AMG Review of Troubled Stateside

John D. Luerssen
All Music Guide

On their third album and Nitro debut, Crime in Stereo retain the purist scorch that ranks them among the finest progressive, melodic hardcore bands still thriving. Kickstarted by the blink-and-you'll-miss-it blast of "Everything Changes/Nothing Is Ever Truly Lost," replete with a livid scream courtesy of Kristian Hallbert, the group downshifts into more palatable, yet still-fuming exercises like "Bicycles for Afghanistan" and "The Impending Glory of American Adulthood." If the latter feels like an outtake from Lifetime's Jersey's Best Dancers that's not exactly a bad thing, but the group is at its snarling and disdainful best on "I'm on the Guest List Motherfucker," taking aim at the several corporate-minded punk labels out there. Tempered by the unexpected, somber delicacy of "Gravity/Grace," The Troubled Stateside is as ambitious as modern hardcore is likely to get.