The Vacancy – Heart Attack / 2005 A-F Records / 11 Tracks / http://www.vacancyrock.com / http://www.a-frecords.com / Reviewed 27 January 2005

I remember listening to punks from Wheeling, West Virginia complain that A-F Records had gone soft, that instead of a hardcore punk band they signed “this shitty emo band”. Now, after thinking before I plopped this disc in the player that this may have been “the shitty emo band”, all doubts I had about “heart Attack” were assuaged when I actually started to listen to the disc’s first track, “In The Backseat”. Mixing a little bit of Depeche Mode and Flock of Seagulls to the tried-and-true emo-rock of Alkaline Trio, The Vacancy make for a punky, emoish, rock blend that is surprisingly well done in all aspects, whether it be the stop-and-start arrangements of “So Obvious”, the overall mastering and production (done by Chris #2) or the overall sound of the band. The double-harmonies of “So Obvious” is reminiscent of Brand New just as “Anthem’s” opening bass line is very Matches-like. There are some guitar lines towards the end of “Anthem” that are almost too perfectly sculpted, almost as if The Vacancy was trying to create a song that was just made for the ending sequence of a movie.

The coiffed nature of the ending of “So Obvious” is destroyed by the slightly-grungy, distorted guitars of the following track, “Blue Eyes”. Somewhere around the midpoint of the CD, the promising sound of The Vacancy begins to waver – call it the darkness before the light – where tracks like “Debutante” seem to never click amongst the bandmates. Changing the vocal-output of Ben to incorporate a more Misfits-meets-Ramones feel for “Majorettes” does wonders for winning back listeners, just as does the bass line laid down by Adam. The second wind of The Vacancy really kicks in dring “Get Up! Get Out!” which has a sound like “Santa Monica-era” Everclear mixed perfectly with just the right amount of “That Thing You Do” (you know, from that shitty Tom Hanks movie). “Get Up! Get Out!” is a mTV track if I ever heard one, and yet it isn’t just a bland song that only has a good hook – it is as musically satisfying as anything else on “Heart Attack”

Sounding at times like The Cars, like others Depeche Mode, and still others like Everclear, The Vacancy should not be insulted by putting the straightforward “emo” tag on them. Neither should A-F Records be maligned by signing a band that isn’t just a carbon copy of Anti-Flag; what Anti-Flag did in revolutionizing punk rock, The Vacancy will do to alternative rock and emo.

Top Tracks: Get Up! Get Out!, So Obious

Rating: 7.4/10