Christ, what a horrible band name. Sometimes it's hard to take a band seriously when their name is silly and their layouts look completely hideous, but musically this isn't that bad. These cats play sort of chilled out "stoner rock" or whatever you want to call it, but their style is different from the norm. The tempos are slow, but there's a hypnotic sort of throb coming from the sound of the rhythm section, and the riffs aren't always based in generic, traditional rock... I don't know. It's cool. I really like the smooth singing vocals as well, as they fit the mood of the music perfectly (occasionally sounding like a more restrained Ian Astbury). My only minor issue with the songwriting is that the tracks tend to be too long, with many running more than seven minutes, thus making the disc as a whole a bit lengthy and tedious. Opening track "I'm Nothing, I'm No One" is one of the strongest compositions herein, especially for its length, because it's both emotional and a bit unusual, whereas some of the other tracks aren't as interesting (except for the vocal performance, which is consistently great). I'd definitely like to hear more the ominously hypnotic qualities of "I'm Nothing, I'm No One" throughout the rest of the album. The same can be said for the speed and brevity of "Coming Unhinged", by far the shortest track herein at less than three solid minutes of rock. "The Last" is a good example of what this band could be if they were always at their best: 12 minutes that completely represents their diverse range of dynamics in one fluid piece that flows perfectly. The production is nice. It could be stronger, but it's thick, and for their approach it works. The drums are dry and natural, the bass pulsates in the background and adds density to the guitar tone, and the guitars are textured without being particularly gritty or anything... it's a pretty smooth mix overall, especially with the way the vocals are placed. Not bad. But here comes my real gripe: This layout blows. I can't stand it. The shitty "psychedelic" look created by basic, cheesy Photoshop effects is lame enough, but the idiotic "boobie" things are even dumber. Why the hell do bands think it's cool to take a picture of some girl's nude chest, flip half of it in Photoshop to make it look like a weird condensed mirror image, and slap it on their record cover? No, it's stupid, it doesn't look cool, it looks stupid. They take it one step further by making a weird airbrushed mirror image of half of an entire nude female body on the back of the booklet, above photos of their instruments. Great, looks awesome. No, really. Not the least bit ridiculous. (Sarcasm.) The lyrics are just personal expressions - not half as bad as the visuals would suggest: "Used to be they came for me, made my precious fears worthwhile, But now they act like long-lost friends, Bearing handshakes, wearing smiles..." This is a decent piece of work. Complain and make fun of me all you want, but I refuse to give this a higher rating because the layout is so fucking atrocious. Musically this is a 6/10, but that fucking layout... no way can I let that slide. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Presentation is important. If anyone saw this in a store or a distro bin or whatever, they'd never think twice, they'd blow right past it.
[Berserker/Crucial Blast]
Running time - 56:04, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: I'm Nothing, I'm No One, Coming Unhinged, The Last]
Berserker Records - [email protected]
