Labels: Holy Roar
Review by: Gareth L
A solid split CD here from two fairly new UK bands. Unfortunately this is not released for another few weeks so the ‘insanely eye-catching artwork’ mentioned in the accompanying information sheet is sadly missing – I get a white CD-R in a clear plastic slipcase with the band names scribbled on it in blue biro. The picture I found online looks nice though.
Anyhoo, Norwich-based dudes Maths get things started with 5 songs (4 and a sub-minute instrumental track actually) of pretty rocking frantic emo. I remember seeing these guys in Leeds maybe a year ago or something and thinking they were pretty rad, and the songs here are good although not quite up to the level of that live performance: the kick drum seems a bit high in the mix and that thud thud is a little distracting. Not too much though, as the quality of the songs overpowers that and it does give their sound a ‘chunky’ hardcore feel. They have a kind of Envy / late-period Funeral Diner thing going on best exemplified by the song ‘Statue Of Her’ which has a a great twinkly bit in the middle before blasting back into the chaos. Definitely recommended though, lots of ace riffs and time changes and bits that surprise the listener.
Throats are a different kettle of fish. Not in the quality stakes, as their 5 songs are pretty great, but musically they kind of remind of me Phoenix Bodies or even Graf Orlock, and when they go fast like the first half of ‘Reign Of Low’ they are very impressive. However most of their songs seem to follow the same formula of fast riffs and drums for the first half of the song then a couple of slow, almost sludge-esque bits to finish which loses them a couple of points. Overall though their ‘side’ of the CD is definitely worth checking out also.