Robyn Writes

Review: Misgivings – Delete History [EP]

Hailing from Southsea but formed over beers in Hamburg, Misgivings make exactly the kind of noise you might expect them to. They trade in a kind of fast and loose punk style while retaining a melodic edge on this, their debut EP Delete History. And while it might start off promising enough, Misgivings are, unfortunately, a band who find themselves making missteps into pitfalls that many other punk bands find themselves guilty of.

The EP kicks off promisingly enough with ‘Century’, an insanely catchy bit of Bad Religion style punk with gruff vocals ripped straight from a Husker Du release. The writing and arrangement of the song has been thoroughly thought out and it quickly builds to a great, clattering conclusion. There are punk bands the world over who would kill to have a song like this in their catalogue.

Next up is the brilliantly titled ‘It’s a Bone, You Lucky Dog’ which after a sweet, melodic guitar intro turns into a pretty standard pop punk tune. Give it a bit of polish in terms of the production and mix and stick a pretty boy singer in there and you might as well be listening to Blink 182 or Taking Back Sunday. These guys know how to write a catchy song, it has to be noted.

From here on in though, the problems emerge. Misgivings are seemingly constricted by their expectations of what a punk band should do that they forget to have any ideas of their own. The songs on Delete History fail to make much impact when each of them sticks so rigidly to formula. It must be stressed that these are in no way bad songs, but surely there’s only so many times you can hear big intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/middle 8/chorus before it starts to get dull.

Misgivings are in no way a bad band and they certainly know how to craft a tune. If Delete History demonstrates anything, it is that there are bags of potential on show here, and this band just need to work on finding their own niche. It is a pleasant listen, it does nothing wrong, but will you remember it when it’s over?

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: The Color and Sound – Peace of Mind [EP]

Formed from the embers of two recently kaputt Boston bands, The Color and Sound merged together their influences and ideas back in 2012 and released their first EP in the spring of the following year. With a wide range of musical backgrounds, the group have spent the last year or so touring and honing in their varying influences and experiences, creating what they call “a uniquely-tinted blend of a modern indie band”. If that description doesn’t do much for you, try to imagine the love-child or Mumford and Sons and Reliant K, with a dose of Modern Baseball there too.

On the back of the amalgamation of their influences, The Color and Sound have released a new EP Peace Of Mind, through New Jersey DIY label Black Numbers and it certainly is all sorts of indie pop-punk (but easy on the punk). Peace Of Mind is six tracks of optimistic pop-driven rock. Opening track ‘Cigarettes’ uses explosively indie-pop choruses to announce much of what is to follow, with the strong melodic vocals creating a high point.

In Peace Of Mind the group seem to be calling on a number of influences (I’ve already mentioned the unmistakable Mumford-ish sound with smatterings of other indie-pop-rock) and create a sound that is ridiculously upbeat but off-the-wall at the same time. It’s like someone condensed Little Miss Sunshine into an EP. While it is not an entirely unique sound, it is one that they are truly making their own. The EP probably doesn’t have enough punk in it to use the tempting label of pop-punk, although it skirts around the edges, but it has hooks and melodies to keep you bopping along in a happy-go-lucky way.

I’ll be the first to say that it’s not for me. I like that their joyful style really does seem to be a reflection of the band members – check out their lyric video for ‘Cigarettes’ in the style of a karaoke machine or take a look at their Facebook page and you’ll see what I mean – but the optimism is lost on me somewhat. There’s no anger, edge or real overflow of passion, and I need that in a song. That said, if you dance around to Against Me!’s gentler numbers, if you love a bit of Say Anything, or if you lose yourself in an Arcade Fire album, then we may have found your new obsession!

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Minus The Bear – Lost Loves

Seattle stalwarts Minus The Bear have been at the forefront of the math rock scene since 2001, combining singalong choruses with head-scratching time signatures and guitar athletics, usually all within the space of a single song. This latest release compiles together an album’s worth of songs that didn’t fit onto their previous three records Planet Of Ice, Omni and Infinity Overhead. An inspired take on the unreleased and rare theme, it certainly delivers the goods, bringing together a range of sonic flavours from riff-rock to electronica via the prog-influenced song structures that have united the band’s output over the years.

Opener ‘Electric Rainbow’ first appeared on the bonus disc accompanying the first editions of 2007 full-length Planet Of Ice and, in this reviewer’s opinion, is an example of the definitive Minus The Bear song. For anyone unfamiliar with the band, it is the perfect introduction, featuring dextrous guitar tapping, some righteous fuzz bass, typically elusive lyrics, and a deliciously singable chorus. It is one of many occasions on this record that make you wonder how such a good song didn’t make the cut for a full album release. Follow up track ‘Surf-N-Turf’ has a funky pop groove that is as radio friendly as 6/4 polyrhythms can get, whilst ‘Broken China’ is a guitar-driven rocker with a enough whammy pedal action to give even Tom Morello foot ache!

