Album Review - Heavens

Artist – Heavens
Album – Patent Pending

I would like to start off by stating that I am a huge fan of Matt Skiba. One might even make the claim that my fandom borderlines the status of, ahem, “hardcore”. I love everything Alkaline Trio has done, as well as Skiba’s solo efforts. Having said that, I am trying really hard to make myself like Heavens. It’s hard. Don’t get me wrong, the tunes are decent, they just don’t go anywhere. All the songs seem to flow together like one long drone, with no ups or downs. Patent Pending reeks of Sisters of Mercy, which contributes to the dull song structure, but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.

The new single “Patent Pending” is pretty catchy; almost like a punk rock Strokes. Come to think of it, take the strokes second album and remove the flair and pop, break it down to revolving riffs and drum machine beats, and you have Heavens. “Dead End Girl” is pretty smooth and catchy, but the track still suffers from the dull drone of the rest of the album. I know it sounds like I am being harsh, and I admit that I am, but I was just really disappointed. I had a lot of hopes for this record when I first heard of it, and it’s not living up to my expectations.

I will give the band credit for doing it all on their own, with not much of a backing band. Heavens essentially is Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, and Josiah Steinbrick from F-Minus; both great bands, but together it just gets boring. It is nice and smooth and polished, so I expect the Depeche Mode kids to dig it, but don’t expect it to be anything like either of the two bands previous work. Let’s just hope that there is a follow up album to improve on.

3 out of 10
-B

If you like this record, try:

Sisters of Mercy – First and Last and Always
The Strokes – Room on Fire
Depeche Mode - Violator