Labels: Deep Elm
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Now, the two of you that have been reading the C since time immemorial may be a little perplexed at the sight of me taking on a Deep Elm review. You probably sighed and rolled your eyes, “here he is again, back to his old tricks, going to whine about nu-emo or something”, well well, forget all that nonsense and start this with a clean slate.
This is good. Very good. Of course, I will put in this disclaimer – before you buy it, ensure you own:
1) Boilermaker – s/t
2) Engine Down – the first 2 LP’s
3) Three Mile Pilot – Another Desert, Another Sea
as ‘Contents of Distraction’ has many elements in common with all those albums, yet is not as good (pshaw! like that is a criticism, most records would have trouble going head to head with those records). DCS have a grooving and melodic take on the post hardcore sound, with ominous piano proving to be a massive element in their sound. The vocals ease between strongly sung and wrenched screamin’, which is all good, the singing is very powerful. Everything sways back and forth, between the moody quiet parts (very 3MP, what with that piano), and then it erupts into noisier moments. Sometimes it descends into end of the world chaos that was the specialty of many of the bands that provided a more melodic take on emo, such as I Hate Myself. Everything goes up in the air and explodes, like the firework finale, aiiiii! I hope they fall on the floor and stuff. Mostly though it is more restrained, with build ups to melodic outpourings and crying. I don’t get the bit where the guy coughs at the end of the song though? Is coughing emo? I guess he is a hardened smoker or something, he should ease off a bit. Also I think the seperate track of a jazz spazz out at the end of the CD seems a little forced and pretentious, but what do I know.
This is seriously good stuff, but you should at least try and track down those other records first. Especially the Boilermaker and Three Mile Pilot ones, as they are absolute classics. But yeah, standing alone, this is still a damn fine album if you are into edgey post hardcore type stuff.