Exoduster.com [8/01/03]
Since 1998, Dead Letter Auction (from recently flooded Fort Wayne, IN) have been playing and working as many young bands on sort do. Yet, over some fall outs and ins, the core of DLA has stuck together through a variety of EPs, 7"s and tours to finally knock out their first full-length with Cancer of Time. Starting off on "Foreshadow" like Jazz June's cousin, DLA begin their quickly defining sound of swirling guitars, mid-tempo drums and whiny distant vocals of the indie breed and reminiscent of the cadences of ATDI. The most characteristic aspect of their sound is no doubt the vocals and the guitars. Specifically, the guitars are sans distortion throughout most of the record's twelve tracks and only come in sparingly otherwise. As you might expect this adds to the indie feel of the record and unfortunately a somewhat tin-like sounding recording. However, I think this does not necessarily detract from the sound that DLA is attempting to tackle. That this is case is probably more
impressive since they did the recording and had the mix done in 20 hours in Chicago. Cancer of Time is one of those albums where it is hard to pick out a song or two because the twelve fit well together as one. One drawback to that is it is hard to differentiate between songs so if you played them on shuffle it would be hard to know what's what. DLA have come out with a solid first full-length on Cancer of Time and if they are able to stick around long enough, they should come out on top after getting their just exposure. Brian Fogarty aka, The Professor

Light Up The Sky: [7/10/03]
Rating: 7 out of 10
Dead Letter Auction are a four-piece rock group from the boondocks of Fort Wayne, Indiana who have tactfully taken on a sound that mixes 90's innovative indie-rock with 80's style vocal work. On this, their first full length release, the group have devoted themselves to seeing that they live out the fantasy cross-breeding of The Cure and At The Drive-In that they've been aiming for. It's a plan that toes the lines of complete disaster, however the band pull it off dazzlingly well.
 On opening tracks like "Foreshadow" and "Never To End", the band charge through their songs with heavy doses of Dischord-esque tempos and Omar Rodriguez-patent guitar-note construction. During this process, vocalists Damian Hade and Jarod Isenbarger try tirelessly to adapt the larynx of a young Robert Smith. It's a combination that seems like a bad pairing, but at times it really works. This is evident on the slower numbers like "Excise" when the music drags down to a Manchester post-punk pace and drenches the listener in London fog.
 The highlight on the disc is the albums title track and the disc's closer, "Cancer of Time". It starts off with haunting guitars and chiming pianos that pick up at a medium pace at about a minute and ten seconds in. From there, the drums blow open to encompass a heavy hitting bass line while the vocals trade pleas with the octave chords on the six-string. It repeats the same pattern and concludes with another minutes worth of dreary mood music to finish off the the disjointed lyrics - which sound like a cut and paste journal entry.
 Overall the release is solid, but at times the songs drag on a minute too long or the vocals sound a little too monotonous. It's the excess fat that needs to be trimmed, and surely maturity with time will do so. Until then, give this album a listen because it's a well-documented beginning of a band that is just starting to get things going. MA

STNT: [11/24/03]
« C’est le nouvel album de Robert Smith ? » dixit un Curiste de passage (véridique !)…Non juste le premier long effort de Dead Letter Auction qui avait mis la puce à l’oreille dernièrement avec un précédent Ep très prometteur. Si la blague est facile concernant le mimétisme touchant entre la voix du guitariste chanteur de Dead Letter Auction et le leader de The Cure, il n’en reste pas moins que ce « cancer of time » est le pont idéal entre le rock new wave des anglais et le post hardcore de Fugazi, première époque. Et si ce raccourcis vous semble simpliste vous pouvez rajouter à la liste les noms de North of America, the Regulator Watts, the Plan…pour ne citer qu’eux ! Mais au-delà de ces rapprochements toujours trop rapides, Dead Letter Auction développe à travers ces douze chansons une atmosphère tendue, mélancolique presque dépressive…tout en passant par des poussées de rage compréhensible. Et même si le disque s’essouffle un tout petit peu sur la fin, Dead Letter Auction arrive à tenir en haleine à l’aide d’une tension et d’une énergie palpable tout le long de cet album très réussi. A ne pas louper !

