Open Hand "You and Me" CD
[Trustkill]
Hmmm... this is the debut full-length from these guys after two EP's that were re-released on Trustkill as "The Dream", and at that point I was fully expecting this band to end up on a major label blowing up. I'm not so sure I feel that way anymore, though. In fact, I'm sure I don't feel that way anymore. The recording is far better this time out, and they're still solid songwriters. I can listen to this and enjoy it. But... it's not blowing me away or anything. It's not nearly as diverse as their earlier work, and I'm thoroughly confused by their seemingly newfound (or at least very much increased) fondness for fuzzed out "stoner rock" riffs, as opener "Pure Concentrated Evil" is basically a brief track that would easily fit into said genre (just with cleaner singing), and most all of the other songs contain far more typical 70's sounding rock runs as well. And, honestly? I'm not really into that aspect. It works when they really layer things together with different textures and melodies, and I like most of the singing a lot. Some of the lush passages that get thicker and more oppressive in depth are pretty nice, but the whole fuzzed out rock 'n' roll meets droning indie rock/shoegazer stuff... it's just not coming off as very memorable to me. Making matters worse is that fact that 14 tracks feels a hell of a lot like overkill. The disc only runs 42 minutes or so, but 14 tracks? That's at least a few too many. There's certainly some filler here that could stand for some housecleaning, if you know what I mean. They're still suffering from the fact that the songs sound too similar to one another, but here they don't have the padding that the diversity of their last disc possessed within its individual tracks. "The Ambush" is the first truly good song, unfortunately it's the seventh track, so its heavier rock chords and densely melodic chorus with a slightly more metallic bite (its punch is catchy compared to everything else) don't come in to start saving the day until the record's half over. Among the few tracks that use some additional percussion that has an unexpected sort of tribal thing going on is the succinct "Newspeak", which, while not great, is more creative in its use of mixing techniques and atypical elements to make things more interesting and curious. "Crooked Crown" has another impeccable chorus, but to my dismay the verse parts are rather stale in their overuse of guitar effects, so the energy of the song is very inconsistent, and the weaknesses overpower the strengths (ironically). "Trench Warfare" is slower and has more of a laidback "ballad" sort of feel with softer vocal harmonies and nice sustained notes backing the vocals, and this is the other real winner here. I'll give 'em credit for securing a damn nice recording. It sounds totally pro and the tones are thick yet clear, with a truly cohesive mix that benefits their current approach well. And were they a full-blown rock band that fuzzed out guitar tone they're often employing would be dead on (for the more polished side of things), but again... it's the songwriting that's doing a lot less for me this time around. Very much like their last record the design is amazing, however, with the booklet shaping itself into an overlapping 3-D form using a massively diecut booklet with tons of circular shapes. The traycard is also diecut with circles and the disc goes into the tray face down so that it, too, plays into the layering effects of the artwork when viewed from the back. The lyrics appear in a very compact manner and are damn hard on the eyes what with small fonts and busy backgrounds, but despite being better than usual I'm not all that moved by the lyrics, so that's okay. The content spans a range of personal issues that are all on the side of hardship, so... you get the general idea, right? I'm sad to say that I'm disappointed by this one, though. I was really excited when it showed up because I was digging their last effort and had high hopes for 'em, but... a lot of these songs are uninteresting and as a whole this is not nearly as creative as what I had expected based on where they were in years past. Damn, who would've guessed? I'm very perplexed as to why they went this route. More power to 'em for doing their thing and still trying to take a different road from the norm, but... they had a lot of potential that I'm not perceiving anymore. Put "The Ambush" and "Trench Warfare" on a 7" and you'd be set, but this is a letdown... damn. (6/10)
Running time - 41:38, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: The Ambush, Trench Warfare]
Trustkill Records - http://www.trustkill.com

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