Album Review: That's Outrageous! - Psycho

FIVES: THE BEST WONDER YEARS SONGS
This week Lansdale, Pennsylvania’s The Wonder Years released their fourth album - ‘The Greatest Generation,’ a record that sees the pop punk quintet reach their creative peak in a number of ways. With a wealth of material in their discography, Already Heard's Sean Reid and Tom Knott took on the tricky task of picking out the five best songs from The Wonder Years. Find out what we picked and let us know if you agree or disagree?

INTERVIEW: MALLORY KNOX
Following the release of their superb 'Signals' album, Mallory Knox have certainly become ones to watch in recent months. We caught up with the band to discuss joining Search & Destroy Records, how vital the festival season and touring are, what it feels like to be a part
of the expanding British rock scene and much more.

ALREADY HEARD RECOMMENDS: OVER THE OCEAN
Over The Ocean have crafted a compelling, brooding record with their latest effort ‘Be Given To The Soil.’ With intense specific precision and delicate accuracy that echoes the likes of Explosions In The Sky and Sigur Ros. Jesse Hill from the band to discusses how the
album came together, the importance of precision, being compared to post-rock pioneers and more.

VERSUS: BRING ME THE HORIZON - 'THERE IS A HELL...' VS 'SEMPITERNAL'
After a top ten UK album and an outstanding UK tour with festival dates on both sides of the Atlantic to follow, Bring Me The Horizon are having a fantastic 2013 and are now featured in the latest edition of "Versus." It's ‘There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret’ vs the bands latest release, 'Sempiternal.'

ALREADY HEARD TRACK GUIDE: ALEXANDER - SAY HELLO
We catch up with Newcastle Indie Rock quartet Alexander to find out more about their debut album 'Say Hello' for a “Already Heard Track Guide” feature.

INTERVIEW: TITLE FIGHT
Having briefly returned to the UK for the Hit The Deck Festival before starting a European
tour, we caught up with vocalist/bassist Ned Russin to discuss the bands progression in sound, differences between UK and US festivals, their recent split with Touché Amoré,
having friends on tour and more.

Album Review: That’s Outrageous! - Psycho

Following last year’s ‘Teenage Scream,’ That’s Outrageous! have released ‘Psycho,’ a beautiful marriage of hardcore and electronic elements that brings more complexity to the clean-singer/screamer vocal dynamic.

There are a lot of things going on in ‘Psycho.’ Starting off with an explosion of screaming, intense drums, and crazy guitar, the title track is loud and chaotic in the most organized way; everything is happening for a reason. The intensity of the song is not tempered by anything melodic, and hits you in the face with energy. This intense part of this band’s personality shows through often, like in ‘Stranger Danger’ and ‘The New York Chainsaw Massacre Part Two.’

But then there is a different aspect of this album: the super pop-influenced dance electronica that is ‘Vyvanse Trance.’ The vocals are riddled with effects, the 80’s synth is overwhelming that the lyrics are very cliché and overdone. The whole song is overdone, but it is well done. This track is not characteristic of ‘Psycho’ as a whole, and it is a bit like they stuck in a trendy song to keep up with what’s popular. ‘Home Invasion’ reads the same way, if not a little tongue-in-cheek, but still, it doesn’t seem right to toss these tracks into the mix.

The beauty of this album lies in the combination of the intensity and pop sensibilities. This is where That’s Outrageous! rises above the norm and creates a unique sound. ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Obliviate’ demonstrate this perfectly, with heavy metal guitars and hardcore drums mashed up against electronic dance beats and effects. The pretty, clean vocals are the perfect contrast to the screaming, and manages to bring you the best of both of these two genres in one song.

This isn’t your typical melodic/hardcore partnership. There are a lot of elements at play here, and ‘Psycho’ manages to work in not only a perfect harmony of genres, but sprinkles in dramatic, gothic piano and acoustic guitars, giving them a balanced, well-thought-out succession of twelve tracks. Despite the minor mishaps of overdone electro-pop, this album truly is an innovative and interesting effort. There is a recognizable sound to ‘Psycho;’ That’s Outrageous! have carved out a niche for themselves in the current scene, and ‘Psycho’ only brings them staying power.

4/5

‘Psycho’ by That’s Outrageous! is available now on InVogue Records.

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Words by Jenny Gagas.