What's in a voice? For former Kid Dynamite / Lifetime guitarist Dan Yemin it can make all the difference moving from the side of the stage to in front of a mic, "I started singing in order to be able to express ideas that didn't get addressed in previous bands," He explains. The piercing, first-person, deeply polemical narratives show Yemin to be as solid with lyrical vision as he is with guitar hooks, thus keeping pace with Paint it Black's assaultive hardcore sound.

Fellow Kid Dynamite / Lifetime alumni and current Good Riddance drummer David Wagenschutz, along with Dave Hause (guitar) and Andy Nelson (bass) join Yemin in his unwavering dedication to social consciousness, and a belief that the personal is political. The result is a bombastic rallying cry soaked in the same sweat that birthed early 90's punk and hardcore, an album that harkens back to pre-Clear Channel glory days, and reminds us of a time B.E. (Before Emo) when songs were about something other than being dumped by a girl. Dan elucidates, "This is my most political output yet, although it's infused with self-awareness and reexamination on a personal level. I still feel in many ways alienated from my peers. The older I get the more important it feels for me to cast off the traditional expectations that limit our freedom and passion."