Posts Tagged ‘emo’

Wench! / Blair Bitch Project / Static Lives / Innovation Way The Fulford Arms, York – 27th September 2025

Posted: 28 September 2025 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

Anyone who suggests that the fact most gig lineups are male-dominated because there is a lack of female representation, or of quality female fronted acts on the rock scene is simply wrong. Tonight’s killer lineup is undeniable proof to the contrary.

Innovation Way really aren’t innovative in any way, playing a set that’s 50% originals and 50% emo covers, but it’s clear that they’re just starting out, finding their feet and their identity, so I’m not going to give them hard time over it. The originals don’t feel quite as evolved in terms of songwriting, but the only way to develop is to be given opportunities to try out, and they play well, really well, and one day they’ll be playing 90% originals and stretching further – and what’s more they’ve brought a lot of their uni mates down, so the place is busy. That means tickets sold and money over the bar. These are good things right now. It does seem strange to me that people in their twenties are now picking up on music that was big around the time they were born, but I suppose this is a generational thing. I’m just more surprised by the idea of an emo revival than a grunge revival.

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Innovation Way

On the subject of developing, I had fully expected to report that Static Lives look very much like Weekend Recovery, and their sound isn’t a million miles away either. But this is not the case: having started out with the same lineup but new material, they’ve reconfigured as a five-piece, with two guitars, synths, and the vocals shared three ways. Having have just completed their first headline tour, which sold out, their place third on the bill was more likely due to travel needs than anything else. No two ways about it, they’re good: they bring the energy and look to be really enjoying themselves. The sound is full, there’s details and dynamics happening all over. The diminutive bassist whacks out some chunky low-end while also contributing a considerable amount of the vocals. This new division of labour means Lori can focus more on guitar and also being part of a team rather than the primary focus, and she seems to revel in this freedom.

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Static Lives

Returning to the grunge revival, Blair Bitch Project bring Sabbathesque riffery and hints of folk horror married to gnarly grunge stylings. Despite the bassist being a late substitution, they’re tight and solid, and play with a confidence that carries not only the band, but the crowd. The drummer and vocalist switch for the third song and it’s a real heavyweight, with explosive riffery and thunderous percussion and a low-registering, gritty bass. Mid-set, with the drummer still on vocals, they deliver a cover of ‘Plump’ by Hole delivered with the raw intensity of the original. They get slower and heavier as the set progresses, and towards the end drop a second Hole cover, this time a ragged rending of ‘Teenage Whore’. There’s no question as to their influences, and they play with so much force that it’s hard to fault.

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Blair Bitch Project

“Anyone else got a sweaty crack?” asks the singing drummer of WENCH! before introducing a song about men who shouldn’t have access to the internet, bursting with angular guitar and shouty vocals before ripping into a roaring scream and gut churning riff. Yep, they’re from Hull, they’ve no filter and they’re fucking phenomenal – and they don’t even know it, which makes us love them all the more.

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Wench!

They, too, bring some Sabbath-inspired riffery, but there’s a whole lot more to them than that, not least of all high-octane punk, with the energy and aggression amped up to eleven. A measure of their structure is the fact the guitarist has two pedals, while the bassist has eight: the rhythm section dominates, and there’s wah-wah and shedloads of distortion on that dominant bass that shapes the songs in a unique way. Their set is a relentless rush, and the channel their feminist fury into the most glorious guitar-driven exorcism. Aesthetically, they are the absolute definition of punk, and the adrenaline rush they deliver is direct and pure.

Yes, yes, and YES! THIS is what it’s all about.

Listen: ‘Broken Glass’ by Distressor

Posted: 12 August 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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San Diego/Los Angeles-based shoegaze outfit Distressor returns with their latest single, ‘Broken Glass’. Following their breakthrough collaboration with shoegaze giant Wisp on Tomorrow (via Interscope Records), the independent four-piece is carving a new lane for themselves—one that blends the haze and texture of shoegaze with the raw, melodic punch of early 2000s emo.

