Album Review: Latin For Truth - Diatribe Or Die! EP

The muddling together of pop-punk and hardcore seems to be becoming increasingly popular these days, whether its the more metallic approach of bands like A Day To Remember or the straight-up hardcore influence of Set Your Goals, there are enough bands out there doing this kind of thing already. You can now add to that list Latin For Truth, a five-piece from Scottsboro, Alabama. Despite the bands young age (three of the five are still 19!), 'Diatribe or Die!' appears to be the bands fifth release and first for the label Mightier Than The Sword. The EP is six tracks of fast-paced, hardcore-laced, pop-punk which is competent and catchy, despite not really re-inventing the wheel.

The EP starts with an answerphone message introduction from a 'concerned friend' and then heads straight into the super-fast 'Mexicaine De Perforation'. The opening track is misleading in that it starts with some eighties thrash riffs and typical 'tough-guy' shouted vocals, a far-cry from anything else on this EP. A more accurate picture of what Latin For Truth are about occurs halfway through the first track when the saccharine-sweet vocals kick in, which make up 90 percent of the vocal contributions to the EP.

The very Fireworks-sounding 'No Love Lawst' is full of elongated vowels and refrains that will have you chanting them back almost instantly (see ' I live in a world that wont love me back' section). More self-deprecating lyrics are on show in third track, 'Socially Adrift, Physically In Tune', once again backed by the up-tempo poppunk tune.

There is little to chose between this and the prior track in terms of differences and if it wasn't for i-tunes telling me they were different tracks I wouldn't be convinced. The first of the truely standout tracks is '88 Says' a fast-paced poppunk,in the true sense of the word, song. The cleaner of the two vocalists sounds very similar to Mike Herrera of MxPx, which in this case is a good thing. It accompanies the faster paced track brilliantly and when the rougher vocalists comes in towards the end of the track, perfection is achieved. That maybe a little over the top, but it does take it from good to awesome. From the awesome to the mundane.

By far the worst track on the EP, 'Natural Tailor Of Natural Joy' is awful. Sounding like Fall Out Boy without the talent, even the moderately good call and response gang vocals at the end can't save the track.

Luckily for Latin For Truth, they have saved the best track in their arsenal for the end. 'Phuckette Motorsports' sees the youngsters flick into full-blown Lifetime worship, and it works beautifully. For all the attempts to stand out from the crowd and create their own sound, you can't help but think Latin For Truth are at their best being a Lifetime tribute band. 'Phuckette Motorsports' is full of energy, with the right mix of aggression and positivity and leaves you with a good feeling by the end of the EP.

Very little is new and original these days and so its only fair to judge a band on their talent and songs alone. On this basis Latin For Truth are showing a bit of promise, when they get it right it's great, but their are a few duff moments that can hopefully be ironed out in the near future. A solid attempt, if nothing to shout about.

3/5

'Diatribe Or Die!' EP by Latin For Truth is released on August 3rd through Mightier Than Sword.

Latin For Truth on MySpace.

Dan Issitt