Saturday, July 14, 2012

Posted by Anonymous |

Although Triggerman's Learning To Lie was released digitally via iTunes and Amazon almost two months ago, the vinyl version wasn't released until mid-June and Scott Foster at 1124 Records was kind enough to send me a free copy of it, so I figured that I'd do a short write-up on it as a thank you to him.  The main reason why I'm calling it a write-up and not a review is because, as I've previously mentioned here, I've known Triggerman singer/frontman Joe Nelson for over 30 years and, much like with my brother Evan's Orange County Hardcore Scenester documentary film, I simply cannot be impartial enough to review it per se ("friends love friends' bands" and all that).

The first thing that I'll say about Learning To Lie is that if you downloaded and enjoyed the Triggerman Dead Wait demo and Sinker 7" that I posted on here in the first half of 2010, then you're DEFINITELY going to want to check out Learning To Lie.  Almost all of those songs were re-recorded for and included on Learning To Lie and, with the addition of Ignite's Brett Rasmussen on bass and '80s punk legend Derek O'Brien on drums, sound absolutely fantastic.

Whether you're into '80s hardcore or '90s hardcore (or both), you're no doubt aware of and are probably a fan of the artwork/graphics of Triggerman guitarist Gavin Oglesby as he is responsible for some of the most iconic album/EP covers from both decades.  Well, to say that he has outdone himself with both the album cover and the packaging for Learning To Lie would be a colossal understatement.  Simply put, this is one of the most stunning looking LPs that I've ever seen in my entire life.  In the thank you list for either Uniform Choice's Screaming For Change or Unity's You Are One (whose covers were both designed by Oglesby), the phrase "The Essence of Art" was included in his thank you.  Truer words were never spoken in the history of the English language, ESPECIALLY with regard to Learning To Lie.

To purchase the LP, click here.

1 comments:

Ryan S said...

I have not known Nelson for 30 years (or any years) but I will say this album is outstanding. I absolutely love it. The bass lines, the drumming, the riffs...Nelson's vocals are so much better on the re-recorded versions of flux and desolation angel. This is really, really good.