Artist: Voice in the Wire
Album: Signals in Transmission
Label: Eyeball
Tracks: 12
Length: 37:02
Review by: Mike “Al Sharpton” Leech

I guess I gotta hand it to these guys for the amount of energy they put into their music. Unfortunately I’m almost obligated to hand it to them for this because I just can’t think of anything else to hand over. This album is way too bland and repetitive. There are no hooks, no catchy melodies, no standout tracks--no redeeming qualities worth mentioning at all. Well, that’s not really fair of me to say. These guys are talented instrumentalists. They play tight, high-intensity post-punk music with seeming ease. They just forget the part about making it interesting to listen to.

Now if you do decide to give Signals in Transmission a chance, when you first encounter the high-octane opener “Ash Black” you’ll probably be thinking to yourself, “Hey, this aint so bad. What was that stupid, ugly, dumb, poopy-face freak of a loser on Decapolis talking about? Listen to those metal guitars and driving drum patterns. These guys are pretty decent.” But then the second track will start, and then the third, and then you’ll start feeling light-headed and the rest of the songs will kind of blur into one. By the time it’s all over you probably won’t even notice, because you’ll be in another room doing something more interesting (like sitting).

Voice in the Wire try their best to combine the raw intensity of Minor Threat with the emo/punk accessibility of bands like Yellowcard and the Ataris. I suppose if you’re into those bands then you may enjoy Signals in Transmission to some extent, or maybe, like me, you’ll find it too generic and mediocre to even want to talk about anymore.