Oh my, so there are now Get Up Kids clone bands in Sweden of all places. I thought Sweden had decent quality control in the main. Except for Millencolin. Anyway, Leiah bring so little that excites the tastebuds to the emo picnic. Whilst some bands took along cream cakes and chocolate and cheese, you also find some small bits of wrinkly cold sausage on sticks and card plates filled with boring sandwiches. The latter two is what Leiah brought. Imagine, if you will, a Mineral / Get Up Kids cross. That is, they have some fast upbeat bits, and some terribly miserable bits with whiney vocals. They have a song called “The Lollipop Telegram”, it has nice piano on it, but apart from that I find nothing redeeming here. To me, this is as bad as Casket Lottery. And if you like them, you’ll dig this. Yuk.
Hebriana on the other hand are Belgian, they thank Reiziger, and they make much more interesting sounds. “Remove To Prove” is herky-jerky post-hardcore with vocals that are pretty shouty. It flits about between sections and generally intrigues. I really recognise the style, but I can’t place who it sounds like – kind of Dischord-y I guess. Their second track, “Crazed By The Notion” does owe something to the Reiziger school of talky vocaled post-HC, but it doesn’t replicate that Van Pelt sound to anywhere near the same extant. And it breaks into the shouting again and gets more hardcore as it finishes up.
Hebriana should have been given both sides.