greg (24/11/03)

       rough translation:       
"It is the new album of Robert Smith? "dixit Curiste of passage (veracious!)... Not just first long effort of Dead Letter Auction which had put the chip at the ear lately with very promising a Ep precedent. If the joke is easy concerning the imitation touching between the voice of the guitarist singer of Dead Letter Auction and the leader of The Cure, it does not remain about it less than this "cancer of time" is the ideal bridge between the rock'n'roll new wave of English and the post hardcore of Fugazi, first time. And if this short cuts seems to you simplistic you can add with the list the names of North of America, the Regulator Watts, the Plane... to quote only them! But beyond these bringings together always too fast, Dead Letter Auction develops through these twelve songs a tended atmosphere, melancholic person almost depressive... while passing by pushes of comprehensible rage. And even if the disc blows very small little on the end, Dead Letter Auction manages to hold in breath using a tension and of a palpable energy all along this very successful album. With not louper!

AMG REVIEW:  [8/04/03]
Although the Indiana four-piece Dead Letter Auction have numerous releases under their belt since forming in 1998, Cancer of Time is their first full-length. Having endured many lineup changes, their original is back together on this recording. One of the things that first comes to attention is that the vocal tone is redundant for most of the album, with a pleading, painful sound emitted from the vocalist's throat. It helps at some moments and at others it seems to distract from the music. Musically, the band seems to be a bipolar personality, with the occasional fast part and then the distorted, ambient portion, followed by the typical emo-hardcore posings. Compared to past releases, the feel is certainly much darker, making for a more mature and dramatic listening. All told, Cancer of Time is welded together to make for a solid release, potentially one of the best of the band's career. — Kurt Morris

Delusions of Adequacy: [9/08/03]
Dead Letter Auction is a group that attempt to transplant the post-hardcore vibe of DC circa 1991 to Chicago, circa now. Cancer of Time begins with the Fugazi- (ahem) inspired “Foreshadow.” It’s got the biting angular guitar lines and even comes complete with some Guy Piciotto-esque back up screams. Most of the album continues along similar fashion of a band trying to sound like they belong on Dischord Records.
 The band plays with passion and intensity, but its influences are worn a little too proudly on sleeves. They’ve incorporated the dissonance, distortion, and minor chords that bands from the nation’s capitol all but have a trademark on. There are traces of influence from a slew of post-hardcore groups be they: Juno, the Exploder, Shiner, At the Drive-In etc.
 At times, when the music is most melodic, the vocalist manages to sound quite similar to the oft-anguished Robert Smith of the Cure. When this happens, the result is a pleasing mixture of melody and aggression. However, mostly the vocals are delivered in a monotonous scream to go along with the abrasive rhythms.
 The album closer is the title track. On it, Dead Letter Auction finally pull off what was missed on the other 11 songs. They manage to create an original song that blends angular post-hardcore guitar with an underlying sense of melody, and layer it with violins, creating a sound that best compliments the vocals. The result is an emotionally resonant closer. If Dead Letter Auction is able to repeat this success in future efforts, it may be on to something. In the meantime, this is a band struggling to create music that is something more than mediocre.  - Dan