Formed in late 2017, Distressor has built a reputation for pairing massive, driving rhythm sections with high-register vocals and emotionally charged choruses that cut through the fog. Their 2023 debut LP Momentary established the band as one to watch in the new wave of heavy shoegaze, and ‘Broken Glass’ pushes that momentum further.

Originally a shelved demo, ‘Broken Glass’ came to life after new drum and bass parts lit a fire under the track, transforming it into a setlist staple almost overnight. Leaning harder into their emo roots, the band challenged genre norms on this one:

“We’ve grown a little bored of the classic soft shoegaze vocals,” says the band. “With ‘Broken Glass,’ we wanted something more pushy and hooky—a big chorus that hits just as hard as the guitars.”

The accompanying music video, directed by longtime friend Diego Guardado, captures the band’s raw live energy in an unpolished, visceral way. Shot in a small, sweaty LA room—while an island-themed church service played loudly (and out of tune) next door—the DIY spirit of the video reflects Distressor’s independent ethos:

“Even though music videos aren’t as popular anymore, we still love making them,” the band explains. “This one was nothing fancy—just us, some friends, a few Modelos, and a lot of sweat.”

With ‘Broken Glass’, Distressor continues to evolve beyond nostalgia, pushing shoegaze into modern, emotionally honest territory while staying true to their roots.

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Photo: Samuel David Katz

In These Walls / Keep This Up / Negatives – The Fulford Arms, York, 11th February 2024

Posted: 12 February 2024 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

Not so long ago, I could be selective about the gigs I attended, wading through guest list offers and free to pick – and would likely attend at least one a week in a reviewing capacity. But, my change in personal circumstances means that getting out tends to be based on a fairly short-notice scan of ‘what’s on’ and Facebook events, meaning I’m far more likely to take punts on something that will get me out when the opportunity presents itself. This does mean that while I’m less likely to witness live music overall, I’m certainly more likely to see bands I wouldn’t have considered previously, and this is a positive thing.

A Sunday night in the middle of February – what have you got to offer, eh? I’m naturally gutted that The Last Dinner Party sold out The Brudenell well ahead of time, and while I really do rate Rob Newman, I’m not sure I’m up for laughs, and besides, I’m feeling the need for bands, so take a punt on three metal acts for a fiver ten minutes’ walk from my house.

One thing about going to see bands with no expectations is that you’re unlikely to be disappointed, and tonight’s offering was very much undersold with the ticket price, because despite the place far from being rammed, despite the lighting being average, the sound and the quality of the performances was such that it was very, very easy to forget that we’re in a small venue with a stage a foot high showcasing bands no-one’s heard of. But this again returns us to the topic of grassroots venues. All three acts on tonight’s bill are of a quality that could see them playing much bigger venues, landing festival slots, and performing to thousands, rather than dozens. Maybe in a year or two they will be, but without venues like this to hit on their first tour, how is it ever going to happen?

Waiting for the first act, I might take pause to extoll the virtues of solo gig attendance. I do appreciate that this is a very personal thing – but isn’t the appreciation of music a very personal thing? It’s not just that we listen to and immerse ourselves jn music in an individual space, more often than not, but also, how we respond is personal, in the way songs touch us emotionally in ways that are completely unique and ultimately – and unashamedly – solipsistic. However much a band may capture the zeitgeist, the way you react to it, the way you feel it – comes from a unique inner space. Music creates a space for s to lose ourselves in a way that few other mediums do. And so to be here, alone, with a pint – and a decent one at that – in near-darkness, in anticipation of the first act, not having to expend energy or headspace on anyone else is, to my mind, pure bliss. This half-hour of tranquillity is of such value that the bands could be crap and it wouldn’t bother me – being here is enough in itself.

But the bands are far from crap.

