Sci-Fi Crimes

Been in the room all day so I haven't really experienced much of the outside world and this philosophy essay sucks so I have nothing to contribute today.

So ill give you something ive already written: my review of Chevelle's new Sci-Fi Crimes cd. It was fine.


At the end of the 90s came a fun little music genre called post-grunge and emerging out of that juncture has been some of 2000’s most popular bands of the 21st century. In 2002 we all remember shamelessly rocking out to Chevelle’s “Send the Pain Below” and “the Red” off of their better-known second album “Wonder What’s Next.” Since then, Chevelle has all but dropped off of the radar for most of the causal mainstream listeners.

“Sci-Fi Crimes,” the Illinois trio’s fifth studio album has been met with a wave of endearing reviews from all wakes. The reviews hail this album as the greatest one to date and hopefully the end of their gradual decline into obscurity as the record sales has been showing.

All-in-all, “Sci-Fi Crimes” is a great album. It is a fantastic show case of the bands thick and rhythmic sound, the band’s mastery at catchy choruses, and lead singer Pete Loeffler’s soaring vocals. Personally, from the opening track, “Sleep Apnea,” I could immediately sense what wasn’t a new sound from Chevelle, but a definite mood change due to a less morose lyrical style. The bass and riff-heavy opener reminded me exactly of what I love about this band—a no-holds-barred approach to awesome music.

I have to qualify my use of the word “fantastic” by saying that “Sci-Fi Crimes” is not Chevelle’s best, nor is it what will bring the band back to the mainstream. It’s not bad but it’s not what the critics are making it out to be. Other than a few stunning tracks like the all-acoustic “Highland’s Aspiration” and the aerial “Shameful Metaphors,” the album is littered by cautious tracks like “This Circus” and “Mexican Sun.”

Even their current single, “Jars” which has peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 is definitely not my choice for their first single. Don’t get me wrong, the single is great and I recommend it for new listeners and people trying to give their friends a good idea of what Chevelle sounds like. With a great hook in the chorus and a pertinent message for the time about going green (Put into jars/We'll save this Earth), it is a great candidate for the single and it has apparently done well. Simply said, it isn’t the most significant or best song.

I would say more about the lyrics but Loeffler’s abundant use of non-sequiturs entirely over-saturates the entire album with topics that range from going green to alien abductions and the guy who stole Chevelle’s stuff in 2007. To say the lyrics are hard to understand would be an understatement.

“Sci-Fi Crimes” neither adds greatness nor shows weakness in Chevelle’s ability as performers. Unlike a lot of album’s I’ve heard lately, this album isn’t a futile attempt at re-inventing their sound to keep listeners interested—it’s merely a sticking to a working formula that doesn’t make this feel like an album full of B-sides. It’s really good. Go buy it.