A Heartwell Ending – Trust Us, We Lie

First and foremost, before this review kicks off I figured id introduce myself. Names Mike Harris, and while I have much love for my Canadian brethren, I’m an East Coast rocker from way back. Currently in school at Umass and enjoying the local scene, which lately has been kicking ass and making amazing albums (ever heard of Wilhelm Scream? Oh ya, I was the 14 year old kid who thought he could handle the pit at some of their first local shows). Enough about me though, you guys came for the reviews, so where we go…

“A Heartwell Ending”… the name alone gives you an idea of what to expect, and that’s not a bad thing necessarily. They are just another of the seemingly endless poppy emo bands that every label seems to be tossing out lately, but ill give them credit where credit is due, they are better than most.

Ok lyrically you’re not going to get anything special from these guys. The standard emo story of boy meets girl – girls really a whore follow suit here. Hell, even one of their song titles is “There are two R’s in Sorry but only one in W****” (clever, but cheesy none the less). And say what you want about that scene being played out and blah blah blah, but the simple fact is it works, since the dawn of time songs about heartbreak and emotional disaster have been standard fare. What really sets “A Heartwell Ending” apart from the rest of the genre is the actual music they present on this CD. Throwing out the regulatory 3 chord riffs and simple beats, they throw a little more at you than expect. They even delve into the world of synthesizers on the track “Trust Us, We Lie” – a bold move to say the least. The harmonies are also well done, with the back up vocals and separate screams coming at just the right point in the song, that perfect moment where you can see a crowd of people in front of the lead singer, arms up in the air screaming at the top of their lungs as he dips his mic into the crowd. Not overdone like your beginning to find on a lot of newer bands albums, but just enough to know they’d probably put on a pretty kick ass live show. 

I personally wouldn’t say there’s anything inherently bad about this album, but nothing stands out either. After listening to it a few times, its catchy, I find myself bouncing along to the beat, singing along and what not, but nothing is getting me out of my seat ready to rock. This is what really kills this album. They definitely have a good sound and some killer talent, but they are just hitting a scene that already has so much competition you have to make an AMAZING splash to even make a ripple in this sea.