Why's Everybody Always Picking On Me?

OK, I get it. Their singer wears makeup and capitalizes random letters in his name. They have weird looking, pudgy guitarists. Their album covers are really weird. The imagery surrounding Seattle goth-punks Aiden is certainly worthy of the occassional jab, but really, why does everyone hate this band so much? I think they do a perfectly good Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge era My Chemical Romance impression, and i thoroughly enjoyed their 2005 album Nightmare Anatomy. 2007's Conviction lacked a little in the energy department, which was a dissapointment because it's energy they do so well. Last year frontman wiL Francis put out an excellent solo album under the name William Control, and that just about brings us up to speed. That brings us to Knives, released on May 12, it is Aiden's 4th full length, and in my opinion, a nice little slab of gothic horror punk that should appeal to fans of later era AFI and HIM, and maybe even some Placebo nuts. Knives carries with it all the cliches Aiden have spent the last 5 years being blasted for (bad lyrics about death and blood, mostly), but you just can't get past the fact that these are good, catchy songs. Album opener "Killing Machine" moves along at breakneck speed, with Francis crooning his heart out over jagged guitars and galloping drums. The second track, "Let the Right One In" is my favorite on the album. It's just super catchy and i really like wiL's voice. The single "Scavengers of the Damned" is also excellent. It's a shame everyone hates Aiden so much for what they look like that they won't even give their music a chance. So come on; close your eyes, forget what you know about this band and give Knives a spin. Maybe you'll even like it.