Paint It Black were one of my favorite bands in college (not that I stopped liking them, more of one of those “I’m in love with a different band/girl every week” kind of deals). I liked that the first record was essentially a “lets just do this” kind of a hardcore record. I liked that Paradise started to branch out into some more melodic territory. This one takes the best of both worlds (I started listening thinking “Man, this sounds way more brutal,” and then “No, this is way poppier”), but now there’s some interesting electronic/hip-hop/noise stuff going on as well (though to be honest, it’s mostly transitional between the songs). It’s “let’s see where we can take this” and not “let’s rehash the last record again.” I like it. Seriously though, get me one of those record release 7”s.
–joe (Jade Tree)