Was hyped to hear more from Elentári after they dropped the track ‘Peak Geometry’, and the other three tracks on this debut EP certainly lived up to my expectations. The band play what I’d somewhat snootily call ‘proper’ emo, i.e. stuff that’s raw, rangy and balances splenetic chaos with booming moments of wide open space. Hoarse, earnest vocals are flung over nervous scrapes and jangles, bringing bands like Bob Tilton, Mainspring and The Khayembii Communique to mind. The overriding comparison I want to make, though, is Ten Grand / The Vida Blue: the music is jumpy and makes urgent, instinctive dips and dives, and while the vocalist isn’t quite as unique as Matt Davis he nevertheless uses his voice in some interesting, expressive ways that go way beyond rote holler-up-a-lung screams.
It’s really, really lovely stuff, and the cassette release (a CD version has just been released by Hektik) truly looks the part: it comes wrapped in a dinky burlap bag, and the level of craft, care and heart with which it’s all been put together easily matches that of the music within.