Labels: For The Sake Of Tapes
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Ah yes, this is music that I think you could firmly classify as “up my street”. Actual Crimes come ripping out of the gate with some gloriously fuzzed up n punked up, riffy indie rock. Makes me think of a more emo Archers of Loaf or something like that. The volume is pumped up, and Kirsty Fife’s vocals are absolutely belted out and everything pulsates with a wild energy. Sometimes things draw back into a more intricate, fraught sound such as the more downbeat “By Definition”, with other vocalist Aaron Batley coming to the fore for the first time. “Long Divide” is another fine example of ratcheting up the tension (by which I obvs mean emo). This contrasts but never clashes with the poppier stuff such as “Too Much” which is pretty much a straight up pop punker and has some great lyrics. And the banging “I Don’t Want to See”, which actually gives me hints of 1st lp Sunny Day Real Estate. So there’s a lot of variety, but always a cohesion and a certain sound that the band have, something that can be hard to pull off. Seems like it’s been a fair while since I heard a band with this kind of feel anyway, especially one this good.
Actually, really good, look, it says so on the blue button below. It must be true.