She said to me as she turned on the light, there's something you don't know that keeps me from feeling right

'Crimes' by Blood Brothers
3 out of 5 stars

The old saying goes that a bad economy makes for good art, but mix in contentious politics of morality and you've got a recipe for napalm.

Seattle-based Blood Brothers prove you don't have to be a whiny guitar-picking folkie to unleash social commentary on the masses with the group's fourth full-length offering, "Crimes."

A five-piece, bass-heavy hardcore punk outfit, Blood Brothers nonetheless manage to layer tuneful guitar work under razor-wire scream delivery and sometimes-Blonde Redhead vocal inflections hiding extremely well-written lyrics.

Some people find hardcore an excuse for poor instrumentation, arranging and recording, and find it undermines any attempt at lyricism. But "Crimes" wins over even stogy critics brought up on folk with hardcore sensibilities moderated by tunefulness.

True hardcore fans will find "Crimes" easy to dismiss for these reasons, or simply after between 2003's critically acclaimed "Burn Piano Island, Burn," the Blood Brothers signed to UK label V2.

However, criticism that they mellowed out by signing to a major couldn't be more from the truth - on the record's 10th track they exhort their hoard of death's horsemen to "Prance into the halls of Congress, vomit in the speaker's lap."

This less-than-two-minute pipe bomb of a song underlines that Blood Brothers aren't for everybody, but know how to use their medium to make a statement instead of simply declaring their coolness to disaffected kids in black.

"Crimes" is a coup d'etat in its careful crafting of the Blood Brother's obvious influences - early '90s dance-punk, screamo and the art-rock of Sonic Youth and producer John Goodmanson's band Blonde Redhead.

Using subtle laptop work, keyboards, and a dual vocal delivery that is probably the most notable aspect of the band, Blood Brothers Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney combine falsetto screams with Droopy Dog meets Joey Ramone.

Listen to the album's closer "Devastator" to get a sense of the vocal pairing's capabilities, with a Guns N' Roses-meets-Turkish-chorus wandering all over the upper register.

The Blood Brothers admit they're pissed off by W's reascendence, and the anger bleeds through on the second track and college-radio single "Trash Flavored Trash," where they declare that "I know my addition: guns plus guns equals bang bang bang."

However, the best example of their work and the influences of Goodmanson is on "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck."

An anthem based around discarded love and accidents, the band moans knowingly that "love rhymes with pity now." Fans of middle-America dance punk like The Faint will eat up "Crimes" like the bloody postcard from the grave that it is. Just don't forget to bring your own concertina wire.