Labels: Adagio830
Review by: Alex Hannan
I’ve had 2014’s best records in heavy rotation for the past few weeks to get a sense of where the punx have been exploring this year (*cough*making nerd lists*cough*), and perhaps it’s coming off the back of all that passionate, eccentric, imaginative, weird music that this 7″ is hard to get excited about this evening. TØRSÖ’s 4 track vinyl debut sounds as if energy would get them through live, but in my room it’s not inspiring any mattress dives.
Everyone has the chops to get the job done, but the rhythms feel just left of the sweet spot where band members unite into something more than the sum of parts, despite strong drumming. The riffs need a dash of imagination to move them beyond something twenty other bands could have written (a bit of D-beat, hint of rockin’ riffing, all charged up with raw vegan hardcore) and the songwriting feels, well, just functional. Of course the point here isn’t to reinvent hardcore – when your members live in different continents that’s going to be tough anyway – but in a tried and tested style like this I still need catchier ideas and more personality.