Reviews

Years ago (too many to think about) a punk rock compilation landed in my hands and launched an obsession.  Cinema Beer Nuts was the title, and though I ended up purchasing many of the records by many of the bands, Ignite was not one of them.  Today I am kicking myself. So hard. If only I had purchased the Past Our Means EP then this would be a glorious recounting of Ignite’s noble career.  Instead, this is a holy fuck! I’ve been sleeping on this band for no good reason! Our Darkest Days is the best album so far in 2006, and I feel like I should have seen it coming since I was 13.
 
From the building and swelling of Intro (Our Darkest Days), Ignite lets melodic hardcore ring out with passion and sincerity.  Zoli Teglas’ voice resounds with an intimacy and a vulnerability that may surprise, seeing as it has been six years since he last put it to tape.  Zoli’s voice engages, but it his lyrics that ensnare.  I didn’t get a lyric sheet, but at one point in Fear Is Our Tradition we start getting into the details of Russian history.  An overwhelming desire to understand permeates the album, a desire to improve, and a genuineness that makes it all so beautiful.  Cheap gimmicks?  None.  There’s just no time for them when a band has this much to say.
 
Ignite remains political and inspirational and always strikes the perfect balances between melody and rhythm, high-pitched singing and gruff backing vocals, endearing personal songs with great lyrics “Budapest, Los Angeles/ I drank a river to forget,” and evocative songs with great lyrics, “Lead the boys off to war just to throw them away.” 
 
The second quote is from an amazing song called Bleeding, and if there was an ounce of justice in this world, that would be the song of the summer, not AFI’s craptacular Miss Murder which seems destined for the title.  Our Darkest Days is the album that AFI always should have made, but never did: beautiful and nuanced but without sacrificing the hard edge which drew so many to them in their early incarnations.
 
Complaints?  Well, lacking the booklet gives me no room to critique the art so I’ll have to stick with criticizing U2.  Ignite covers U2, a band I hate, and the choose to cover Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song that Evergreen Terrace covers on every single release they put out, and that frankly, I am just sick of.  Luckily, that’s not the last track on the album so the bad taste doesn’t remain in your mouth for too long.  Our Darkest Days closes out with a terrific rousing acoustic song Live For Better Days, which in turn fades out into erethral singing and finally Zoli singing a dirge in what I can only assume is Hungarian.
 
This record is amazing start to finish: no easy feat considering just how much is packed into each of the fourteen songs.  A must buy.