Oh shit, I hear you say. Why is this wanker reviewing the latest LP from Castevet? He openly admits he hates all that noodly bollocks! Well, fact fans, this is actually pretty bloody good. Run for your lives!
Castevet must be good, if I like it. This is their second proper release on the back of last years Summer Fences, and sees the band cannily build on what they were doing last time around. It also sounds more than a little bit like Spy vs Spy. So there you go. That’s why I am enjoying it. Castevet manage to somehow blend spirally, mathy guitars with an impressive ability to pen a tune, thus the absurd levels of technical ability that goes into playing guitars like they have been challenged to a duel by the robot devil does not become overbearing. So whilst the guitars may be complex, they always are going somewhere, and that somewhere is more reliant on melody than many of their peers, particularly on the rolling midwestmo of “Hiccups” which is a lovely effort and uses the twinkle guitar to fine effect, shame about the post rock ending though, and the screamo song after it is a bit out of place. The shouty gruff singing also does not weigh too heavily on the ears, and I even almost ignored the gang vocals. Almost. Anyway, I found that the album does fade slightly over the course of the second side, with the songs not flowing quite as well, and not all of them having the immediacy of the opening few tracks, thus leaving you with a collection rather than a cohesive album. That’s perhaps being harsh on the band though.
This is a real good bout of mathy post-hardcore, certainly the best the genre has to offer that I have heard for sure. If you liked what they were doing already then I’d be surprised if you found this to be anything less than super enjoyable. Myself, I am slightly worn out by the time the record has finished, but safe in the knowledge that I’ve just heard a bunch of good tunes.