till your defenses fall." The song takes on a tone of heavy riffs backed by an even heaver bass, and a steady drum beat. And the song is entirely devoted to this lady. Again, I'll have to give this song a few more listens before I can truly decide if it's a mediocre song or passable. One thing is clear - it's not the best track by far on the album.



11. Constant - Immediately the song starts with a strong country riff (if that's the correct term... O.o). Anyways, this song is one of the slower ones on the album. However after a streak of 3 mediocre songs HOH pulls out and delivers with "Constant." With a strong chorus:



"All through the night I was fallin'

Straining to hear your voice callin'

You never gave out

You never gave in

You never quite gave up on me

You are my constant"



this song comes to my close favorite of the album, as I see myself in this song, as well as my relationship to Jesus.



12. Technically this is the last song of the album (however, the amazon album exclusive edition has another song). I didn't quite think this was an apt ending for the album. The song takes on a very heavy tone, and even bordering on becoming dreary. Think of latter parts in "Field of Daggers" from The End is Not the End. I understand that this song was meant to be more of a message than as a track to blast on your way down to work, but I just didn't quite go for it even as a message song. Give it a try yourself, it's definitely unique.



13. THE SUPER SECRET TRACK! also known as "Galveston." This song is Train on red bull. It's bursting the seams with energy and spirit that makes it such a great ending to the album. It's so much fun to listen to that I can see myself playing this as my 'wake up in the morning, feeling like P. Diddy' replacement song. Just be warned - this is an amazon exclusive download and can be gotten only from the 2.99 album download (which is seriously...seriously a great deal).



Conclusion:

okay, so maybe you didn't feel like reading all descriptions of the tracks - so i'll say make my conclusion short and to the point: it's the best piece of music this summer, possibly this year. The only thing it competes with is HOH's previous work, The End is Not The End, which in my humble opinion is a more complete album that better shows the talent of the band. But honestly, don't let that discourage or turn you down from listening to this album - because you'll be missing out on one of the best musical sequels ever created this decade."

House of Heroes [Suburba]

Kevin R. Davis | Perkasie, PA | 08/16/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Suburba is an album like nothing else you will hear today. Since last album The End Is Not The End, I've been convinced that House of Heroes is the top punk band in all of Christian music. With this album, they are now my favorite punk band in all of rock music. I am a long-time fan of Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, Plain White T's, Death Cab for Cutie and Relient K. If you like those bands, get this album immediately. House of Heroes won me over 2 years ago with "If," "Lose Control," "In The Valley of the Dying Sun" and "Field Of Daggers." I have had the privilege to see the band in concert twice and heard them perform a few songs from this new album last month. If you like what you hear on this album, don't miss out on seeing them perform live. I haven't seen many bands who are even better in concert at performing incredibly tight guitar riffs and singing amazing harmonies than on the studio recording. House of Heroes are the real deal.



Suburba is hooky, ambitious, and dripping with honest, candid emotion. This is what a rock record is supposed to sound like. This is what a rock record is supposed to feel like. "I like this album because we chose to write about things that we knew," states frontman Tim Skipper. "We wanted it to sound very American and full of youthful energy. We kept a lot of what we loved about the last record, but we just applied it differently and I think it came out exactly the way we wanted it to. This record is about growing up in middle class suburbia," states Skipper. "It's about fighting for your own identity in the face of society's ideas about love, money, religion and power. It's about having big dreams and going after them with reckless abandon, yet having to reconcile the fact that things aren't always going to go your way. And it's about realizing, throughout all of it, that God is real and is the one constant among all the variables of life."



The opening moments of the first track "Relentless" will appeal to any fan of 1980's electronic rock. The mix of diverse musical styles with Tim Skipper's amazing vocals are an incredible combination that gets better and better with each album. The standout songs on Suburba include the anthemic album opener, "Relentless," "Elevator," "So Far Away," "Salt In The Sea" and the epic "Independence Day For A Petty Thief." House of Heroes went the extra mile this time around to create lyrics that are cool, calculated, and crafty, while remaining vertical all the while. On "God Save the Foolish Kings" they comment on the search for significance: "And we fight `cause we'd rather break our bones than brave this loneliness, And we draw blood `cause we're just trying to draw out some significance, But I met God on the street tonight, He said, "Choose your battles wisely or you'll never find me." On "Love Is For the Middle Class," they comment on materialism and unconditional love: "If all I gave was love, Would you give up on me? But if you measure love in false securities, I owe you nothin' at all.." Perhaps the most poignant moment of all on the record comes in its most worshipful, on the track "Constant," where House of Heroes simply states the following: "All thru the night I was fallin', Straining to hear your voice callin'. You never gave out. You never gave in. You never quite gave up on me. You are my constant."



CLOSING THOUGHTS

Suburba is without a doubt the top punk rock album of the year. I can't get enough of this album and expect multiple GMA and GRAMMY award nominations for this album. If you haven't jumped on the House of Heroes bandwagon, don't wait any longer. This album will stay in heavy rotation for me and although I didn't think it was remotely possible to match the intensity and brilliance of The End Is Not The End, after constant listening of Suburba, I'm now convinced that this is their best overall album and one of my top 5 albums of 2010."