Blue Monday "Rewritten" CD
[Bridge Nine]
Not bad. As one would expect from the Bridge Nine roster this is a band whose sound is built largely around the modern take on a traditional hardcore framework, though they also throw in just a little bit of added heaviness and plenty of melody to give it some extra character. They're also from Canada and are a vegetarian straightedge band... not that that has anything to do with it, but hey, in case you care. Anyway, I'm definitely into this stuff. Despite the album title they're definitely not rewriting any hardcore rulebooks with this thing, but there's no denying a track like "Next Breath", as those energetic bursts and melodic accents are right up my alley. It's almost like they can't decide if they want to be a full blown melodic hardcore act or retain that faster, more succinct youth crew sound, because certain tunes like "Drenched" kind of jump around from overt melodies to straight hardcore, while tossing in some unexpected fits of intriguing dissonance along the way. But then you've also got the slightly Madball-ish grooves that pop up in "Bereaved", so... there are a few different styles represented herein. I personally find the melodic stuff to be the most promising, as that kind of thing tends to take hold more often than not, and in addition to the aforementioned tracks the quick little arpeggios and octave chords in "Let it Out" (one of the more consistent tracks) are really energetic and memorable. The sound quality works fine as well. The guitars are thick and heavy without having a metal sound, the yelling vocals are forceful and textured without overpowering the mix, the bass tone thickens things up behind the guitars, and the drums sound fine. I'd like to hear the bass tone given a little more definition and presence in keeping with the standard for this form of hardcore, and the drums can sound a little clicky and loud on occasion, but for the most part they're on point. When they layer in quick little leads (see "Bloody Knuckles") or melodies ("...A Moving Train") they ought to be more careful of the way the tones interact, as some of that stuff sounds kind of unnatural and pasted in, but I've got few complaints with the big picture on this one. The layout looks great and keeps things quaint with faded live shots and various landscape photos that are all tinted a faint blue/gray. The lyrics can seem a little forced when they start metaphorically drawing comparisons to "Socrates questioning the unwarranted confidence in the truth of popular opinions" or what have you, but for the most part the content's a pretty straightforward take on personal issues, the scene, etc. - but with a little more thought behind it. I'd say they're still finding their identity, but as a young band on their debut full-length that's to be expected, and I'd rather hear a competently diverse outing from some new-ish upstarts than another rehashed half-hour of wannabe youth crew anthems any day of the week, so... I'll be keeping an eye on these kids. With a little more of a focus to their songwriting they could really leave a mark at some point. (7/10)
Running time - 26:56, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Next Breath, Drenched, Let it Out, The Everything Festival]
Bridge Nine Records - http://www.bridge9.com

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