Strung Out--Exile in Oblivion
First of all, Strung Out is the real deal. With their latest release, Exile in Oblivion, the So Cal veterans show the kids what punk music is all about. It's fast, hard, violent, political, angry.
Exile demonstrates that Strung Out are great at channeling their split personality, delivering melodic pop songs like "Swan Dive" one minute and then pulverizing listeners with hardcore rants like "Katatonia" the next.
While many early-90s punk units have disbanded (Face to Face) or have simply succumb to putting out sub-par records (Pennywise), Strung Out have taken a different approach. They don't tour endlessly and they taken a bit more time between releases. The result is songs that sound-if not exactly new-relevant, passionate and powerful.
Exile is strong from beginning to end, with less poppy tracks than the usual Strung Out record. However, "Anna Lee" and "The Misanthropic Effect" do fall into the sing-along category. "Analog" and "Blueprint of the Fall" give Strung Out fans everything they need.
Thank you, Strung Out, for again putting an album out that we can't listen to while our mother is in the car.
THE SKINNY: Hooray for Punk Rock Violence
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