Reviews: End Transmission and Darling, I Want To Destroy You (Spoilers)

Recently I received a sampler of Crash Love containing Torch Song, Beautiful Thieves, End Transmission, and Darling, I Want To Destroy You. See this post for more information. Here are the reviews for End Transmission and Darling, I Want To Destroy You. If you do not want to read reviews of the songs until you hear them yourself, do not read this post.

End Transmission

Music: End Transmission starts out with a distorted drum and guitar melody before turning into a medium-tempo guitar intro. A grungy bass line adds depth as Davey backs the instrumentation with vocal harmonies. A piano can be heard in the mix, and it sounds very natural. As Deb said in her review, there are definitely some 80’s elements in the intro. As the first verse begins, the bass line is a standout. Imagery of a nighttime drive backed by an atmospheric guitar fills the song as Davey sings, “with the lights out and the night inside, the broken radio was playing suicide. I felt myself myself falling, I confess to you.”
The chorus comes out of nowhere with a fisting raising “This night has only just begun,” while a nice guitar rhythm fills in the gaps between vocals. During the second verse, there is a very good guitar buildup to the chorus. Everything slows down for the bridge – “everything was burning bright… what we’d invited still remains.” – which is very atmospheric and effect-heavy as a guitar swell leads to the final rousing chorus.

Lyrics: The dramatic lyrics reveal a story of a couple driving in a car at night. A murder/suicide is hinted at with, “I saw a body. You said you’d seen a few”and “go pack your bag. I’ll bring the gun.” We hear an equally creepy line during the chorus. “If there’s discretion that you’ve not abandoned, now’s the time.”

Analysis: This is the most atmospheric of the four songs, and creates a mood similar to that of Decemberunderground’s “The Killing Lights” with its instrumentals and effects. The song is quite catchy with a solid verses and an excellent chorus.

Darling, I Want To Destroy You

Music: The first half-minute of “Darling, I Want To Destroy You” is a blues-y rock guitar intro, which leads into a slow first verse. The vocals sound slightly distorted and whispy as a clean electric guitar plays casually along. The bassline, while not prominent, is very interesting if you can pick it out. “I can’t deny that the shadows betrayed you and I on that night.” A grungy guitar takes over as the song transitions to an epic chorus.
The whispy and slightly distorted vocals return for the second verse. The bridge is the heaviest one of the songs we’ve heard so far, but it unfortunately falls into the category of a generic bridge. “So here’s the final scene, when I finally come clean. I’ve watched you for years.” Thankfully, a short guitar breakdown coupled with some fine drumming bring the song back into its powerful, final chorus.

Lyrics: The lyrics in the first verse are especially strong, but the rest of the song is fairly average. It is difficult to tell from which perspective(s) the song is told from, but tradition states that you decide for yourself what the lyrics mean. The song’s title is indeed in the lyrics.

Analysis: This song is a slow, powerful song that suffers only from a slightly generic bridge. The chorus vocals feature Davey at his loud best, while the verses are a calm contrast. The guitar throughout the song is pitch-perfect and creates a good vibe. Some might find similarities in the verses to Decemberunderground’s “Endlessly, She Said,” while the chorus is entirely different from previous AFI work. As track 10, this is a strong song to begin the end of the album.

Notes:

* Lyrics are copyright of Davey Havok as interpreted by myself.
* I am not a professional reviewer. I have done my best to communicate the sound and feel of these songs.
* If you have any further questions about these songs, don’t hesitate to comment.