Nuse "Hungwell" CD
[No Joke]
Despite some critical problems, this band actually has something to work with. Unfortunately for them, those critical problems are extremely damning. Terrible band name? Check. Horrendous album title? Of course. Miserably bad layout? You got it. Weak if not awful lyrical content? Yep. So what do they have going for 'em? Well, not a great deal, but their brand of chunky metallic hardcore/crossover has a little bit of an M.O.D. meets Pro-Pain meets D.R.I. kind of thing going, so I do actually like some of the music, and with a better recording the straight shouting vocals would probably be pretty solid as well. The setback there is that everything sounds too thin, and not because they're a trio, but because there's not enough depth or crunch to any of the instruments. The drums sound alright, and the mix is pretty clear, but the bass needs more oomph and the guitars need way more force, while the mix ought to be a bit more balanced in the end as well. The songwriting ranges from chunky midpaced power chords to thrashier speeds and quirky riffing that brings in the lighthearted sense of melody and humor present in some of the crossover thrash stuff in the late-80's, which actually isn't that bad. I'm not really into much of anything that's got that silly sort of humor to it, but it works with this sort of style when it's done right. And I think these guys are leaning in the right direction musically, the performances are fairly tight and everything (needing only minimal tweaking), but... the general aesthetic of this one is definitely sub-par. And visually? Man, it's bad. As if the band name (some sort of nu-metallish take on "noose") and terrible hand-drawn logo weren't enough, the pixilated images of nooses and such are pretty lacking in quality, as are the band photos and the way everything is sort of slapped together inconsistently. I don't care for the lyrics at all either, as things sway from stripped down expressions of rage to silly weed 'n' beer bullshit that does nothing for me. Were the overall quality of the release a little stronger they could definitely pull the whole lighthearted style off with tracks like "Smoke", but... for the most part the content is way too immature for me to handle, and these guys look to be right around my age, which is... well... not a great sign considering the content. I've gotta keep this review on the short side as I just can't handle but so much of this release since it's hard to take seriously. Beef up the recording and present yourselves with a much more significant level of quality from a design standpoint and I'd be able to view this as a slightly more legitimate piece of work, but... the lyrics and all that definitely need to step it up. Bands like Murphy's Law and S.O.D. could get away with being silly and funny because they wrote killer tunes and pulled off that whole smartass attitude with a little tact, whereas this... I mean, like I said, I don't want to completely discredit these guys musically (but don't get me wrong, tracks like "Sustain Me" are outright terrible), but this is an immature and underdeveloped record. Sorry. (2/10)
Running time - 38:03, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: I'm not really into any of 'em]
No Joke Records - http://www.nojokerecords.net

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