Labels: Audio Anti-Hero
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I can’t work out if I find that band name entertaining, or face palming. The music is quite intriguing though, being as it was made between 2005 and 2007. I hope the songs on the album are in chronological order, because it kind of charts things out quite nicely if that’s the case. Initially, the music is energetic and buzzing, mixing together mathy silliness with driving guitar. In places it sits neatly nearby stuff like Los Campesinos and Johnny Foreigner. And Cursive. And the Wedding Present. Definitely the Wedding Present (“Flying Things and Pests” could fool you into thinking it was a cover version). The songs tend to lean in different directions from track to track. So it’s a bit of a muddle. I like a muddle. Here and there, the songs have a tendency to hammer along, stop on a dime, get quiet then loud again. My favourite ones are the ones when they don’t do this. The mood on these tracks feels very bleak and downcast and emo, which wins instant favour with me. Although the vocals sometimes contrast with the music quite strongly, “2 People, 0 Superpowers” rumbles ominously like the Van Pelt at their most distressing, but then the vocals come in and the guy is bellowing his sorrows furiously. I did find the lyrics to be somewhat hit and miss, but I generally appreciate the bitter, young emo sentiment contained within.
The recording is very basic, which helps give it a rougher flavour that more recent bands tackling this kind of thing won’t dare do for fear of losing sales. It also means this sounds far less self aware than current bands doing the mathy indie thing, just 2 guys thrashing out a bunch of songs for the heck of it. I enjoyed listening to this, it doesn’t break the mould, it doesn’t reaffirm my status on planet earth, but it is a collection of good songs, by an unassuming, gone nowhere band who were good at their craft, that craft being the relatively irrelevant, but ultimately vital to many, DIY indie rock. Fine by me.