Halfway through the record the cracks begin to show, as a couple of the weaker songs reveal why they may have been best left to stew in the cutting room a little longer. ‘Patiently Waiting’ has the potential to be a dreamy atmospheric song that would sit nicely on Planet Of Ice with its smooth Pink Floyd-esque guitar and shimmering keyboard chords, yet the drum machine heavy production and unnecessary faux-reggae middle eight leave it sounding more like an off-cut from Kanye West’s 808’s And Heartbreak. It’s not necessarily bad – in fact there’s a really nice song buried beneath the production – but it lacks context here. In fact, that is the record’s only real weakness. Although the diversity makes for a fantastic snapshot of a band who have proudly gone their own way for more than a decade, it lacks the narrative and cohesive sonic template that usually ties together their albums so well. However, it must be said that this is more a criticism of the b-sides and rarities format in general rather than Lost Loves in specific.

Fortunately, things more than pick up towards the end with closing track ‘The Lucky Ones’, which was originally produced for most recent studio album Infinity Overhead, as it combines searing synth leads with head-nodding staccato riffs and melodic vocals, ending with dramatic closing chords and layered reverse guitar loops. Intelligent yet catchy, it is the perfect closer to a retrospective of a unique band.

Overall this collection cements Minus The Bear’s single-minded individuality over the past thirteen years, from uncompromising technicality to danceable pop hooks and everything in between. Tall Ships, This Town Needs Guns, and any other band who thought ‘hey, maybe we could add an extra beat in here’, pay attention. This band made you.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Review: This Will Destroy You – Another Language

This Will Destroy You have some big shoes to fill – their own. Their last records have been true examples of visceral, verging on primal, post-rock, even if that’s a title they don’t want to give themselves. Another Language, their fourth LP, comes from an extended break, and represents a more unified approach to songwriting.

When you take each track on an individual basis, they’re beautifully crafted and intriguing tracks. Indeed, TWDY eschew the classic post-rock vibe with a more industrial, doomier sound. There’s a very analogue feel to the record, starting with opening track ‘New Topia’. Subtle, almost wistful synths back up an evocative build-up of guitar and drums. A choral-like organ breaks through the fuzz, leaving plenty of space for ‘Dustism’ to follow on blissfully with a range of perfect programming. ‘The Puritan’ has some incredible piano sprinkled throughout. The frantic drums of ‘Invitation’ and the second layer of guitar create an exciting sonic experience – well, as exciting as instrumental rock can get.

But as the record goes on, it all starts to just blend into one. There are plenty of complex aural landscapes throughout, lots of sounds layering up against each other and building an interesting sound, but ultimately, it gets hard to distinguish which track is which. Take them on their own, they each make a statement. Put them together and those distinguishing moments of amazing songwriting get totally lost. In a record like this, it’s vital for everything to flow, but it loses its finesse. It’s not a ‘safe’ record, but it feels like TWDY, so used to pushing boundaries, have written themselves into a safe space – for them, anyway.

Another Language has truly beautiful moments, and it makes a lovely soundtrack to a rainy day, but on the whole, it falls a little flat. TWDY are definitely speaking another language with this LP – it’s just not all that easy to translate back.

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Trails – Crooked Trees

Guildford’s Trails have been building up quite the head of steam lately. Following support slots with the likes of Tellison, The Computers and Arcane Roots, Trails went cap in hand to their fans with a Kickstarter campaign to fund their debut album, Crooked Trees. To cut a long story short, the fans came through, Trails smashed their fairly modest target, and Crooked Trees got made.

Crooked Trees really speaks for itself. The album begins with a fiddly guitar intro before launching head first into a crushing riff, coupled with a guttural scream that ushers in track one – ‘Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads’. The song is a breakneck hardcore thrill ride, with energy to spare and crossover appeal in spades. That said, it features a dizzying array of parts and a dense, complicated structure which lies far beyond the pale of mainstream rock music. It is a baffling display of skill and a tantalising overture of what is to come.

Next up, you get ‘Forever Black’, which kicks off with some pretty left-field Biffy Clyro-esque vocal harmonies before a stop-start Helmet riff trades phrases with black metal screams. The verses are fairly straight up punk, but the song ends when a ginormous swashbuckling riff comes out of absolutely nowhere for a couple of bars. This is clearly the work of a band who have more ideas in each song than most have in their entire back catalogue. It is completely disarming in the best possible way.

And the pace never lets up. They channel a more math-y Hundred Reasons on Echoes in Eternity, a more hardcore Reuben on Egos at the Door and some sort of indescribable Oceansize/Antlered Man mash up scenario on the frankly baffling Panthro. If you ever liked the band ‘A’ but thought they could really use a little bit more jazz in their sound, then the album’s absolute highlight, ‘Capgras Delusion’, is probably the song for you. Trails have thought of more or less everything and it is truly captivating to hear a band mercilessly shoehorning every single idea that they imagine inside sub-four minute slices of anthemic rock.

You could argue that Trails wear their influences a little too readily upon their sleeves at times, but you couldn’t ever accuse them of doing nothing new with these familiar formulas. Crooked Trees is a brilliant album from a band who can only go up.

4.5 out of 5 high fives!