March 3- 9, 2005

musicpicks

Paint It Black

Rock/pop

Twenty-six seconds per song. Really, that's the difference between the new Paint It Black CD and the old one. On its sophomore album Paradise (Jade Tree), the no-frills Philly punk outfit keeps doing what it does best: Songs are fast, loud and driven by frontman Dan Yemin's howling socio-political observations. But where PIB's 2003 debut, CVA, kicked out 17 tracks in 18 minutes and 41 seconds — for an average of 1 minute 5 seconds per song — this excellent new record boasts 14 tracks in 21 minutes and 13 seconds — about 1 minute 31 seconds per song. So where's that extra time going? Part of it is subtly showing off new guitarist Colin McGinniss. Most of what he does are your classic hardcore power-chord riffs, but he isn't above a few seconds of chiming arpeggios in "Angel," or a melodic lead in "Ghosts." Paradise also gives Yemin room for introspection, detailing both divorce ("Exit Wounds") and alcoholism ("The Pharmacist"). And an excellent half a minute closes the record with acoustic strums and a Bouncing Souls-style sing-along — "Here's to the skinned knees and sutured hearts." Twenty-six seconds goes a long way.

Sun., March 6, 7 p.m., $8, with Hey Angel, Pink Razor, Voices In The Wire and The Loved Ones, First Unitarian Church, 22nd and Chestnut sts., 800-594-TIXX.

—John Vettese