Tsunami Bomb – The Definitive Act / 2004 Kung Fu Records / 12 Tracks / http://www.tsunamibomb.com / http://www.kungfurecords.com / Reviewed 09 September 2004
Immediately noticeable about Tsunami Bomb are their chugging basslines, put to each track by Matt McKenzie. Just as important to the success of the first track, “Dawn on a Funeral Day”, is the incredibly dense layering of the track, which pits Agent M against eirself, backing up eir’s vocals perfectly. While there are some minor problems with the repetition of the guitar lines during the track (the track would have been more impressive if the guitar lines were differentiated). Mixing the best of political punk shout-fests like Anti-Flag with the emo stylings of Antifreeze and Alkaline Trio, Tsunami Bomb finds a happy medium and puts forth a musically satisfying and catchy as all get out style of punk. Moving seamlessly between “Being Alright” and “5150”, Tsunami Bomb are talented enough to create enough of a definitive “Definitive Act” to draw more individuals in. In “5150” two other key facets of Tsunami Bomb are unleashed on the listening audience; the gristly vocals of Mike Griffen and the hard-hitting drums of Gabe Lindeman.
Drawing together a Misfits-styled chorus and bass line for “Safety Song”, the inclusion of the highly-distorted vocals of Mike, so highly praised in the last song, almost seem to detract from the whoa-oh-ohs of Agent M. Moving onto the more emo-side of things for “I Bought You”, Agent M’s vocals take on a Claudio (from Coheed and Cambria)’s vocals. Sliding down into a minor rut for the extremely-noisy, aharmonial “4 Robots and an Evil Robot”, Tsunami Bomb go a diametrically opposite direction with the follow-up track, “A Lonely Chord”. Speeding rapidly to the end, “The Definitive Act” is urged on by 12 more or less solid tracks. Moving out of anything heard on this disc is “Epic”, an aptly-titled track that goes through a number of tempo and genre changes in less than four minutes.
In immediate contrast to the different tone of “Epic”, “Negative One to Ten” is a straight-forward punk track that is pushed to ever higher heights due to the intersection of Agent M’s vocals and the intricate bass lines found on the track. “The Definitive Act” is a CD that has numerous singles, and other solid tracks that withstands heavy play in an era of the single. Even with the lineup changes suffered by the band, Tsunami Bomb has forged on and made this album, one that sounds as if the entire band had been working together for more than a few years. Pick this up.
Top Tracks: Tetanus Shot, Dawn on a Funeral Day
Rating. 7.9/10