I am still grinning that I got sent this 12″ for review and didn’t have to pray that it’d turn up on the X-Mist distro list at some point (which it hasn’t). It’s always cool when you get sent a record that you were desperate for and couldn’t find. It doesn’t happen that often, but you are grateful for the times it does.
So these are two pretty obscure bands, but that’s not really an issue. The Shivering had a neat little CD out a while back which isn’t really representative of where they are at now (though one song from that CD is also on this record), back then they were kind of a Rites of Spring / Jawbreaker hybrid, but they’ve now developed a bit more. They have raspy, emotional vocals and a mid-paced, melodic emo sound that still has it’s roots in hardcore. The vocals make the whole thing sound very much in the vein of Current (Council are even putting a 7″ out by these guys!), and musically they are in the same ballpark too, playing around with that mid 90’s sound in a very different way to most other bands around now that pay homage to it. They sound kind of chunky like Still Life too. I really love the style, and the vocals are about as good as it gets. The guitars on “Bring Me The Fire” actually remind me of Leatherface though at times which was a bit surprising! Very cool though. Overall, top notch stuff from this band, I really look forward to more. Oh, I guess I should mention that they even can put that they are ex-Amber Inn on flyers. Heh.
Funeral Diner are a lot more chaotic and hectic in style than the Shivering, and you’re more likely to have heard them before seeing as they have had a release on Old Glory, and featured on the fantastic split with Staircase. This is probably their best stuff to date, harsh vocalled, screamy emo that mixes up the moody twinkles with the power riffing. This is right up there with recent similar bands like Bright Calm Blue and Spirit of Versailles – kind of blending the quality of Yaphet Kotto with a more screamo approach. I think the addition of more slow parts into their music has really taken things up a level, though for all I know this could have been recorded before that Staircase split!
Well, I guess it’s safe to say that you should own this record if you have similar tastes in music to what I do, yo!