A Voice Like Rhetoric

AVLR has been described as technical, mathy, dance, indie, punk, art, angular rock. Quite a mouthful for anyone who has never heard of this native Pennsylvanian four piece. With unconventional time signatures and atypical song/ chord progressions, they have started to open both ears and eyes among onlookers. Their first Ep, why wicked words slip, released independently in December of 2004 marks an unprecedented new outlook of writing music for AVLR. Obstacles like school and jobs limit them to tour only on weekends and few weekdays for now but hopefully they will be dancing on your faces very soon. - Sing365.com

January 17th
Fearless Radio - Chicago

http://www.fearlessradio.com/podcast/NMB/011808_avoicelikerhetoric/011808_avoicelikeretoric.mp3
- Rocco @ Fearless Radio

A Voice Like Rhetoric – Ethos
Release Date: October 23rd, 2006
Record Label: Unsigned

The debut full length from PA rockers A Voice Like Rhetoric is an impressive foray into the world of math rock. Conveying a new level of technicality and pop sensibility, Ethos is one of the most accessible contributions to the genre, simultaneously pleasing fans of The Fall Of Troy and Senses Fail. Despite the range of comparative bands, A Voice Like Rhetoric manage to mold their influences into something both catchy as hell and wholly their own.

Musically, many comparisons will be made to the recent outcropping of bands like Hot Cross and The Fall Of Troy that use angular guitar riffs and start-stop rhythms to inject life into the hardcore genre. These comparisons are not that far off, as A Voice Like Rhetoric do utilize these tactics, but to write them off as a copycat band would be a huge injustice. After a brief intro, the album kicks off with “Never Trust A French Auto Mechanic”, a great opener and introduction to the band for people unfamiliar with their sound. Sustained vocal notes peppered over harmonized guitars show that there is some genuinely good songwriting ability to go along with the instrumental skills. Guitarists Ross Horvith and Erik Pitluga have come a long way since the band’s 2004 EP. Trading off vocals and guitar lines, the duo make up a truly interesting team capable of intimidating and tasteful moments that transition from urgency to beauty in a heartbeat. Take for example “Psst, Our Vestiage Is Showing”, a 5-minute roller coaster ride through an amalgam of different progressive styles. The song displays A Voice Like Rhetoric’s knack for crafting intricate tracks that can meander off into extended instrumental jams while remaining completely coherent and cohesive. The song arrangements are well thought out, with each song following a vastly different structure than the one preceding it. Perhaps the most technical song, and best for that matter, is the closing track “Your New Disco-Tech”. The song is a showcase of the skills of every member of the band with piercing guitars and even a bass guitar solo. The band demands to be heard here with an urgency that emanates as if it is imperative to your health to listen. It’s great to hear an album that only gets better as it progresses instead of fizzling out after a strong first half.

While it may not be a life-changing album, Ethos is certainly worth a listen. The production is lacking a little in points, but this is the debut album from an independent band, so that much is to be expected. This factor does not take away from the album too much, but it would be great to hear a crisper sound to go along with the tightness of the instruments. Lyrically, the album could use a little extra boost. The words are by no means bad, just safe. At moments, they are spot on with the mood of the song, but at other points, they seem a little too commonplace. Half the time your head will be bobbing so hard that it’ll be easy to forgive this arguable shortcoming. Overall, Ethos is a solid example of the DIY ethic right down to the superb packaging and album art containing the album. Given the chance to evolve, become more comfortable playing with each other and a bigger production budget, A Voice Like Rhetoric could become a force to be reckoned with in the math rock world. Until then, Ethos isn’t a bad place to start.

Tracklisting
1. Billy Enforcie
2. Never Trust A French Auto Mechanic
3. Please Don’t Call Me A Mindless Philosophy
4. Breathing Is Believing
5. Familiarity Breeds Contempt
6. Man, Multiplication Is Hard!
7. Psst, Our Vestige Is Showing
8. Foxhole
9. I’m Sort Of A Perfectionis…Perfectionis..T
10. The Dutch Are Practical, It’s A Hub
11. Your New Disco-Tech



Article Link: http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=232808 - Tom Good

A Voice Like Rhetoric

Posted by Chris French on 25-Jun-07 @ 11:23 AM

HQ: Sharon, PA
NOW PLAYING: Ethos

THE STORY SO FAR: A Voice Like Rhetoric used to drive two or three cars from rural Pennsylvania to wherever it was their name had made its way onto a flier, says guitarist/vocalist Ross Horvath, "Just so we could take anybody that was stoked to see us play." In four years, the frenetic prog/math-rock outfit have weathered four line-up changes and two vans, recorded an EP and a full-length and survived a three-week, self-funded 2005 tour from Ohio to Florida.

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: Face it: Math rock is hard. And these guys (Horvath, guitarist/vocalist Erik Pitluga, bassist Justin Campbell and drummer Nick Frisch) make it look obscenely easy. "It's like a puzzle with time, dynamics, stops and starts," says Horvath of AVLR who've shared the stage with the likes of Punchline, The Fold and Nakatomi Plaza. "We aren't trying to be the next Faraquet, but we like to see people shimmy when they shake." -Tim Karan

YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: the Fall Of Troy, the Sound Of Animals Fighting, Planes Mistaken For Stars

Check out our Media Page to listen to A Voice Like Rhetoric's "Please Don't Call Me A Mindless Philosophy."


Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/avoicelikerhetoric


Article Link: http://altpress.com/apr/40.htm - Chris French

A VOICE LIKE RHETORIC - "ETHOS"

Tracklist:
1. Billie Enforcie
2. Never Trust A French Auto Mechanic
3. Please Don’t Call Me A Mindless Philosophy
4. Breathing Is Believing
5. Familiarity Breeds Contempt
6. Man, Multiplication Is Hard
7. Pssst, Our Vestige Is Showing
8. Foxhole
9. I’m Sort Of A Perfectionis… Perfectionis… T
10. The Dutch Are Practical, It’s A Hub
11. Your New Disco-Tech


Rating: 3.0
RIYL:
The Fall Of Troy
Therefore I Am
Chiodos
Taking Back Sunday



In case you aren’t familiar with the concept of mathematics in music, here’s a small overview of the idea before developing any notions about A Voice Like Rhetoric: Music is written in scales that detail the speed and timing of notes and stops. While a lot of music is typically written in the 4/4 scale, music that utilizes the principles of mathematics is more commonly written in odd timed scales that can change multiple times throughout the piece. The essence of math rock is this rhythmic complexity and the development of tone and stops. It is a departure from popular music and is most poignant in core genres – but this is not to say that it cannot be found elsewhere. This is an overview of math rock on its most basic level. Ready? Here we go.

Math rock is a sub-genre that has been growing exponentially in recent years. While the origins of math in music dates back to the late 15th century, it is still considered a fairly new and a unique spin on the typical music genre in general and there are no shortage of bands that have stepped up to the math rock podium in an attempt to modify a punk rock or progressive sound. And while this type of music requires more than a basic comprehension of typical chords, it follows a formula that is commonplace amongst those who are veterans of the mathematical concept. Simply put, math rock isn’t really doing much to expand on its sound in the niche it has created for itself.

A Voice Like Rhetoric is somewhere between the math rock stylings of Norma Jean and Look Mexico (Yes, that’s a pretty large gap) and will most likely draw comparisons to The Fall Of Troy. Basically they borrow from the screamo and math rock genres to form a sound that is user friendly as far as techs and scenesters are concerned. A Voice Like Rhetoric aren’t reinventing the wheel here and that’s not necessarily a downfall for Ethos. But having a sound so similar to one of the leading bands in the genre can sometimes hinder how your musical output is perceived. This is to say that, no matter how much you try to differentiate the The Fall Of Troy sound from A Voice Like Rhetoric, it is difficult to do.

The disk is full of tone and lead as one would expect from a math rock heavy hitter, but at times it seems overdone. It seems like that this style of lead guitar and the poignancy of tone is the only differentiating quality between this band and Chiodos. It’s as if one would listen to a lead track with the rhythm, bass, and drum tracks turned all the way down – leaving something to be desired. Instrumentally, the lead work is difficult to pull off and must make for an interesting live set (no doubt appealing to techs) but it interferes with the overall collaborative effort that is so important to a band's sound. In a sense, the same thing that makes the disk notable for some, will deter others from this release. It’s like your little brother forgetting to take his Ritalin and then shredding in all his emo glory, sans band mates. As good as this young group of musicians are, they get lost in an amateur mistake that shows a separation between respective instruments. Perhaps in their next release there will be a greater collaborative effort rather than a trade off between scream and lead.

--Chad Quenneville


Article Link: http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=22601&oldreview=0 - Chad Quenneville

A Voice Like Rhetoric most certainly seem like a great example of a modern band weaned on the hyper prog-punk guitars of the Fall of Troy and the Sound of Animals Fighting (circa 2004). They're certainly part of a small group of bands, but ones that search for a little more within a scene largely dismissed for repetition and unoriginality, and that's why their nicely packaged (from the recording to the artwork) DIY effort is, in the very least, worth a mention.

Where A Voice Like Rhetoric's penchant for utter, mind-bending complexity reaches a bit short is in the very areas from which it should emanate: vocally and musically. The band's arrangements are well thought out and pleasingly creative, but the singing and slightly rough (but at least, never forced) screaming seem standard fare; they fail to really propel the music to that level it sure seems the band aims for. Nonetheless, their songwriting results in nifty, impressive numbers like "Please Don't Call Me a Mindless Philosophy" with its stomping stop-start guitars and wavering vocal melodies, or "Man, Multiplication Is Hard!" in its air-worthy axes. "Familiarity Breeds Contempt" would make a wonderful interlude on Minus the Bear's next album (as it does its purpose well enough here, too).

Ethos narrowly manages to come off like a progressive punk's Guitar Center in its axe-wielding wizardry since there's some decent songwriting at hand here. Once the band is capable of writing a few more awesome songs and not just a few awesome riffs, we'll really have something here.


Article Link : http://www.punknews.org/review/5804



- Brian