Chiodos
All's Well That Ends Well
Review by Annamarya Scaccia
Chiodos is achieving fame, but a little too quickly it seems. It's only because the sound this Davidson, MI emocore act puts out is just so immature. Immature because, while the sextet may mix discordant melodies with high-pitched growls and lyrics found in a 16-year-olds diary, they're just not there yet, and their Equal Vision debut, "All's Well That Ends Well" is a strong testament to that.
What "All's Well That Ends Well" confirms is that, collectively, vocalist Craig Owens, keyboardist/vocalist Radley Bell, guitarists Pat McManaman and Jason Hale, and drummer Matt Goddard aren't sure how to handle what burns deep inside them. On "Baby, You Wouldn't Last a Minute on the Creek" (reference to "Dawson's Creek" perhaps?), Chiodos overstep their bounds with whiney vocal shrills and marginal guitar flourishes, conveying that the gents are victims of typical "teenage angst" rather than incredibly hurt by someone, something, somewhere.
It's a formula the band deplorably follows through for most of "All's Well That Ends Well," excluding the preludes and interludes that find their way between all the uncertainties of the album. On "We're Gonna Have Us A Champagne Jam," the lyrics lack certain ingenuity (Owens obnoxiously yells, "I stumbled when I saw your intention/I screamed from my eyes from compassion for you!/Hoping words could/Hoping words could move you"). A keyboard breakdown drives its way three minutes into the song, only to play the track, and instead of translating Owens' supposed heartache, Bell trolls into an anticlimactic opus that, coupled with Owens' dulcet pipes, achieves nothing.
"All's Well That Ends Well" could be a well-deserving massive hit if only Chiodos knew how to take what they were feeling and, in some unique and passionate way, were able to make their listeners feel it too. It's something they could have done if only they just paid more attention to it, but alas, they've failed. Better luck next time, guys.