As a tuneless alt-
hardcore
album interspersed with occasional spurts of potential,
Tin Cans With Strings to You
was a considerably wobbly debut. Frontman
Jonah Sonz Matranga
yelped like
Billie Joe Armstrong
and sometimes like
Concrete Blonde
's
Johnette Napolitano
, backing the
Coal Chamber
-styled bass-steered songs into an impulsive if cliched corner of sulky angst. Lyrically, the band tackled the usual subjects: Old Testament frustration (
"Job's Eyes"
), talk show culture (
"Love, American Style"
), and something about lemmings, plastic, Irish
lullabies
, and "a hella cool dude" (
"Cut-Out"
). ~ Dean Carlson