Robyn Writes

Review: Stillborn – Degraded Culture [EP]

Ooooh. Now. These Austrian metallo-hardcore monkeys really are right pissed off about something or other. Chuggy and and a little sludgy, Stillborn‘s Degraded Culture is a dirty shitnugget of cymbals, distortion and barely intelligible death-rattle growl-a-rama vocal larkery. Kind of like Bastions, but with a lethal dose of central European angst.

This actually all works rather well if you just want some testy filth in your ears. Track 3 “The Devil’s Face” is a nasty little cracker of the genre – great lurching riffs and deft use of the grunt to crown the breakdown, and in terms of subject matter, a simple little ditty about why religion is a REALLY bad thing. Bulls eye. Lyrically, of course it’s unapologetic Sixth Form throughout. Speaking personally, I even recognise some of their lines. I think I wrote much the same things on a Lever Arch folder while sat right at the back of A-Level English, at a time when I was fixated on Ministry and the Dead Kennedys and was properly angry about the West’s response to the Yugoslav Civil War. Or maybe it was Somalia. Not sure. It was ages ago.

Nonetheless, these boys really do seem to take the systems collapse / doomsday conceit very seriously. And why ever not. However, I only know this because the lyrics are helpfully posted up on the Bandcamp page so when you stream the tracks you can read along. Without this, you wouldn’t have a clue what they are banging on about. But the banging is the good bit. So I wouldn’t worry.

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Homage – Insignificant [EP]

2014. Is this the year of the melodic hardcore band ? Hasn’t, technically, every year since 2003 been the year of the melodic hardcore band because actually, most other music genres can just suck it? Or will 2014 just be yet another year where we’re flooded with the same band after the same band after the same band? Let’s just say I’m not losing hope quite yet. Homage released Insignificant in 2012, where it was probably prone to get lost in the never ending pseudo post-hardcore shitstream, but teaming up with Giant MKT, they’re giving it another shot.

The refreshing thing about Insignificant is that it’s tightly performed, well-produced and has a good number of intricate moments that you can really sink your teeth into. The unfortunate thing is that it sounds virtually no different to every other melodic hardcore band ever. Homage truly are a homage. Upon first listen, there are some great bits, like the Twin Peaks reference in ‘Groundwork’ and the melodic atmosphere built up in ‘Release Relief’. However, they’re somewhat forgettable, with no real impetus. It’s not to say that it’s a bad record – if anything, the EP sounds more like a ‘best of’ your favourite melodic hardcore acts. ‘Definitive’ really is that – it’s melodic hardcore 101, even if it’s a very good example of it. To their credit, it’s a difficult genre to truly stand out in, and given a longer record, with more room to experiment, Homage certainly have the potential to be great. It’s virtually impossible for an EP to have no standout track, so on Insignificant, it’s ‘Albeit’ that really demonstrates that potential. From the blast beats pervading below the distortion to the intricate indie-style picking that crashes into the verse with a dual-guitar assault, it’s a joy to listen to.

Homage still have a little way to go, but Insignificant is definitely worth picking up if this is your kind of thing. Just don’t expect it to break the mould just yet.

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: ReVerbed – This Machine

Yorkshire upstarts ReVerbed have been extremely busy since their inception in 2010. This Machine, released last November, marks their fourth release, and an entry into the growing trend of the mini-album. It’s nine tracks of snarly, snotty punk with a few poppy twists, and there’s plenty of good stuff lurking in its midsts.

For a start, the fuzzy guitars and thrashy riffs present in ‘I Finally Wrote A Song (Fuck You)’ and ‘Uncommonwealth’ are plenty of fun. ‘Let Me Go’ has a bit of a power ballad feel to it, and when there just aren’t enough power ballads in the 21st Century, it’s about time we found a few on a punk record. ‘Shine A Light’ has one hell of a ballsy solo, and ‘A Nice Day In Hell’ treads briefly into murky dirgey hardcore territory to totally shake things up in the middle section. There’s a lot of highlights to be found, and you can really hear the joy that went into creating the record come through.

But ReVerbed just don’t go far enough, and as a result, the mini-album seems just shy of its real worth. The dual vocal approach between lead vocalist George and Zoe really needs to be explored more fully – when it works, it works brilliantly, like in ‘Let Me Go’, but there’s just not enough of it present. The political themes explored in ‘Uncommonwealth’ don’t feel totally realised and as a result, it’s nowhere near as effective as it should be. While most of the mini-album is tightly played and well-produced, there are a couple of sloppy riffs that wouldn’t even be noticeable in a live show, but on a recorded piece, jar and frustrate. And it is frustrating, because it’s obvious that these guys are better than that, and it means that parts of the record fall on the wrong side of unrefined.

