Labels: Holy Roar – Tangled Talk Records
Review by: Michael Stewart
It may be taken as dismissive or it may be the ultimate compliment, but the first thing
that comes to mind listening to Bastions is that Cursed, in their absence, seem to be
doing for hardcore what Screeching Weasel have done for so much of pop-punk. One
spin of this “promo copy’ and you’ll be wondering who left the gate open at the guitar
graveyard to let all of Christian McMaster’s spare riffs out. Make no mistake, this is
well-executed stuff, and listenable enough for fans of the aforementioned Canadians
and similar outfits. Yet as much as it’s redundant to criticise a hardcore band for
moving in ever-decreasing musical circles, Bastions seem to be drifting down with
the spiral rather than riding up it as the many press luminaries cited on their behalf
suggest. Island Living contains ostensibly angry music, but when it arrives as a CD-
R approximation of a promised 7″, cloaked in a bog-standard industry one sheet that
leaves nothing to the imagination bar the actual lyrics and any meaningful artwork,
there’s the creeping sense that this is really just an echo of more significant songs
from superior, now-deceased bands.