Pierce The Veil’s Misadventures Is A Guilty Pleasure For Those With Short Attention Spans
By Jeff Feuerhaken
While many bands from the classic “Warped Tour Scene” have broken up and reunited, riding the changing tides of fickle-fan music popularity, San Diego’s Pierce The Veil never left. Sure, it’s been almost half a decade since their last full length effort, 2012’s Collide With The Sky, but the band had never officially gone on hiatus. Now with many of these genre acts such as Thrice and Saosin coming back to release powerhouse albums, how does Misadventures, the brand new album from Pierce The Veil, stack up against these veterans? In the band’s early years, they had typically seemed like the talented younger brother to the bigger bands from the scene. Sure, Pierce The Veil are clearly influenced by bands such as My Chemical Romance and Chiodos, but they’ve also always had more of a pop-music inspired approach which kept them more in touch with their younger fan base. Some of these pop-inspired characteristics, mainly the quality of Vic Fuentes’ voice, may have served as a roadblock for some older listeners, but those who have turned a deaf ear are missing out, because Misadventures signals Pierce The Veil as the torchbearers of the scene, passing down the music to the next generation.
It should come as no surprise to those familiar with the band that the musicianship on the album is exceptional. The guitar work of Fuentes and Tony Perry is damn impressive. There are plenty of uber-tight shred moments on the album, notably on the album’s opener “Dive In” and on “Today I Saw The Whole World”, but there are also some unusual chords and chord progressions at play that illustrate the unique musicality of the band. Drummer Mike Fuentes and bassist Jaime Preciado contribute solid playing to accentuate the various sections. One thing to note: For all the musical purists who love when bands take a “raw” approach to the studio, trying to keep the music as live as possible, Misadventures is so not for you. This album is one of the most “produced” records I’ve ever heard. But somehow this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In this case it just goes to show how much effort was put into every single second of this album. When you think about it that way, it’s no wonder it took Misadventures so long to record.
In terms of “moments”, this album is all over the place. All the changes in each of the songs practically require a Red Bull or two just to keep up with. As soon as the band seems to lock into a groove, they have this tendency to abandon it and jump right into something completely different. Normally this songwriting approach would alienate even the most dedicated listener, but the song craftsmanship on this album allows this technique to actually work. Each part is extremely well thought out and executed, and the parts always seem consistent to the respective song. Essentially, those with short attention spans are going to love this album. Did you get that? I said those with short attention spans are going to love this album. Hey! Focus! Look at me! Those with short attention-aw you get the picture.
