Artist: The New Transit Direction
Album: Wonderful Defense Mechanisms
Label: Some Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 42:15
Review by: Phil Nichols

It was a warm, summer afternoon. The sun's rays beat down on the sleek, metal buildings lining a lush, green park in the middle of the city. It was almost an oasis in the midst of a desert of lustrous steel structures. Around the perimeter of the park, the crowded city streets were filled with Hover-buses, gliding gracefully along the road, with archaic non-hovering automobiles chugging along behind them. Within the park, Billy and his aging grandfather walked along the main path, leading past a primeval (yet beautiful) stone fountain.

The boy and his elder continued walking- stopping only once to pet the animatronic puppy that ran in their path. Billy smiled at his grandfather; the two of them continued walking. Upon reaching the end of the path, they crossed the street via teleportation and walked down a rank little alley before ascending the aged stairs leading up to a weathered bookshop.

Their path split within the bleak establishment as Grandpa went leafing through some musty magazines while Billy ran off to the History section. The two of them wandered through the store for nearly an hour, paging through various writings. Dust coated everything- the books, the shelves, even the wrinkled old bookkeeper smiling at both of them as they passed.

Finally, Billy ran up to his grandpa and tugged at his coattail. "Look grandpa! This book documents the collapse of capitalism and the rise of High Chancellor Duff to absolute power. The cover says it's a bargain!" Grandpa looked into the eager young eyes of his grandson and smiled. "You know", he spoke in a raspy voice, "before Her Royalness, Ms. Hilary, banned the printing of literature, we used to say: 'you can't judge a book by its cover'."

Billy looked confused. He didn't seem to understand the significance of his grandfather's primitive adage. Seeing his grandson's confusion, Grandpa explained, "It means that something isn't always the way that it seems. Just because something looks or sounds a certain way, doesn't mean that is how it actually is." Billy looked more confused.

"Let me give you an example", said Grandpa, "When I was young I really enjoyed a type of music called emo. It was sort of like punk, and sort of like rock, but was also a little bit different. I listened to all kinds of emo, until one day I started getting sick of it- I mean there's only so many times you can hear heartbroken pessimists cry about girls, you know?"

Billy obviously had no idea what his grandfather was talking about.

"Well anyway, one day I went to the cd store to get some new music- anything that didn't sound like all of the other garbage I had wasted years of my childhood listening to. I walked through the aisles and there (out of the corner of my eye) I saw a cd by a band called The New Transit Direction.

I read the name aloud a few times. The New Transit Direction. It almost sounded like a band set on being innovative- a band willing to take music into a new direction. I thought to myself: 'this is the kind of band that I have been trying to find.' Without thinking, I impulsively bought the album. I didn't even notice that the album was on Some Records, which might have foreshadowed the mediocrity of the disc.

Without wasting anytime, I went home and immediately listened to the album. Much to my surprise I had merely bought another rehashing of the same monotonous emo that I had heard so many times before. Except with The New Transit Direction, it didn't even flow smoothly because the riffs would start and stop so often. The whole album felt disjointed! On top of that the vocals were often distorted and out of tune which did not make for a very aesthetically pleasing listening experience. Needless to say I was very disappointed.

So you see, Billy, when you just pick up an album or a book, you don't really know what you are getting. It could be something interesting, but it also could be another mediocre purchase, like that New Transit Direction album. Do you understand?"

Billy nodded silently. He slowly walked away and put the book back on the shelf before returning to his grandfather's side. As they made their way toward the door Billy asked, "So what ever happened to that band, Grandpa?" "Well, Billy, at the time they were good friends with another band called the Used, who were pretty popular. A whole lot of people started listening to them, and I really couldn't understand why. But after a little while, they faded away and everybody forgot about them. You'll see, Billy, when it comes to music, that only the bands that do something different or innovative will be remembered in generations to come. They faded away along with many other emo and pop-punk bands. In fact, you know that hobo that lives by the fountain in the park?" "Benji?" queried the young boy. "Yes, he used to be in a pop-punk band called Good Charlotte before everyone forgot about him."

And with that, the two of them linked arms and descended the stairs from the bookstore and walked back through the park and into the heart of the city.