This band sounds much like a lot of Solid State Records' other hardcore bands with the slightly high-pitched yelling of the lead singer, the common thrash riffs that borderline random and indecipherable, and the required spiritual atmosphere. However, there are aspects to this band that make it stick out.
Everyone defines great songwriting in different ways; one critic might claim the complexity while another just knows it when they hear it. Another aspect to great songwriting is how memorable the songs are. If you can listen to a CD and not really recall the way any of the songs went in your head, the band definitely hasn't left an impression. Fortunately, Stretch Armstrong has at least that going for them.
Hardcore isn't known for its lyrics, and while Stretch Armstrong shouldn't gather a reputation for theirs either, there is something meaningful latent within their high-school-poetry simplicity.
The first song is typical of any hardcore band. The guitars don't seem to be downtuned as most of the CD isn't very low, just distorted chords up and down the fretboard. There's the patented screaming for most of the song, though there is some actual singing going on come one of the bridges. But after you think the song has ended, a new riff creeps back in to finish off the lyrics. Frankly, this randomly placed, thirty second riff is the best on the entire album. The morning after I bought the CD, I woke up to it playing repetitively in my head.
The second song, "Outside Looking In," is a short, fast-paced thrash piece that has appeared on a collaborative effort of Tooth & Nail/Solid State Records. The third song, "Second Chances," also appeared on a beforesaid collaborative, but is a much better song than the former.
Much of the rest of the CD sounds like the first three songs. Mostly constant screaming, chunky (but not low-tuned) guitar riffs, and positively written lyrics. Few songs really stick out, but that doesn't make them bad. It just makes the CD less of a recognizable hit.
Much of the CD sounds like an attempt at impersonating every other hardcore band to come onto the scene in the past few years, particularly the much successful Zao and their spectacular songwriting (and lyrics) as well as the sometimes random Training for Utopia. On this CD, Rituals of Life, few songs show themselves off as being pieces that will become known as music written by Stretch Armstrong as opposed to music of just generic Christian hardcore, but for those that do, their titles include "When Sorrow Falls," "Try to Forget," Pursuit of Happiness," and "Through My Actions."
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