ON GLASSJAW’S EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANT TO KNOW ABOUT SILENCE
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 3:06pm by Mike Gitter
[After we completed our much ballyhooed 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century... So Far countdown last month, we invited all of the inhabitants of the MS Mansion to submit an "Albums We Wish Made the List" piece. Former Roadrunner Records A&R guru Mike Gitter, who was a member of the voting panel that constructed the list, asked us if he could submit an album he wished made the list as well, and we've posted his writeup below. Whether taken as part of our "21 Best" list or on its own as a regular editorial piece, it's a great look into a great album. Enjoy. -Ed.]
Boys will be boys…and boys get fucked over. And they hate girls. And instead of acting like a buncha homos, ‘writing love on their arms’ or any of those slogans you seen them pussies flagging t-shirts for at Bamboozle, Glassjaw laid down the bitchslap in-extremis. Everything You Ever Want To Know About Silence is a friggin’ landmark. A record that broke with their local Long Island hardcore tradition – counting lurvely lads from the likes of Silent Majority and that little know Jew Crew Sons of Abraham – and staked out some entirely new sonic turf. Think Bad Brains rapturous riff-o-rama, V.O.D.’s blazing intensity and a razor sharp lyrical sense from not-so-sucka MC Darryl Palumbo, now of dance-rockers Head Automatica.
When ETYEWTKAS hit in 2000 it set forth a tidal-wave of boys who wanted to talk about their feelings. Oh please. Granted some pretty decent brine washed out in the wake: The Used, etc…Glassjaw, like Faith No More before them, are also responsible for giving the world some of the worst music you probably ever wanted to hear. They also bore the curse of being criminally ahead of their time. Sure, there’s a zillion nausea-inducing, brightly colored T-shirts on the wall at the local Hot Topic that might as well have “Generation Screamo” plastered on the back. Glassjaw bear the minimum-wage honor of making a brave noise without context. Alternative Press had some uninformed goob of a writer give the record the lowest marks possible and brand it as “rap rock”. I think he meant “rape rock” given the He-Man-Wimmen-Hater’s-Club verve going on here. Thankfully, he was tossed in the mag’s dungeon of delights for a weekend with Rob Halford and a boom-box blasting The Mentor’s “Up The Dose”.
OK, so no biggie that Ross Robinson made Vanilla Ice and Tura Satana records prior to this. A couple of belches, burps and hocking of loogies on opener “Pretty Lush” and you know there’s niceties within. Current T-shirt magnate Justin Beck lays it on with switcheroo Dr. Know via Johnny Marr via Kevin Shields via Vinnie Stigma craftiness. By the time you get to the first chorus of bad-girl-done-me-wrong missive “Love Bites and Razorlines,” you know that Palumbo has it in him to be the voice of a frustrated generation. Kinda like Morrisey but straight and somehow able to tell the ho’s that he’s “too fly and shy” whilst asking them “Who ya fucking now?!?”
Calling Maury Povich to abused women’s shelter!
Incidentally, has anyone noticed how many young’uns pick lyrics and titles from this record for their Myspace handles? Did the swooping haircut scene miss the point so badly or are they every bit as culturally fucked, beaten and bruised as everything Darryl screams about here? Then again, look at those fucking Draven shoe ads where the ladies look like “wild-ing” victims so guys from shitty bands can swipe their slip-ons.
Did I mention that Robinson grabbed a shit-hot drummer from the local Jewish Community Center? Sammy Siegler, Youth Crew emeritus (Youth of Today Side By Side, Judge….) is equally at home being jazzy and minimalist on “Her Middle Name Was Boom” as he is beating the shit out of the double pedal on “Pushing and Shoving (She Should Have Let Me Sleep)”. Whilst Siegler’s tenure here was as a session guy, his playing is completely underrated. Quick Nu-Metal fun-fact. Ross had Sammy provide the funky-fresh beats on Limp Bizkit’s then-swansong The Unquestionable Truth Vol. 1.
EYEWTAS closes with two songs that sum up everything that has come before. The title track is as affecting and at points beautific as anything on the record as Palumbo tells tale of his hospital confinement for his long-running battle with Crohns disease, ending with the simple statement: “This is what it’s like to be alone.” Of course, he couldn’t leave it at that, tearfully blurting out “Sexual debauchery, you fucking cunt!” at the close of “Motel of The White Locust.” That kinda bi-polar wisdom sums up why this record still resonates so damn hard. Sure, Glassjaw did follow this up with the much more sedate “Worship and Tribute” with a promised follow-up now approaching Chinese Democracy levels of anticipation, but ETEWTKAS remains their true towering inferno of uneasy listening.
