Labels: New Disorder
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Who to blame? Who is to blame? Saetia? Yaphet Kotto? Who or what is responsible for this sudden resurgence in kids rehashing early / mid 90’s emo… For we’ve already had the mesmerising Vida Blue LP this year. And there are some amazing bands that you’ll be hearing me running on about more over the next few months who are only just getting going – City of Caterpillar (these guys will blow you away, best thing in ages), Ruhaeda, Staircase, the Pine, Under A Dying sun, and these chaps too. It does seem that the early / mid 90’s era style of emo (the best style, apart from Moss Icon style of course) is well and truly back. Fuck yes!
This 6 track EP was Quest For Quintana Roo’s (huh?) first release, and it comes replete with the growing pains that any band will experience. For starters, opening track “Blowing Up Satellites” is very straight forward screamo, the likes of which you can hear anywhere these days. Mid-paced hardcore with metal bits, and screamed vocals. Luckily, the rest of the way from there we have the good stuff. “Soap Box” opens up with a moody, melodic intro in the vein of 400 Years, layering the despairing vocals over the top, and proceeding to unleash that essential emo groove and alternate between the twinkle and the crunch pretty damn spectacularly. If you ever liked Embassy, then you will find QFQR are right up your street, purveying that same style of rocking hardcore that knows when to get pretty. QFQR have harsher vocals than Embassy, but that is the band they are most similar to in style. Just listen to the dark twinkle intro’s on “You Make It Easy” and “That’s How We Talked In The Seventies” and how at the drop of a hat they hurtle into the swaying rhythms. Best track though is undoubtedly “Statement to the Statesmen” which rounds this CD off and last around 6 minutes or so. From the word go this has all the hallmarks of a stunning track. The subtle beginning is stamped with Indian Summer leanings, brooding uncomfortably and waiting for the explosion, but in time honoured emo tradition, you have to wait a while for that. More than once they wind things down to quietness just when it seemed they were ready to knock you out, and the one in the middle of the track where they shut things down to a most minimal level is gorgeous. Gentle guitar and slumbering bass slowly work their way up, pre-empting the expected ‘end of the world’ swirl that the track chaotically descends into. Fantastic.
The only drawback is that most of these songs (apart from the finale) are a couple of minutes long, which doesn’t work too well in this style. Just when you think things are getting going they suddenly draw to a close. Oh well. Apart from that, Quest For Quintana Roo are on the right track indeed, and this is well worthy of your time. Limited to 1000 copies.
And so who’s to blame for the upsurge in re-hashing of early / mid 90’s emo? E-bay of course!