Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
A couple of years ago in Norwich there wasn’t much in the way of decent emo going on. Nor hardcore for that matter. And then We Close Our Eyes trundled into the scene from nowhere in particular and pioneered the first generation of Norwich screamo! Them and Terms of Endearment, but I wasn’t so into them, apart from one song that had this amazing Yaphet Kotto type part. I didn’t really know any of the folks in the bands at the time, but over the next couple of years more bands started appearing (mostly having incestuous relations with each other) and things in Norwich really started happening and I got to know some awesome duders who make it well worth getting to shows early.
Open Letters played their first show earlier this year and blew me away. Along with the You and I-esque When Ghosts Use Knives they are part of Norwich’s second generation of screamy emo. And this is their first output, a solid 6 track demo that does a good job of showcasing their Saetia style take on the sound. They have a blend of harsher hardcore and cleaner, jangly moments with hoarsely screamed vocals courtesy of Norwich’s arch-scenester, Bob Crane, and equally screamo backups. Both of my favourite Letters tracks feature, “Perfect Pages” with it’s understated build up and subtly dark bass that pushes things onwards is track 5. And they end on the epic “the Persuasion of Guilt” which really goes the whole emo hog, throwing in a totally amazing twinkle breakdown with sobbed vocals. After the breakdown it builds up again, but it misses the intensity and loudness of the bass groove that it has when played live. They sometimes end on this song at shows, and it always bugs me that they play such a powerful sounding song with wrenched vocals and it finishes and their singer is all like “cheers guys! thanks for coming out! yeah!” and smiley after it. NOT EMO AT ALL! He should run out of the venue in floods of tears. Tsk. Good stuff anyway.
The recording is a little thin and doesn’t contain the power of their live performance but it is only a demo after all. Well worth giving a listen to if you enjoy the late 90’s screamy emo sound.