Labels: association of welterweights
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Seeing as these fella’s contain ex-members of Embassy (also: Stratego & Manumission), I had to check them out. If you’ve been in a great band like that, the chances are you’ll be capable of making some more good tuneage. As far as I can tell, the ASP singer is the same guy who screamed his lungs out for the E, and here he is just as passionate, even if the music is taking a slightly different route.
This is a discog, and only contains 12 tracks, so as a band they didn’t exactly last long. And you can see the dividing line between when the songs were recorded quite easily. The first 5 tracks are from ’96, and are the sound of a band taking the first tenative steps between their former selves and a more rock based direction like Texas Is The Reason. Production is a little lacking, but the tunes tend to beat a melodic path. Most tracks tend to start out slightly restrained and subtle before exploding into life and rocking on out. And all this is framed by excellent strained vocals, which sound more like the singer from Current than Embassy, but hey! I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy. Stand out track from this period is “Rad” which is totally like Still Life! The awesome acoustic style intro builds to the driving, mid-paced emo rock over which the vocals are passionately sung. “30 Seconds In The Police Station” offers more of the same, even starting out with some spoken vocals over the twinkly beginning.
After those 5 songs, the band go unashamedly rock with more than a hint of Lifetime type style. Big thick riffs and chugging basslines charge the music, production is better, songs get faster, and things are a little less complex. But still you’re gifted those wonderful strained vocals, and it all still sounds great. “What’s It Like To Be Human” is simply far too catchy for it’s own good, bouncing a long at a wonderful rate.
This is definitely worth picking up, as it performs the admirable trick of straddling the emo and rock boundaries so much better than practically any other band I’ve heard of late. Sure, the emo only lurks over the first half, but these songs alone make the CD worth getting a hold of.