Oh, When the Animals Unionize
Artist: The Human Flight Committee
Label: Blue Duck Records
Time: 12 tracks/47:49 minutes

Who would have thought that a band would attempt to combine the angular post-punk, literary lyrics, and spoken word yells of mewithoutYou with the sunny power-pop and lady pleasing swoons of Anberlin? Who would have thought such a combination would even be viable without sounding schizophrenic? The Human Flight Committee did, and surprisingly it works quite well indeed.

The Human Flight Committee (HFC) is one of the latest groups to be added to the roster of the fledgling Blue Duck Records. Having been together for six years now it is surprising that the oddly titled Oh, When the Animals Unionize is HFC's first record, but their time on the road shows, leading to a professional debut that sounds more like the record of an experienced band than a debut.

The band wears their influences on their sleeves, along with the aforementioned mewithoutYou and Anberlin, traces of such artists as Emery, Bear vs. Shark, and even a little Daft Punk (note the strange "Russian? We're Barely Moving!"). What HFC does well is combine these influences in a fresh way instead of sounding derivative. The whole scream/sing/scream thing has been done to death, but HFC cannot be called screamo even though they follow the pattern. Most likely this is due to Aaron Shelton's wonderful vocals. Both his speak/yell and his singing are impeccable, and he truly does his own thing.

After a superfluous opening track the record bursts right into lead single "She's A Car Destroyer," Aaron yells passionately over an infectious drum beat. This song is so strangely catchy that one forgets he is yelling. "You'll Get It When You're Older" then takes it right into poppy punk territory. This band should appeal equally to hardcore fans and rock fans, regardless of whether or not they like screaming in music.

The album continues strongly, filled with infectious, upbeat songs before closing with the epic, affirming "Wolves in Cheap Clothing," a song that appears to be about sexual abuse. The song closes with the repeated A cappella chorus: "This is not irreversible." It is truly gorgeous.

The otherwise stellar record betrays the band's youth in some moments. There are three unnecessary short instrumentals that add nothing to the record. HFC also continue the trend of pointlessly long, pretentious song titles; where it suffers most, however, in the lyric department. The band wants to sound poetic, and achieves this at times, but at other times over up lyrics like "Gently kiss my apocalips, there is not a wine that could taste like this." And if that wasn't bad enough they actually repeat the pun later on: "Feel the heat from her lips and taste her apocalipstick." Aside from these few missteps, HFC offer up an incredibly satisfying record. Oh When the Animals Unionize isn't perfect, but it will certainly be my party record for the summer.

By Noah Salo