From “Don’t You Fake It” to The Emergency Ep some sounds are meant to stay the same.
Hailing from Middleburg Florida in early 2003 they released their first LP “Don’t You Fake It” in 2006 featuring, “Face Down”, “False Pretense”, “Your Guardian Angel” and “Damn Regret”. The album was certified gold as of November 27, 2006. Album Sales exceeding 500,000.00 Still well known for their song “Face Down”. If you didn’t have the chance to catch them on tour with bands such as Thirty Seconds to Mars, The Used, The Audition, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, or Taking Back Sunday. You may have heard them featured in the film Georgia rule or On Madden NFL 07. If you were anything like me you listened to them and caught them live when Warped Tour was the highlight of your summer and you never missed an episode of Warped Wednesdays On Fuse. Their following album “Lonely Road” was released in 2009 snagging the spot of fourteenth on the Charts. The following year they separated from their label Virgin Records and set out to record and release “Am I The Enemy” Independently. Along with their release of “Am I The Enemy” in 2011 they had a few member changes Duke Kitchens as well as Matt Carter left and Josh Burke became the lead guitarist. Later Randy Winter Joined as second.
It’s been a couple of years since we’ve heard from Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, While the EP The Emergency was much anticipated, It falls short of diversity from previous releases. Their single “A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Called LA”. Tells A story about the night lead vocalist Ronnie Winter met his future wife. It captures the nervous jitters perfectly, really putting you in the moment. You feel like you’re there riding the intense roller coaster of emotion with Ronnie. It differs in sound from your usual love story, lyrics such as “Lucky for me she didn’t run” while not unheard it really speaks to how intense the experience was for Ronnie. As for the remaining five tracks, none of them really hold their own with regard to the unique sound and lyrical content. “Please Unfriend Me” brings to light hiding in plain sight, the yearning to no longer hide who we are yet we are surrounded by false truth perpetuated via social media. Hearing them again took me back. The nostalgia was all over “The Emergency” but it’s a repeat of previous works. Not all artists change their sound or go in different directions and maybe that works for the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’ unique sound. Some things change and some stay the same. While they continue to have success, I don’t feel this album lives up to their potential.
