Simon Says
"Shut Your Breath "
(Hollywood Records) 

Hey You! Simon Says...Crank It Up! Simon apparently told these guys to play some kick ass music and that's exactly what they're doing! They play with fury and fire, and their music is very aggressive and blistering! Their influences seem to come from groups like the Rollins Band and Rage Against The Machine, although Simon are not as politically oriented as those bands. But Simon Says take no prisoners when it comes to their music! They stick their foot straight up the ass of the listener! As musicians, they are quite talented, and play with tightness and precision. As I said, they are not politically inclined, but they do sound pissed off at the world (this shows in both the aggression of their music and their song lyrics), and they do touch on some issues in a few of their songs, such as "Syphon" and "Limousines And Penthouse Suites", in which they attack the phoniness of pop culture. Love the way they say, "It's my turn to force feed you!", in "Syphon". The album does have a few drawbacks. One being that, as talented as the band is, their music all tends to sound the same and can be a bit repetitive. Also, there were three songs on here I found to be "weak links", those being "Dead Weight", "Torniquet", and "El Less". These are all slower tunes which I found to be plodding and rather unexciting. Also, I think three slow tunes is a bit much for a hard rock album. Aside from those things, however, I found this album to be quite enjoyable. It rocks hard, with pure, raw aggression, anger, and energy! Simon Says, get into it!

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