The Enemies
Seize The Day
Lookout!
When I was 14 or 15, I would have eaten this stuff up with a fork and spoon, with a large smile from ear to ear. The times were different back then, too. It was the early 1990s, and the style of punk rock that The Enemies play now, in 2002, was still fresh back in 1992. After ten years, things tend to get stale, especially music.
Simply put, Seize The Day is a generic CD of played out, cliche California punk rock. I can see The Enemies winning a contest similar to American Idol, entitled plainly “American Punk Icons.” They would prance out on stage, wearing Dickies, Converse All-Stars, their hair would be spiky, ears pierced, yet the whole image would still seem relatively safe. Paula Abdul would make some ridiculous comment about their place in the music community, calling them “bad boys” or “misfits,” and then they’d break into one of their songs, ripped straight from the Green Day school of punk songwriting.
The lead singer of The Enemies wants to be Billie Joe Armstrong so bad that it’s almost indescribable. Remember Green Day’s “Longview”? At times, Billie Joe fakes a British accent; well, The Enemies lead singer does that the entire way through Seize The Day! It’s embarrassing!
To see why this album infuriates me and bores me at the same time, one need only listen to the third song on Seize The Day, entitled “4 AM;” I can’t describe how absolutely terrible it is quite accurately, but I recommend that everyone hear this song, either for the entertainment of laughing at a pretentious rock band, or to find a new cookie cutter band to follow.
One last thing: the album’s second song is one of the worst direct rip-offs I have ever heard! Everyone knows the song “Self-Esteem” by The Offspring, right? In 1994, it was all over the radio. Back then, I was upset because of the way The Offspring were ripping off Nirvana; now I’m just dumbfounded at how complete and terrible a rip-off can be, thanks to The Enemies. This album is an embarrassment.
Lookout! Records: http://www.lookoutrecords.com
