The Beat Surrender

Now this is a bit of a strange one, on first listen it sounds like a straight up hip-hop album, but dig a bit deeper and this has depths to it that only surface when you know the outfits background.

Gym Class Heroes are a band that use live instruments not relying on the usual samples and canned beats, they first got together during high school in 1997 and they then started playing at parties in their home of upstate New York.

They released their debut long-player in 2002, making it available online having sold E.P.’s at gigs and from their respective backpacks. On the back of …For The Kids, Travis (pictured) was chosen to compete in the Direct Effect MC Battle at the MTV Beach House. Travis won the competition and the band went on to open shows for Naughty By Nature, Mobb Deep, Blackalicious, Jurassic 5 and Run-DMC.

The only downside to GCH seemed to be the involvement of Fall Out Boy and the fact that they were signed to the same record label Fueled By Ramen. Now I know Fall Out Boy are riding the crest of a wave at the moment, but musically them and their ilk do nothing for me musically, surely GCH wouldn’t be a similar washout would they?

The answer is emphatically no. The majority of the tracks on here are infused with sharp lyrics, melodic music with beats that could give you RSI in your neck from nodding along. Stand out tracks for me are Papercuts, So Long Friend, Petrified And The Twice Told Joke (Decrepit Bricks) and Cupids Chokehold which features backing vocals from Patrick Stamp and elements of Breakfast In America. The latter track is catchy as hell and could well be the song that will give them the commercial success they deserve in the near future, keep your eyes peeled for this outfit as they are also playing a number of live shows during 2006.

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