indieworkshop.com [8/05/03]
Honestly…I wanted to dislike this band after the 5th listen. I’m not kidding and I’ll openly admit that I have a bitchy ear. If I’m not into it by the second listen; it’s in the heap collecting in my closet. The other day I was tossing this record towards that pile when the front door buzzed and I set “Cancer of Time” on my desk next to my duct tape and Aquafina (yes…a water snob as well). DLA did not walk the plank that day by god, so they’ve remained only to be sacrificed on the critic’s altar.
 I’m not going to “front” that this is the best thing since locking headstocks or the inception of “laptop” as a valid and playable instrument. What this is is the follow up to “Vertigo”. They’ve tossed together a mix-mash of hardcore, spoken/sung lyrics and textured minimalism to create a sound that at times other writers have likened to Robert and crew of the Cure. Blind me in one eye and pour salt in the other and I can, at times, see this is true. What I do know is that this is a band that’s had ten line up changes since 1998 and like to put that as pertinent point on their one-sheet. I applaud the effort, I really do. Again, I’m bitchy.
 DLA do have their moments. The opening on “cut” number 12 is melodically serene. The drums drive, the guitars jingle jangle and a moving keyboard line jumps around a bit. Then all hell breaks loose once again much like the rest of the record. After a while it gets harder to tell each tune apart. Dead Letter does sound like they’d be a good, groovy live show. I believe they feel the same way and I quote the one-sheet, “ The high energy (no hyphen needed) and inescapable grooves are accomplished through pounding bass and drums.” Yes, this is true, what is not is any kind of parallel with The Cure.
 I’d say this is good for a few songs then you’ll need to change it up and come back to it again. Musically, it’s an attention grabber, and sometimes the yell/scream/sing/shout/ spoken word action gets a little tiresome, especially if you stay in the same two- tone range the entire time. I’d say spice things up with some ass busting screams and a little start stop, or maybe don’t liken yourself to Radiohead in your one-sheet (hmmm, I used a hyphen). To the general public take these words as a grain of salt. Go see for yourself; they’re on tour soon. To find dates, pop Dead Letter Auction in on Google and ride the curl.
 You see I’m a fan of a record I can spin for a couple hours. You know, front to back, side to side and all that shit. And this just isn’t one of them. That’s the anthem, get your damn hands up! - Todd

Bornbackwards.com [12/30/03]
Dead Letter Auction is a pretty good band from Fort Wayne, Indiana. They have nice, angular guitar parts and a nice wall-of-noise-always-distorted Trail of Dead quality. I might think they were a great band, but I can’t get past their singer. His voice annoys me. Very Badly. And I like Jawbreaker with Blake Schwarzenbach’s perpetual smoker’s voice, and Bright Eyes with Conor Oberst’s voice shaking every time he hits too low a note. At his best, Dead Letter Auction's singer reminds me of Guy Picciotto of Fugazi. At his worst, he seems to spout words without regard to time or melody, which makes me just want to turn the CD off. The lyrics are totally indecipherable because of his sloppy singing. Voice doubling doesn’t seem to help either, because some people just aren’t meant to sing.
 The first track, “Foreshadow”, is the best. The guitar parts remind me of Cursive’s Domestica and the drums beat out an interesting post-punk rhythm. It seamlessly fades into the second song and the vocals begin to grate on my nerves. But wow, the music is good. Most of the subsequent tracks really fall into a formula of quiet start, loud middle, quiet end. And as a result, the songs tend to blur together. All except for the last track, my second favorite on the record. It starts off with undistorted guitar, and a keyboard set on the violin setting. It sounds pretty awesome. Even when the vocals start in, I don’t mind that much. The guitar work reminds me of The Get up Kids guitar parts from Woodson and Four Minute Mile. Anything that recalls their early stuff is listenable in my book. Their lyrics are pretty well written poetic stuff. In “Foreshadow” they quote The Aenid, and the second song is just one long quote from Black Spring by Henry Miller (the author of Tropic of Cancer).
 I bet these guys would be a great live performance, kinda like how Thursday’s live performace comes across better than any of their records can. Check this out if you think you can handle the vocals.  - Austin

PA Hardcore:
some decent indie rock type stuff. it suprisingly kept my interest to the 9th song before i took it out to put in guns and roses. it reminds me of alot of those weirdo bands revelation was putting out after the figured hardcore wasnt cool anymore. the musics really solid but the vocals get super obnoxious after awhile. sometimes it reminds me of prema and sometimes garrison. not great but if indie rock is your steez id recommend it. good layout. Wawa Strike

X-mist:
NEW - 1st full album (12 songs) by this indie-rock/emocore band from Indiana, often described as "the CURE meets FUGAZI", but definitely also comparable to bands like 400 YEARS, or at times even like SHOTMAKER with a clearer sound.

Insound:
dead letter auction's debut full length cd is twelve tracks of music that delivers enough melody and dynamic changes which makes it more interesting the vast majority of indie rock albums released this year. The guitar sound ranges from loud and distorted to quiet subtle dissonances. The high-energy and inescapable grooves are accomplished through pounding bass and drums. Dead letter auction will appeal to fans of juno, trail of the dead, sonic youth, dinosaur jr, radiohead, at the drive in and more.