{"id":1882,"date":"2017-07-03T12:30:15","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T12:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-88-fingers-louie-thank-you-for-being-a\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:15:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:15:51","slug":"review-88-fingers-louie-thank-you-for-being-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-88-fingers-louie-thank-you-for-being-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: 88 Fingers Louie &#8211; Thank You For Being A Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"tmblr-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/c816f624e7fdb0ff7b0d9382fdb87840\/tumblr_orrffuubTP1r8no6so6_r4_1280.jpg\" width=\"250em\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>Nineteen years is a long time to be away, especially in the music industry. Yet nearly two decades after calling it quits, shortly after the release of their split EP with Kid Dynamite, Chicago icons <b>88 Fingers Louie<\/b> are back with new album <i>\u2018Thank You For Being A Friend\u2019<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, a lot has changed. Founding members Joe Principe and Dan Wleklinski formed Rise Against, while Hopeless Records \u2013 home to the group\u2019s outstanding 1998 album <i>\u2018Back on the Streets\u2019<\/i> \u2013 has focused more on the pop-punk end of the market, eschewing bands with the bluster and character of <b>88 Fingers Louie<\/b> in favour of radio-friendly earworms. <\/p>\n<p><!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>Yet, as much as things change, they stay the same. <i>\u2019Thank You For Being A Friend\u2019<\/i> is the sound of a band picking up right where they left off, blurring the lines between punk rock and melodic hardcore to make a crowd-pleasing and energetic album packed with positivity and some killer hooks. <\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s resolutely forward thinking too. <i>\u201cWhat\u2019s the point of living in the past?\u201d<\/i> considers vocalist Denis Buckley on <i>\u2018Advice Column\u2019<\/i>, and it\u2019s a nice bit of introspection from a band that ripped itself apart due to internal tension. Even the album title reflects this personal mellowing \u2013 even if the music still rages with <b>88 Fingers Louie<\/b>\u2019s trademark hard-edged punk sound.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cFind a better man inside\u201d<\/i> is the message from <i>\u2018All The Right Words\u2019<\/i>, one of the strongest cuts from <i>\u2019Thank You For Being A Friend\u2019<\/i>, and while there\u2019s plenty of self-reflection throughout the album, other tracks, such as <i>\u2018Our Tired Vices\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u20182810\u2019<\/i>, focus on external relationships. While they\u2019re hardly ground-breaking topics \u2013 at least for punk\/hardcore bands \u2013 there\u2019s no doubting the integrity in which <b>88 Fingers Louie<\/b> attack the subject matter. <\/p>\n<p>At 12 songs long, \u2018<i>Thank You For Being A Friend<\/i>\u2019 pushes its limit, but after 19 years away, it\u2019s an unexpectedly punchy return, filled with fire, passion and a dozen pit-friendly jams. Welcome back guys\u2026<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2019Thank You For Being A Friend&rsquo;<\/i> by <b>88 Fingers Louie<\/b> is out now on <b>Bird Attack Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>88 Fingers Louie<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.88fingerslouie.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EightyEightFingersLouie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/88fingerslouie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Rob Mair (<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/BobNightMair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@BobNightMair<\/a>) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nineteen years is a long time to be away, especially in the music industry. Yet nearly two decades after calling it quits, shortly after the release of their split EP with Kid Dynamite, Chicago icons 88 Fingers Louie are back with new album \u2018Thank You For Being A Friend\u2019. Since then, a lot has changed. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":16493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1453,1454,15022,1452],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-88-fingers-louie","tag-bird-attack-records","tag-rob-mair","tag-thank-you-for-being-a-friend"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: 88 Fingers Louie - Thank You For Being A Friend - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nineteen years is a long time to be away, especially in the music industry. 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