-MG
Great album, really cool dudes. I ran into the band at a mall in Albany and they were really down to Earth. Daryl signed a ticket stub I had in my wallet for the V.O.D. show they opened and was humbled that I knew who his band was and that I was a fan. I had a chance to hangout with him again about a year ago after a Head Automatica show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC. After the set he spun records and D.J.ed until the wee hours of the morning. The cool thing was that he let everyone come on stage and party w/ him.
I can’t wait for the new glassJAw EP and Head Automatica LP. Also, House of Blow should be pretty amazing, considering Sean Martin left Hatebreed and is now dedicated to the project full time, and you can’t overlook United Nations and Cardboard City. Daryl Palumbo has his hands in every facet of music, which makes him a rockstar in his own right.
Although I absolutely agree with quality of this album, I still wonder if this review by a Road Runner A&R guy has anything to do with the fact that this album is being re-released as a a ten year anniversary edition. Too bad the review made no sense what so ever. Either way, I’ll definitely be at the Nassau show this Fall.
“You can lead a whore to water, and bet she’ll drink and follow orders.”
Great album!! Nice to see it here. But to little or no controvercy, what’s going on?
anyone know what this dude is talking about?
anyone?
Yeah this was all over the place.
This album, however, is fuckin’ awesome.
this album is killer ….hope new stuff will be as good.
He is talking about…uhh….I can only assume a shitty band. If the article mentions Head Automatica, Vanilla Ice, and rap-rock, I tune the fuck out. A&R guru huh? Makes sense…
Good thing you put those things in context when you read them…
Just do my part
i feel like when i say what im going to say here im doing my service as a citizen of the united states of america.
your dumb.
Your dumb. Wow. My dumb what? What do I possess that is dumb? I think you are missing an apostrophe and the letter “e”.
you don’t understand because your dumb
Ok crank…I can help out here. “You’re dumb”. See how it makes sense now? It’s ok if you still don’t get it. You might have “tuned the fuck out” half-way through without getting the point. Do some research and you might learn something.
Great record. His girlfriend literally prostitued herself out to buy coke whilest he was in the hospital. Most of the hatred is pretty justified I think. Dude above me starts his name with sinista, of course he wouldn’t have heard this record.
Its not that I haven’t heard of it, its that his rambling in the article makes it almost impossible to discern what he is talking about. Fuck Glassjaw and fuck Head Automatica. Also, what the fuck is that sinista reference?
Ah I see, I flew off the handle there. My fault, I accept full responsibility. You meant the guy all the way at the top. Oops. Oh well, what I say still applies save for the sinistra thing….
also not that i haven’t heard it, actually i think i saw them open for deftones in the distant past (2000-2001ish?) but this writeup is complete nonsense. If some “record exec” wrote this bullshit about one of my all time favorite bands, i’d still have to scratch my head
I bought this album when I was in 9th grade because Circus Magazine told me I should like it. I tried to like it for several years until I realized it sucked. Then I found out the singer is in Head Automatica now . . . what?
“Glassjaw laid down the bitchslap in-extremis.”
you must be kidding. this album is ultimate pussy whining dumpee bitchcore.
have you actually listen to this album?
…let me answer that for you…
no.
now let me respond to your answer
you shouldn’t talk about something you know nothing about.
Good Talk
Favorite album of all time, glad to see MetalSucks likes it. Can’t wait for them to come to the west coast.
Nowhere close to metal, but definitely the best album to come out of the screamo genre.
I love me some glassjaw, but I like Worship and Tribute better…Tip Your Bartender is the shit! There live shows were always crazy as fuck!!
Listened to it the other day and it still holds up. Insane lyrics.
Amazing fucking record. Most bands that have songs about a fucked up relationship will never be this angry, unless you’re Converge.
i’m confused… what’s he talking about? and don’t call me dumb, i just don’t understand what’s his point…
i thought this album came out in 1999, which is why I didn’t make a stink about it not making the list. Knowing now it’s from 2000, I think it’s a tad ridiculous this wasn’t included by metalsucks. While it isn’t as outwardly metal as lamb of god or mastodon, it certainly played an integral part in the development of metalcore.
The write up was kind of all over the place but Yes! This album fucking rules.. And even if it’s not tr00 metal type metal, it’s one of the angriest albums i’ve ever heard, and i think any young male can identify…
Great record, awful write-up. A bit of quality control, or perhaps some editing, would be welcome.
An even better band live. I saw them open for Shelter and had no idea who they were and they were great.
one of my favorite records of all time…
“pack your shit and leave, take my memories of with you, pack your shit and leave”