Socratic
Lunch For The Sky

When Drive-Thru record’s deal with Geffen ended and Geffen took the most popular bands on the label many fans took the opportunity to play doctor and declare the label brain-dead. Upon Drive-Thru’s quick signings of Halifax, Socratic (both previously on No Milk Records) and An Angle the fans played coroner and declared the label dead. The fans decided that the early works of these bands were too derivative or too generic or just not good. What many of the fans didn’t realize is that the early works of favorites Something Corporate, New Found Glory and The Starting Line did nothing to reveal the later greatness that those bands would go on to achieve. What they didn’t realize is that Drive-Thru signs bands, not based on what they sound like now, but based on what they will potentially sound like in a year, two years or more and that they develop those artists to achieve that potential. An Angle’s well received release of We Can Breathe Under Alcohol earlier this year began to slow the shovels burying the Drive-Thru coffin, Socratic’s Lunch For The Sky should show the fans that what was previously believed to be a corpse is, in fact, a misdiagnosed superhero waiting to reveal it’s super powers of foresight and good taste!

During my interview with Socratic on their first Drive-Thru records tour they explained to me that they felt that the band actually started when Vinny D’Amico joined the band on piano and they recorded Funeral Masses... A phenomenal song (not unlike Cute Without the E by Taking Back Sunday), it was a brief glimpse into the potential that Socratic had. The song was available for download on Purevolume but fans eager to hear more would have to wait about a year before their hunger would be satiated. That year was well worth the wait. It gave Socratic time to develop, tour, learn about themselves, find a producer that fit, get bored and ultimately get hungry to make the best damn album that they wanted. They didn’t rush and taking their time is reflected in every nuanced note of the album.

These days having some songs with piano is becoming almost as ubiquitous as having a female singer (or in terms of last year, having a screamer) Where other bands could have the piano removed without noticing the loss, Socratic sets themselves apart from the fad pack by basing their songs around that piano, and going so far as to open the album with a full-on piano recital that turns into a rock-n-roll orchestra. The songs that follow are a complex, intricate collection of stories narrated primarily by the vocals of Duane Okun, with D’Amico and Kevin Bryan filling in. Fresh, uncomfortable and McCartney-esque at times the vocals never allow the listener to predict what will happen next. The rhythm section helps the unpredictability factor along by constantly changing up beats and laying down an unusual base.

The two guitars, piano, bass and drums all combine for a rock n roll wall of sound inspired by the music of the previous 50 years. Nobody else is making music like this right now, but very soon, I predict, many people will be. And when that happens Socratic will have moved on to a new level of potential to fulfill.