Album review: The Hypnophonics' Last Band On Earth

In 2002, the "The" bands were everywhere- The Strokes, The Vines, The White Stripes- and media outlets went crazy, listing bands of the like as the new face of rock'n'roll. However, since then, the albums put out by these bands have continued to grow dusty on collector's CD racks throughout the world. Thankfully, no one told Montreal rockers The Hypnophonics about this. For a band that could "save" the genre, they would be just as happy to destroy it along the way as well, as long as it results in fast, furious, and thoroughly enjoyable music.

Indeed, with the new album from The Hypnophonics, Last Band On Earth, the genre of rock'n'roll is the easiest genre to fit the band into, as they stand comfortably outside of most genres, picking and choosing their style from the best aspects of each. The band have been listed as psychobilly- perhaps due to the pompadours and upright bass- but this is not entirely correct. There are aspects of punk and garage rock, but once again the band do not slide easily into one existing, pre-packaged category. And it is likely that the band wants to keep it that way.

What you see from the cover of Last Band On Earth is certainly not what you get. While the band looks goofy with paper 3-D glasses and slick pompadours, the album itself is a very well-crafted disc of pure energy. Though it is impossible to convey the energy that the band exhibits in a live show through a CD, the album comes pretty close. Each track is fast-paced enough to make fans wonder if the band members appear as mere blurs onstage.

From songs about romance gone horribly awry ("Dead Meat") to the idea of being stuck in one's ways ("Back to the Cave"), each song on the album has a different topic. Unlike bands that pick one topic and hammer out twelve songs about it, The Hypnophonics appear to have decided to craft songs based on what appears to be random thoughts, such as musings about rapists ("Romance With A Rapist) and crazy adolescents ("Youth on the Loose").

In all, Last Band On Earth is an album that one will not tire of quickly. From the quirky, random lyrics, to the high energy that could keep Red Bull addicts buzzed for hours on end, the album is the best album that all of those bands that were expected to save rock'n'roll never wrote.