"...MakeWar’s music is constant reminder that yeah, there’s going to be pain, and sadness, and you’re gonna fall down. They show you that you can stay down as long as you like, but don’t forget there are people that care about you, that will help you up, even if one of them is Sallie Mae..."
"...MakeWar's last album (self-titled) was a transitional one and all about an identity change. Moving from the acoustic days of Sad and French into something that emo/indie/pop-punk fans would enjoy. Developing A Theory Of Integrity is the payoff of that gamble and one that really puts them out there as a band you shouldn't let slip under the radar this year. I expected something decent but this album blew expectations away..."
"...MakeWar is using Prieto's songwriting to propel them into a new era that both looks to the past and the future as they create something of their own and loving every minute..."
"...Developing a Theory of Integrity by Brooklyn’s MakeWar immediately jumped to the top of my favorite albums the moment I heard the first song. I cannot get enough of this album and have been listening to it almost daily since it dropped on Red Scare Industries in September..."
"... heory is a confessional of sorts. Guts spilled out and on display for all to see. The writing is intimate and immediate. You are hearing the secrets of the deepest parts of the soul “I can’t fall asleep, so many demons inside of me, and I hope they die, with this shot of whiskey”. Prieto’s soulful voice is perfect, like an old friend’s telling you all that happened since you saw each other, last decades ago..."
"...It’s bands like MakeWar that keep me in the fold. Every once and awhile, a new songwriting talent emerges and reminds you why you stick around in the first place. It all comes down to recognition. It’s that epiphany in a song, when you’re bobbing your head and you hear that exact couplet that you needed to hear at that exact time. It’s when you recognize a feeling, given muscle and bone through art. Developing A Theory of Integrity is a collection of feelings, as genuine and loud as they come..."
"...MakeWar is a pop punk band that uses a little of that scratchy raise-a-beer flannel-punk to balance out the earnest early-2000s emo pop sound that’s really at the heart of this. I’m thinking Brand New’s pop-punkiest era mixed in with something a little gruffer, like Strung Out or The Menzingers. Clean and accessible as can be, but it’s a lot more interesting than the slick and shiny Warped Tour fare that description might suggest..."
"...There is an urgency that permeates the disc as if Prieto is
grabbing the listeners by their shirts, staring into their eyes and
demanding their complete attention. He is intimately committed to each
syllable uttered, yelped, barked, and crooned here, and the passion of the
playing makes this a wonderfully cathartic experience. Fans of Sad and
French will be pleased to know that while that band has moved on, it has
progressed into something beautifully powerful."
"this three-piece continues to tell personal and connective stories about NYC. They sing about tragedies and feel much more open from their droopy past. The lyrics feel packed with more life and I can see them quickly gaining comparison to Nightmares For A Week and Blacklist Royals after this debut."
"I think we’re being hacked. MakeWar is not a metal band. Judging by the album cover (a drawing of an animal skull with an arrow through it), the song titles (“Bloody Faces”, “Against the Rules”), and the actual band name, I thought I was in for 45 minutes of something that sounded like a wild boar being attacked by an asthmatic leopard. Little did I know, I was downloading one of the best albums of the year."
"...Jose Prieto's voice is still the same however, having a natural rasp to his tone which fits the new sound. He does not lose grip on any of his emotional prowess in his delivery either, still sounding near to tears on 'Cheers To You.' 'When The Poison Flows' is still an honest journal diary about letting the alcohol take over after that special person has left. Prieto lets his entire voice be heard as the song comes to a close, standing as the apex of the album, transforming into a beat down to cheers to."
"We’re pleased to bring you the exclusive stream of MakeWar‘s new self-titled album, out this fall on Black Numbers. Before moving on to writing their new upcoming record, MakeWar recorded the previously acoustic Sad and French LP as a full electric three piece"
"The band’s music is now about much more than a single relationship, but the way their material works is very much the same. Make War, like Sad And French, thrives on pulling apart the bullshit of everyday life, examining it, and realizing that we as people are much more than any one moment in time. It’s not about moving on as much as it is making sense of everything that has happened, learning from it, and finding new ways to exist in the wake of everything we have gained from the experiences we have had. It’s beautiful, chaotic, and infectious all at once, and I cannot recommend enough that everyone finds time to experience the album in full"
"MakeWar plays a kind of punk rock that’s urgent and forceful, the kind of stuff that goes over big at the Fest but even bigger at basement shows when the walls are sweating all over you"
"What began as the acoustic solo project of guitarist/vocalist Jose Prieto has now blossomed into a three-piece whose straightforward punk rock shoots far past the searching, folk-tinged arrangements of the band’s early exoskeleton. Now resurrected as Make War, this Brooklyn battalion sets their crosshairs on oft-targeted subjects with a polished sound covering a tarnished backbone."
"I have come back to this record constantly throughout this whole year, each time finding more and more I love about it. Usually I play a record so much to start with I have to put it away for months before I can hear it again but something on this collection remains fresh and keeps my interest. They don't come along too often and that may be the biggest compliment I can pay these guys."
"It’s an album about whiskey and women (the killer combo) and you can literally hear the pain in his voice as he sings, which, to me, makes it even more relatable to the listeners. Who of us haven’t been through a bad breakup? Who hasn’t experienced these types of feelings and emotions? I think it’s a safe bet to say we have all been here."
"Every now and then a band comes along that catches you completely off guard and makes you feel like the wind has been stolen from your lungs."
