Labels: Bent Rail
Review by: Kunal Nandi
Gainer is one of those bands that aren’t pushing the boundaries forward by any great stretch of the imagination, but they are nudging them sideways in an immensely satisfying manner. I’m reminded of so many bands when I listen to this, and yet I am convinced that they don’t blatantly rip off any particular ones at any one time. They have that loud jangling DC-hardcore duelling guitar thing down, which I have always loved, but they are not averse to slamming down a good few bars of crunchy power-chordage when the song demands it.
They seem to favour the more straightforward approach over fiddliness at times, which is fine by me, but it can render a few tracks unmemorable when the vocal line doesn’t clinch it like it should. When it clicks though, it works totally. There’s a slight touch of Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio) and the dude from Riddle Of Steel to the vocals too, if you’re at all interested.
A totally rock-solid half hour of power!