A Static Lullaby - Faso Latido
By Mark Hensch

Hailing from the Golden State, Orange County screamo outfit A Static Lullaby seem to be building a buzz more noisy and enraged than Africanized Bees getting sprayed with scalding water. Lullaby's mix of screaming vocals and serene or soaring melodies in the clean vocal style combine with jagged and stripped guitars to produce a brand of screamo that is poised to translate into mainstream success. A Static Lullaby will be touring shortly on The Taste of Chaos tour, placing them in an opening slot alongside top acts like The Used, My Chemical Romance, and Killswitch Engage. With this level of exposure now possible, the band has released a sophomore album that intends to hit the big time. Following the Withered EP and And Don't Forget to Breathe...., released in 2001 and 2003 respectively, ASL's new effort Faso Latido attempts to further the Lullaby sound and expand the fanbase, with a style both intense yet catchy.

The pathetic "Overture" isn't even a real song, and like many bands before them random noises are played out to start this album. Following the "Overture" comes "Smooth Modulator," a song that isn't completely smooth. In fact, if "Modulator" were to be transformed into a spread for food, I'd probably pick chunky peanut butter. The song is full of lumps that make it seem somewhat contrived and forced; echoing and slightly spacey guitars softly riff and float away into sparse air as vocalists Joe Brown, Dan Arnold (also a guitarist), and Phil Pirrone (also playing bass) trade bland screams and clean vocals. There's such an undefined and non-cohesive sound here that it almost   warrants a listen just to figure out how many styles the band attempted to mesh with mixed results. However, some decent guitaring (at least in this genre) make things bearable as the disc continues. 

"Stand Up" has a melodic lead to kick things off, and this tune warms the album up a tad with catchy beats and well-traded vocals. 

"Radio Flyer's Last Journey" spasms without warning, tossing a fit that seems slightly more emotionally involved than the previous songs. It's still a little neutral though and the song's mildly more "in-your-face" leanings  don't do much to the album's momentum. 

"Cash Cowbell" has an interesting guitar intro, with harmonious vocals and dueling notes. The song itself is solid and loaded with feedback blasts paired with mathy choruses. 

"Half-Man, Half-Shark, Equals One Complete Gentleman" is a song that starts to adventure past the door of tedium before it runs back inside, afraid of it's own daring. "Half-Man" slithers with soft, arena-rock worthy verses and soaring choruses that are gripping and emotional in a detached way. 

"Shotgun!" ambles in with some quiet drums and clean guitarwork. The result is a brooding and almost sinister ballad that builds steam ever so gradually before exploding in a screamo outburst. 

"Calmer than You Are" is one of the album's main standouts, and a great song that easily exceeds most of the others; piano keys, lead guitar sequences, and jangling drums collide in mid-air for some extraordinarily catchy interludes and this song kicks some life into what thus far has been almost evenly hit-and-miss. 

"Faso Latido" is laid-back and electic screamo, fusing arena rock and melodic hard rock for a subtle and ingraining tune. "Godbless You (God Dammit)" is forgettable due to its laid-back meandering. "Marilyn Monrobot" is an angry and static (if contained) rocker sorely needed, and "Modern Day Fire" is a strange fusion of many styles that is somewhat interesting. Closer "The Jesus Haircut" is bouncy and catching like the cold; jumpy and ADD-like guitars stop-and-start over drums and crooning for a soft yet invigorating jam.

A Static Lullaby is pretty uneven in their endeavors on Faso Latido. On the one hand, things are (at the best) catchy, mildly intricate, and oddly serene yet still holding the buzzing, edged rock that inspired ASL in the first place. On the flip side, songs on Laso Fatido tend to me it together rather easily; for all the band's attempts at fusing genres like a Frankenstein monster, rarely do they make something completely mind-blowing. It's as if one took several varied flavors of cheese and sprinkled them on a pizza soon to be baked; once all that cheese melts the variety doesn't exactly matter if all the cheese fuses together only to overwhelm the uniqueness that each and every flavor once had. 

Regardless, A Static Lullaby crafts a strange album; it's as if the band has tasted greatness and yet has not passed the cusp leading into it. Their namesake invokes being lulled to sleep, quietly and peacefully, to the sound of buzzing electronics. The buzzing is already there, and the band has just to increase the amplitude of their buzz rather than making us listeners a wee bit drowsy. All in all, a mixed success of an album and hopefully the start of something much greater to come. 
 

A Static Lullaby - Faso Latido
Label: Columbia
Rating: 
Release Date: April 05, 2005

Tracks:
1. Overture
2. Smooth Modulator
3. Stand Up
4. Radio Flyer's Last Journey
5. Cash Cowbell
6. Half-Man, Half-Shark, Equals One Complete Gentleman
7. Shotgun!
8. Calmer than You Are
9. Faso Latido
10. Godbless You (God Dammit)
11. Marilyn Monrobot
12. Modern Day Fire
13. The Jesus Haircut

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