67dB

1. Nothing Left To Say
Notable lyric: "What's the weather like kid? It's always sunny in hell."
Starts off with some low-brow spoken word with sounds of CGI birds in the background. If you could see their chirps they'd be pixelated. Song really starts at 1:39 with a movin' bumpy beat and when his rhymes and tone become 'aggressive'. I like this song. His fast delivery here works well. Great start to the album. 8/10

2. Beat Kids
Notable lyric: "Beat kids... beat kids. We keep shovelin' sheep... shit."
The distorted and somewhat uninspired bass line gets on my nerves a tad. The lyrics aren't compelling to me. I don't think I've paid close enough attention to understand what he's really talking about, and I don't think I'm going to take any initiative to eventually find out. Chorus makes me want to read a newspaper from a random date in which nothing exciting happened. 5/10

3. Dr. Strong

Notable lyric: "But ther's no horses about to rip you limb from limb, but the tranquilizer in your blood is what they give to them."
His name is Chris Palko and he's a former patient of Stoney Lodge Hospital. We know this because he says it first thing. He spits this one in a higher pitch. I don't mind. Some might think it sounds a bit whiny; I can deal with it. This song features a lot of the double vocal attack (DVA). The lyrics are weak, so putting two voices behind them presumably makes them more interesting and relevant. Eh, not so much. Song ends with, "When I get there, let me in." I think they will Chris, I think they will. 4/10

4. I Found My Mind In Connecticut

Notable lyric: "Truth is, she just fucked me 'cause my bro's D. Palumbo."
Captivating and simple guitar riff over some phasy-synthy goodness. Here, he's spewing his letter combinations in quite the monotone voice. He perfects the art of, "Look at me not giving shit... and you love it." I do love it actually. If Rocky Minik could rap this is what he'd sound like. You probably don't know who that is but it's not important. Moving on... 9/10

5. I Lost It In Havertown
Notable lyric: None.
A fast start. Gets wild quick. Wastes no time. We are INTO IT! Very short tune, and I think that's good because if it was any longer it might feel too long. 6/10

6. Teenage Hands

Notable lyric: "Your. Little. Teenage hands (x3). Your. Stupid little teenage hands."

The lyrics here dumb. This song annoys me to incredible levels. It's not long but it manages to kill an awful lot of brain cells in a short a mount of time. I'm not talking about it. Sorry. 1/10

7. Eating It's Way Out Of Me

Key lyric: "As beautiful as this hole is, I need to climb out."

I would consider this a 'dope' and 'chill' beat. Play this for a babe in your car and she'll think you're Matthew Stafford. Nifty horn-like sound that begins around 1:30 means a lot to me. The track kind of drags on a bit and not much changes throughout, which greatly impacts my score. Still decent. 6/10

8. Kick Rocks

Key lyric: "I got me, I got Susie...uhh... can I get a +6?"

Remember Teenage Hands? This is 50x worse. In between renditions of an absolutely terrible chorus, we have stumbling conversations about rehab/cigarettes, getting on the list for a show, and something with mom who sounds like Beeker. Then Mr. Palko decides to neglect the usage of words because of a dueling problem that sometimes babies have to deal with. The result is messy. Chernobyl messy. 0/10

9. Captain Bumout

Notable lyric: "I hope somebody pulls a gun out and sucks all the fun out and levels the playing field for Captain Bumout."

Somewhat silly lyrics that in some strange and embarrassing way I can somewhat relate to. The chorus is catchy and melodic. Very traditional song structure on display here. This is really welcomed after the previous few songs. The 'District 9 alien sound' featured in this song makes it much stronger. 8/10

10. Strain

Notable lyric: "You wake up with a girl and a Robitussin mustache."

Not really bad, but certainly not great. Annoying chorus. He's saying something about gold chains. Not getting much emotional impact from this song. You could probably draw that conclusion from the lyric posted above. He tries to get deep and dark with some devilish talking over fed-back guitar. You can probably pass on this one. 5/10

11. Fat Kids Need An Anthem

Notable lyric: "I remember I was watchin' Fight Club with my ex-girlfriend and the part came up when he had bitch tits, and she laughed, and I had bitch tits, so that means she was really laughin' at me. I was just tired of feeling like shit, you know?"

Did you really think this song would be any good based on the title? Based on that lyric? Of course not. The chorus makes me want to detach the lawnmower blade from my Yard Machine and make a few attempts at cutting my own ears off. You'd think it'd be more difficult to cut the second ear off after the incredible pain of the first sever, but as long as this song's still playing they'll be motivation. 1/10

12. Look At What You Did
Notable lyric: "She took my eyes and she put 'em on her somehow, now I understand why she gets up after sundown."

Best song. Constructed brilliantly. Kind of baffling how this song was made by the same person as the previous trash. Fun-bouncy-want-to-sing-along chorus. Perfect length (not too long like some other songs are guilty of). 9/10

13. Depart From Me

Notable lyric: "You knew it was so hard to see my brother dyin', so pardon me. You just depart from me. You ruined art for me."

Solid effort. It flows from beginning to end. These lyrics might just be the most meaningful on the album. 7/10

14. I Never Knew You

Notable lyric: "Perish the thought. You should cherish the words that I got in my mouth. The only words that can truly explain how I got in your house."

Oops, I blew the surprise with that lyric. But we've arrived at the big single. The crem de le creme. Fitting that it's last, as I think it's a good ender with a slower pace and lyrics you can't ignore. The vocal style and pacing are perfect on top of the music. Check the Shia LaBeouf-directed video. 9/10

15. Hugs And Kisses (iTunes bonus track)

Notable lyric: Instantly I notice this is mixed louder than the other tracks. Not by a ton, but it's noticeable to me every time. Big-time percussion going on here, of the distorted variety. All in all, I'm glad I bought this album on iTunes in order to get this track (otherwise it would have been Amazon). At least my 5th favorite song. 8/10

So that's it. In regards to the bad on this album, I generally want to give Chris Palko the benefit of the doubt. The dude's had a rough life. But there are simply inexcusable errors in judgment on display here. I feel there's potential for this guy to be good from front to back, but overall, this leaves me with the feeling it could have been so much more. Not taking a few songs off and not being so reserved on the guitar would be starters.

I've read articles/reviews saying this sounds similar to Linkin' Park. While I don't like Linkin' Park, I will readily admit there are similar elements. But Cage appeals to the rebel in me. My mom used to watch me play outside as an adolescent with the neighbors across the street. They loved their profanity. When they'd say 'fuck' I'd look across the street to see if my mom was actually watching/listening. Every time the answer was yes. I'd feel slight embarrassment, yet slight bad-assery. This album brings back that combination of emotions.