This Machine might not be perfect, but it shows the great potential that ReVerbed have. Their consistent hard work and appetite for greatness will stand them in good stead, and This Machine is fully representative of that.

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Youth Man – Bad Weather [EP]

There are some that would look to pigeon hole this as Grunge Revival. Or something along those lines. However, after long and careful consideration, I think that the some that would say this can fuck off. Because this is, basically, brilliant.

This five-track EP from spiky Birmingham three-piece Youth Man undeniably takes a motherload of inspiration from that whole early nineties American Northwest sound – and, as it’s ballsy as hell female-fronted fare, you can hear the likes of Bikini Kill and the original [sic] Riot Grrrl thing clear as a bell. Opener Heavy Rain specifically owes a lot to Babes In Toyland at their Fontanelle-era peak – but I’m struggling to see why that is remotely a bad thing in an age such as ours where Robin Thicke is allowed to walk free in the streets. Not enough militancy these days, by far. But seriously. This is no throwback. This is a breath of pure fresh air.

Track 2 (Insipid) is a pokey, almost Rockabilly-like smack in the mouth. The last three tracks take the venerable LOUD / quiet / LOUD formula and throw it back with an intricacy and intent – and a dark lyrical intelligence. The girl up front has some serious lungs – her vocals alternately soaring with the guitars, wailing like a righteous banshee and then whispering with the minimalist refrains. It really is a joyous thing to hear a simple guitar/bass/drums combo make such a powerful mass of noise as you’ll find here.

And to dwell on the influences of something this febrile is to miss the whole goddam point. There’s not just Grunge in here anyway, if we’re being picky. As is the fusing nature of all modern “alternative” music, you also get flashes of Dischord (Dag Nasty, Slant 6) and the whole gamut of high end “Post Hardcore” – and other stuff that I can’t quite put my finger on. All of which gives this a look-you-straight-in-the-eye personality that is all of its own. The PR calls this “Afrocore”. I suspect this may be a Radkey reference and I’m not all to keen on the term, but I think it comes close. And who cares what name you stick on this.

Stop reading this drivel. And just buy or download this. Now.

5 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Walleater – A Masking Aura [EP]

What if Stephen Malkmus wasn’t such an arbitrator of trashy lo-fi noise? What if, instead of fiddling around with his vintage four-track recorder, he indulged in the odd delay pedal? What if, instead of his apathetic stream-of-conscious drawl, he adopted an Ian Curtis-via-Texas partially indeterminable mumbled baritone? Well then, he’d be pretty much ripping off Walleater, that’s what. A Masking Aura is three songs, including one cover, of some darn fine mid-90’s American indie. Despite the ‘Grounded’ cover, this isn’t simply a paean to Pavement – or indeed, the fathomless quantity of obscure alternative rock acts that together formed the post-grunge US indie movement. Walleater offer much more than a dose of squalling guitar and lashings of self-conscious defeatist irony. In fact, much of their melody-driven delayed guitars place the band in an oddly similar territory to the so-called ‘Wave’ bands that brought US hardcore into a more cerebral and Tumblr-friendly state of being. Indeed, ‘Pig Pen’ would sit comfortably on an early Balance & Composure E.P with its highly emotive guitar bends and down-tempo grungey intro riff underpinned by that half-mumbled baritone. ‘Peel’ however, is all about layers of noise – great blocks of chaotic, distorted sound sliced through by the simple melody line of an exceedingly cheap synthesizer. If it weren’t for the cloud of fuzz surrounding the track, accusations of ‘tweeness’ wouldn’t be wholly ungrounded. Thankfully, there’s a solid wall of guitar noise to dispel such fears.

They may embody much of the rollicking slacker aesthetic of Pavement’s four-track indie, yet also exhibited are inklings of distinct inward-facing existential postures that characterised the moping army of effects pedal aficionados commonly referred to as the ‘Shoegaze’ movement. Projected onto ‘Grounded’, their treatment of the originally stark instrumentation is here smothered in noise, the chorus beefed-up with a great slab of distorted guitar. Elevating his baritone, the vocalist adopts his best Malkmus impression- mimicking the slacker pin-ups idiosyncratic stuttered vocal delivery on the verses as well as the wails of the expansive chorus.

Within these three tracks, Walleater exist between a number of styles and aesthetics, firmly refusing to wholeheartedly commit to any. This may leave the band as a somewhat logical amalgamation of influence, but they’re a thoroughly engrossing prospect perpetrating a dense noise-feast that doesn’t shy away from clear-cut melodies or more rocky inclinations.

4 out of 5 high fives!