Labels: somberlain
Review by: Andy Malcolm
It’s difficult to put a new spin on a screamo review. Collective is littered with hundreds of the
buggers. Yet I’ll continue to pick up screamo records for whatever reason, and generally enjoy them. So
Somberlain and Dolores Records have released this split between two bands that are not particularly
hyped as much as other bands (for no discernable reason), and it pretty much does what you’d expect it
to. Jesse Washington scythe through 4 songs of angry, Orchid styled hardcore. That means lots of
yelling, fast guitars, crunchy bits and crying. It’s definitely in debt to the Witching Hour era. It’s
also no worse than most of Kodan Armada’s output, and will probably appeal to folks into that band.
I had heard Tunes for Bears before and thought they were good, I continue to hold that opinion after
listening to them on this split. They have a more emo sound, in that they don’t flail around so
violently or have heavy parts, relying more on melody. The first song has some great guitar parts that
flash past at speed and the sound is like the fast Giants Chair songs done screamily. Throw in some
excellent dual vocals and a super nice twinkly breakdown and you have a great track. Biggest quibble is
that the production sounds a bit ropey, even for this type of music where bad production is often easy to overlook. Oh well. After that excellent and slightly different sounding
song, they provide some more screamy emo stuff that is erratic and kind of more like Saetia or
something. Some very screechy vocals on this.
I enjoy DIY emo / screamo records, if you do too, you will probably spin this record a few times and be
into it.