September 23, 2009

OK so, I’m so excited about new Strung Out that my pores are aching. I need new material, now and I need it to be good because once again their cover art doesn’t fill me with confidence.

Has anyone had a glimpse of the artwork? It looks like something my 17 year-old self would have thrown together in a hormonal frenzy in year 11 art. Cobras, machine guns, microphones and clenched fists bundled in perfect symmetrical composition with the timeless astrolux planted in the middle.

I always assumed most bands would have the maturity and frankly- the balls- to speak to one another about their artistic output. You know, if the guitar smacks of wank, or the vocals are out of key, they’d have a way of letting one another know without coming across as a complete ass. As a mere mortal I can’t begin to fathom how to tell someone their creative efforts suck, but bands have to have that shit sorted for the sake of survival. So why the hell hasn’t someone taken vocalist Jason Cruz aside and asked that he stop belittling the band with bad album covers?

Don’t get me wrong, I adore Cruz with all the stalker-ish fevor that a good fangirl should, but I truly believe album covers need to represent the music at hand. So if we apply this theory to Strung Out’s new album Agents of The Underground, it’s going to sound like my old high school band that exclusively specialised in Frogstomp covers.

Could be OK actually…