Know the Score

Forget post-hardcore, screamo, metalcore, or post-anything, for that matter. West Palm Beach's Know the Score delivers some of the rawest, most genuine hardcore in South Florida. The band's debut full-length, All Time Low, steps into that space following in the tradition of New York City's Sheer Terror or Boston's Slapshot...

By D. Sirianni

October 19, 2006

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Forget post-hardcore, screamo, metalcore, or post-anything, for that matter. West Palm Beach's Know the Score delivers some of the rawest, most genuine hardcore in South Florida. The band's debut full-length, All Time Low, steps into that space following in the tradition of New York City's Sheer Terror or Boston's Slapshot. The tone ranges from annoyed to extremely pissed, harping on kids who blindly follow what's cool (you know, posers), so-called Christian hardcore, corporate punk, violence, and dishonesty.

All Time Low's 17 tracks clock in at just a touch over 20 minutes, with no cut extending past 1:58. The album explodes with "Terminal," a quick jab at overprivileged youth, before quickly bolting into "$2000 Guarantee," which takes aim at washed-up "reunion" bands. The musicianship is topnotch, with thick, sludgy guitars courtesy of Jared Warsh and XNicholasX. The backbeat is held together by drummer and Break Even Booking co-proprietor Jeff Scott and bassist Seth Funk. At no point does the album fail to deliver, and the ending is no exception. Closing with the title track, All Time Low goes out the way it came in — through an unconstrained burst of raw aggression. Altogether, Know the Score proves more than capable on its first effort. It's definitely a return to mid-'80s hardcore in a frequently arid desert of contrived eclecticism.

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