A year or so ago I was surprised to see a Greatest Hits compilation of a band called Hed PE while searching through the CDs at a local record store. Though I hadn’t listened to one of the band’s songs in quite some time, I clearly remembered their presence in the slightly embarrassing “nu-metal” phase of popular rock music in the early part of the decade. Still, as I racked my brain standing next to the sparse “H” section of the store, I couldn’t for the life of me remember the tune of any of their songs and not a single track on the backside of the CD jogged my memory. Flash forward to the present day and here I am having yet another run in with the California based band after I received a copy of their newest album New World Orphans, released via Suburban Noize records, in the mail.
As I stated earlier, my memory is a little hazy on how this band had enough “hits” to fill an entire album; but as a connoisseur of music made by bands similar to these guys some six or seven years ago, I do remember listening to Hed PE via my local alternative rock station. So, as I’m about to bash the band’s 7th full length studio album and its 24 songs (29 if you get the right edition), remember - I too was once into music similar to this and was miraculously cured from its titan death grip.
As soon as you press play on New World Orphans you’re greeted with a clip from a movie, or a news reel or maybe it’s a faux sound clip made to sound like it was taken from a film, whatever it is it’s a sound you're about to become familiar with. Throughout the album Hed PE uses these sound bites as statement making song intros and even as song bridges. It’s cute at first, but becomes terribly annoying very quickly, especially since it seems as if the intros are there to lay out the premise of the lyrical content of the songs (as if the lyrics in the songs aren’t blunt enough already)
Like any good band of their ilk now days, Hed PE feels the need to be socially and politically active with their music. Now I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that so to speak, it’s just the way that bands like Hed PE go about it that makes the lyrical substance so mind numbingly bad. New World Orphans follows suit with the requisite anti-Bush song, the anti-war song, the economy sucks song (which sounds an awful lot like POD’s “Southtown”), and the appalling rape song. No not an anti-rape song, but rather a disgusting account of a “psychopathic freak (that’s) fucked up in the head,” filled with lyrics so disgusting that I’m not even going to add them to my review.
The music that accompanies the lyrics is both the album's saving grace and its death nail. While the wide variety of sounds, ranging from hardcore punk to reggae, will be more than refreshing for those who find the first few songs entertaining, for everyone else the variety only makes the already painful disc just erratic and uneven. And at 24 songs someone needs to send Hed PE a memo letting them know that more isn’t always better.
Then again, I can see how New World Orphans could find itself an embracing audience. Its mixture of hip-hop and punk is unabashed in its approach, and I suppose some people love to hear f’ bombs falling all around them for no good reason. I don’t quite remember if Hed PE made better music when I listened to their songs on the radio in my younger days, but with a more mature musical palette in my possession now I find it impossible to recommend this album to anybody and still get a good nights sleep. For those who do enjoy New World Orphans - remember, there’s hope for you too.
"New World Orphans" is on sale January 13, 2009 from Suburban Noize.
