Labels: Kiss of Death
Review by: Andy Malcolm
On this band’s Bandcamp page, they tag themselves as “stoner emo”. Apologies Senders, but Chune beat you to the punch by over a decade. I am not sure if it is a coincidence then, but “Cuffed” which opens this single does kind of sound a bit like Chune, or Hum, or Thirty Ought Six perhaps. Big riffed, grunge riddled post-hardcore. The sung vocals strain into shouts here and there, but the powerful chug of the guitar is what wins me over. Gawd knows why they throw in this completely out of place post rock bit half way through. Senders, if you are reading, do not do this! Stay with the riffs and power, it sets you apart from the pack and makes you interesting, not the pointless bits where you get your breath back from rocking out. Do that in between songs. Please. Freeport follows it up on the flip, and the sung vocals and guitar at the beginning sound so much like the Farewell Bend, crazy. The sound kicks off after that though, flying into yelled vocals and stop starty post hardcore. I prefer the other side but this one grew on me. Right at the end though they do a post rock bit again. Gah.
This is the sound of a band with good ideas who hasn’t quite nailed the song writing yet, but I feel they are very very close. 6 months, plenty more shows, and an LP should be ready to drop full of free wheeling loudness and good times. Maybe only 20 people will be into it, but 20 people still listen to Chune, I’m sure.