Labels: Black Lake – boslevan – Make That A Take Records – Pint-Sized Collective – Steady Anchor – Tief in Marcellos Schuld Records – Wolf Town DIY
Review by: MH
New record from Bonehouse here and their first LP proper as this follows on from “The Long Summer” which brought together some early demos on vinyl. This time out we have nine tracks and they have definitely progressed since then without straying too far from the sound on “The Long Summer”. The guitar sound in particular is a little tighter and cleaner. As far as influences go, there is an affection for 90s emo but perhaps more 00s emo stuff and there is melody, tension and sadness in equal measures throughout proceedings. Vocally I get a little bit of Sinaloa from this – maybe, although with a Scottish accent, but the vocals are shouted and get towards desperate without totally flying off the handle in a similar way to Sinaloa. Hints of Life At These Speeds at times too – they have these bits where they all sing or it sounds like they all do – how great is that bit on the ending of “Submerge” by Life At These Speeds by the way? “You make it sound like we’re on different sides like you wanted it that way”. I digress. The last 30 seconds of “Conquistador” is a great example of this with its intertwined vocals – a cracking song and hard for me to see past this one as the standout. However, it’s all good. They have a fine knack in urgency too. When things get driven the tension is palpable like on the endings of both “A God That It Points To” and “I am Magnificent, I am Nothing!” – the former nails the stunning slower, quiet part halfway through. “The Ripples Of Hatred” ends things with some smart use of a voiceover sample which is threaded through the track. This is an early contender for my end of year list – not that I made one last year. I’m not the only one who likes this either – check out the plethora of cool labels who have got together to get this one released around the world too.