AMG Review of Frenzy

Eduardo Rivadavia
All Music Guide

Former metalheads usually make for morose punk rockers, but despite possessing a name that suggests just that, along with some members whose prior experience includes bands like Biohazard and Kittie, Brooklyn, NY's Suicide City delivered a surprisingly upbeat, techno-laced commercial punk rock record in their 2009 debut, Frenzy. In fact, the bright melodies, infectious hooks, and energetic drive pervading the pogo-friendly singalongs dominating its first half may as well have been concocted by a gaggle of teenagers instead of grizzled stage veterans, and their notably "adult" lyrics (often rife with hard drugs and harder sex) don't necessarily give away the secret, either, given the frightening maturity of most kids of the 2000s. Were it not for other tracks like "Painted Horse," "Undone," and "She Waits," which reveal some of the musicians' darker songwriting undercurrents, along with electronics-infused second-half fare like "Spanish Fly," "Lost Years," and the very Incubus-like "Not My Year," there would be little evidence of the musicians' secret pedigree. Certainly not for young punk and modern rock fans oblivious to all of these historical footnotes, most of whom will likely find Frenzy to be right up their alley, and maybe even an ear-opening experience.