Labels: Bifocal Media
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Ah, the Ladderback, or as they are known in South Africa, the Lidderbick, or something. These guys seem to put out an LP manually, in other words, once a year (sorry, obscure stupid reference), but I rarely hear anyone mention them anywhere. They are a decidedly solid band, without being drop dead astounding, though they are steadily improving – the last album was a huge step up from the first stuff, and this is a notch above the previous record. They play frantic and highly energetic indiem(o)athardcore chunes, and they are damn good at it. They come across as overwhelmingly tight and the production on this is clear as a bell, especially on louder volumes. The music kind of oozes out of the speakers during the slower parts, then slices them open when they stutter into the math riffs. Another addition to the sound is of eerie Song of Zarathustra style keyboards at times though they don’t go over-board on this. The vocals are that edge of tears desperation or MY HAIR IS ON FIRE yelling, and the music kind of Vida Blue-esque at times though a little more technical and less random. To go with the mind boggling math-wanking they throw in catchy melodic choruses to rock you out, for example “Bronzed” has some of the loudest twinkle parts on record where it sounds like Christie Front Drive have decided to make a visit to the louder realms of their amps capabilities. I would live to see these guys live I bet it’d be great fun because they really find their groove at times and would be great for doing silly flailing dances to.
The best stuff is kind of a Braid (at their most math) mixing it up with angry emo bands like the Vida Blue, which provides for an invigorating mix of the clumsy and the calculated. There are times where this album did lose my attention every now and again but overall it is rather fine and gets better with more listens. I love the blend of melody and lunacy. So, this is some pretty decent stuff and it stands out nicely from the more chaotic stuff that I tend to find myself listening to.