Scars on Broadway delivers ‘rude’ sound

Keirstin Westfallen
Staff Writer
In 45 minutes, you could call a friend, you could update your Facebook, or you could actually study (insert gasp).

Or, you could spend those 45 minutes listening to the self-titled debut album from Scars on Broadway, a new project featuring former System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan.

Are these fifteen eerie tracks worth your precious three fourths of an hour?

Starting with the positive, the majority of these songs feature catchy and creative guitar hooks, appropriately paired with an impressive drum beat. That aspect of the album is solid.

Vocally, however, Scars is all over the board. Malakian’s vocals are rather inconsistent. For instance, the opening track, “Serious,” displays both a beautiful melodic chorus and some splintering vocals on the verses. In fact, the entire album is made up of a just a few vocal melodies that stand out; the rest simply grate the ears. A few of the songs do show somewhat consistent vocal strength, most notably in “World Long Gone” and “Enemy.”

The lyrics in Scars on Broadway are another weakness. For the most part, the lyrics try so hard to be unbelievably poetic and profound that they end up simply being unbelievable. “Cute Machines” is easily the worst track on the album. At over three minutes long, the song is nothing more than three lines repeatedly sung over and over again. Though not as extreme, close to every track features the same brand of lyrical repetitiveness. Even the mood of the songs seem to repeat one another; the beginning of “3005” sounds like nothing more but an extension of the previous song, “Universe”.

There are a few songs that do manage to rise above the general lack of lyrical wonderment, however. “Whoring Streets” is surprisingly poignant, heart-felt, and well sung.

This entire album has a melancholy and bitter feel to it, and is bursting with unbridled energy. In fact, there is so much energy packed into these 45 minutes that I was honestly exhausted after listening to the CD.

So, is this album worth the time?

Despite a few bright spots, Scars on Broadway wallows in vocal inconsistency and angry, repetitive lyrics.

Malakian summarizes his effort the best, however, on the quirky track “Stoner Hate,” when he proudly acknowledges, “I’m rude, obnoxious/with an intent to kill.”

Those three phrases sum up the album quite adequately.