Labels: Nakatomi Plaza Records
Review by: Joe Callaghan
It’s a Die Hard reference! Superb. If only more bands adopted Die Hard references for titles and such. An old band mate of mine started a band called White Vest. See? Great references and heaps of fun. Much better than that Arnie themed metal band. What a shed of shit.
Nakatomi Plaza have a lot to offer. This is their third and final record, and as always, it has progressed cleverly since the previous record, Unsettled. Okay, a lot of the time, it’s a little cheesy, with the wah-wah guitar solos and strange effects that you expect to hear on a Sigur Ros record. Beneath all the strange sounds is still quite a complex operation. Awkward, stop/start rhythms, and duelling male/female vocals which boast an extraordinary range. The former quickly shifts between piercing screams, to a melodic semi-rasp akin to Walter Schreifels, whilst the latter provides a low, clean vocal, which often makes the whole ordeal sound very similar to Fifth Hour Hero, but less pop-punk, and more shifty, jerky messing about. Slick catchy melodies and twitchy, restless structures that just can’t sit still result in quite an unpredictable conjunction of all your favourite punk rock sub genres. The stadium rock shredding and pretentious post rock bleeping can be a bit of a mountain to climb, but it’s a good record, honest! Probably the weakest of the 3, but still a strong record and I’m glad the tracks eventually got released, even if they are no longer with us. I wouldn’t start with this record of you are unfamiliar with Nakatomi Plaza. It’s a bit difficult to take in as a starting point. The first album, Private Property shows you how they started, as just an overly idealistic pop punk band, and the records that followed show a gulf of progression which is both engaging and impressive.
It’s a bad time to get into a band, when they’ve just split up. You know you’ll never see them, or get excited about a new release again. However, to chronologically delve into Nakatomi Plaza’s records would not be a bad thing if, y’know, you like melodious punk rock and that.