‘We Are The Problem’ is the 2006 album release from the American punk rock band that is the U.S. Bombs. The album was released through People Like You Records and features fifteen tracks. For the most part the music is straight up punk rock here, there are however a couple of different tracks thrown into the mix for good measure also. I’ve never been a huge fan of the bands lead vocalist Duane Peters, I have however in the past been impressed with the instrumental work of the U.S. Bombs and as always the sound created by the band here is really quite instrumentally impressive.
The album opens with title track ‘We Are The Problem’, immediately you are struck by the bands really rather amateur vocal approach and this I feel is the main failing of the music here. Duane Peters is not a good singer, he’s also a professional skateboarder however and I think that it’s safe to say that the man is a far better skateboarder than he is or ever will be a vocalist. There’s just no passion behind the voice whatsoever here, no personality in the performance and therefore the vocal sound created here is really rather lacking. There are few times here when the vocals sound fairly reasonable, with such tracks as ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’, ‘Destroy the Nation’, and ‘Locked in My Skin’ the vocal tone taken is fairly adequate; even here however the vocal sound is not spectacular.
Instrumentally the sound created here is fairly basic, there is however some strong guitar work and excellent drumming showcased to keep you reasonably entertained. There’s not much variation in the instrumental department, it’s interesting enough though and if you can overlook the serious lack of imagination here then the album is really quite instrumentally enjoyable.
‘Heartbreak Motel’ is one of the few tracks here that does something a little different to the bands punk rock norm; the track is progressed by the sound of the piano, and lyrically here the issue of drug use/abuse is looked into. It’s not a serious track, the lyrics are quite fun, and although fairly boring to listen to musically; if you listen to the lyrics you’ll get far more out of this track than if you don’t. ‘Just Like You’ is another track from this album that’s a bit different; the sound is hard to define but it’s certainly a different sound to what is produced by the band for much of this album here. Vocally is where the main variation lies, something that does in fact benefit the band hugely as Duane Peters vocals here sound less lacklustre than ever. It’s not a great piece of music, the vocals are certainly more entertaining to listen to though and in my opinion this is a massive plus point about the track.
If you like the vocal tone of Duane Peters then I’m sure that you’ll love this album; personally I think the man has got a terrible voice though and with every passing track here the vocal drone just seems to get increasingly flatter. 38 minutes of music are contained within this album, pretty good value really for all major U.S. Bombs fans out there of the world; if you’re not already a U.S. Bombs enthusiast however then this will not be the album to convert you. This is punk rock music at its most basic and boring, it’s not exactly punk rock gold but this ‘We Are The Problem’ album does possess a couple of vaguely interesting tracks that should reasonably entertain.
Label: I Used To Fuck People Like You In Prison Records
Release Date: April 4th 2006
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.