I have to admit right up front that the song titles on this one had me worried from the start. "Kill All the People at the Mall"? "Song Titles Suck"? Hmmm. I was surprised when opener "Laboratory" started out slowly with spacious and melodic rhythm section playing, clean guitars, and droning vocals - eventually building into a more rocked out vibe that has some winding basslines, later morphing into an almost old school punk rock sound. That thread sort of continues in the shorter tracks that follow, with basic chord progressions, yelled vocals, and the occasional odd smattering of clean guitars, vocal effects, or roaming basslines that add in some nonstandard influences. Nothing gets too melodic or anything, it's all pretty straightforward chord progressions, while the vocals get a little quirkier. The bassist is definitely a key player here, and that's cool. The 33-second "Epitaph 'Deer Hunting Season'" is much faster and more hardcore/punk oriented with quicker vocal patterns and everything, while "Song Titles Suck" closes and has more of a British punk vibe kicking in or something... two songs that cap off the disc with a totally different feel from anything else herein, and they're actually the best songs as well. A strange mix of influences here. The recording's not bad for a self-released effort. It has this sort of half-demo, half-live kind of sound, but it's cohesively mixed and the tones are tolerable, so that's not a bad thing. The rhythm section sounds a little distant but still has its place, the guitars are a little dirty without lacking thickness, and the vocals are right in there with the music. The CD-R comes in a standard jewel case with a full color layout that looks 50/50 to me. The cover art isn't my thing but does look presentable, while the inner spread and back cover are a bit more jumbled and plain, though still consistent as far as color and typeface are concerned. No lyrics are included however, just some quick recording credits and whatnot. There are some cool moments here, but in its entirety there are a lot of issues stacking up against this release. Of course I think the layout needs a visual appeal that fits the band a bit better (the front cover isn't bad, but everything else needs work), but more importantly the songwriting needs a bit more consistency and maturity. I'm not saying don't have good time, there's an element of nonchalance here that works, but there's definitely a little something missing. It's just not the kind of thing I could really listen to more than a few times, you know what I mean?
[self-released]
Running time - 13:31, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Epitaph "Deer Hunting Season", Song Titles Suck]
A.R.D. - [email protected]