Negatives forewarn us that their singer us out in the car park. Practically dying, by the way they tell it. But they soldier on, heroically. Sequenced synths bolster the monster instrumental opener, with slabs of guitar, churning bass, and some subtly-executed but nevertheless detailed technical work on the lead guitar. The burly bassist’s in-ear monitors fall out, repeatedly, until he eventually gets fed up of tripping over them and stuffs them in his pocket. Bassists do tend to be understated or exuberant, and he’s in the latter category, lumbering and flailing all over, wringing the grooves out like he’s working the booming noise with his bare hands. They’re a proper full-throttle metal juggernaut, and considering they’re accustomed to having a front man, are visually and verbally engaging.

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Negatives

The last couple of songs are covers: for the first, a cover of Limp Bizkit’s ‘Break Stuff’ with the singer from Keep This Up, and a Slipknot cover with a couple of guts from In These Walls, collaborations which have evolved on this short tour, which they’ve clearly enjoyed and formed new bonds on. So many bands would have bailed under the circumstances, but with true Geordie grit, they blasted forward and did a killer job.

Keep This Up from Peterborough maintain the quality. Their thing is ferocious melodic post-hardcore, with two guitars, drums, and no bass. What? They don’t sound like they’re missing a bass, though. Anything they may be lacking instrumentally, they more than compensate with massive energy, and the singer pours every last ounce of what he’s got into every line, leaving him wilting and panting for air between songs. It’s hardly surprising: I’m knackered just watching him leap and lunge all over, and he’s probably done the equivalent of about 10K by the end of their half-hour set. Toward the end of the set, they drop a Nu-Metal lift of ‘Hollaback Girl’. Who knew we needed that, eh? But the biggest shock of the set was that the new guitarist is only playing his fourth gig, not only with the band, but ever. You’d never know: he brings a huge presence to the stage and some snarky, sarcastic bounce to the between-song banter. They feel like a really tight and cohesive unit, and don’t set a foot wrong through the entirety of a monster set.

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Keep This Up

In These Walls spent almost as long setting up and then soundchecking their massive drum kit as they did playing their set. Despite their being from York, I was unaware of their existence, and establishing any biographical details about them hasn’t proven easy. They weren’t supposed to be headlining, but swapped after Negatives found themselves a man down, meaning they’ve also had to expand their set to fill the slow. And yet for all this, they prove to be worthy headliners, and worth the wait with the pre-set faffing. They bring an immense, brutal sound with five-string bass and ball-busting power chords… and melodic, prog-tinged choruses. Huh? There’s an epic, expansive quality to their music that certainly goes far beyond Nu-Metal, exploring the further reaches of post-metal with aplomb. There’s a lot of detail, but not so technical as to be wanking. They pack a lot of action into half an hour, with an engaging, immersive, and dynamic performance.

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In These Walls

The takeaway here is that there wasn’t a weak band on the bill, and the vibe was simply joyful and enriching. All three bands absolutely played their knackers off. and were clearly having a ball just being out on tour and bringing their noise to people, who in turn, were loving every minute. And I will say it again: this is the heart-swelling joy of small gigs. All three bands proved to be every inch of the quality of bands you might see at 500+ capacity venues, even the O2 arenas for £20, the only difference being that they aren’t well-known. But they deserve to be. At an O2, you’ll be lucky to get within ten metres of the stage: here, you’re within ten metres of the stage even when you’re at the bar at the back: at the front you can see the whites of their eyes, see the sweat running, observe the fretwork. THIS is live music. And THIS is life.

On The Ropes – On The Ropes (EP)

Posted: 9 February 2024 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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23rd February 2024

Christopher Nosnibor

On the Ropes started out in 2012, but called it a day with a farewell show in November 2019. Not a bad run for any band, but especially not for a ‘local’ band with dayjob commitments and all the rest. Being in a band, and maintaining it, is hard work – really hard work, especially in recent years. Even pre-COVID, unless you’re filling O2 arenas and selling fucktonnes of albums and merch, sustaining a band as anything more than a hobby was a challenge, and as such beyond the reach of most working-class people who can’t afford luxuries like guitars or amps. In the early days of punk, anyone could pick up a guitar, learn three chords, and for a band. Those days are gone: even if you can afford a guitar and learn three chords, where are you going to play? The industry is fucked – at least for all but the major labels, and acts who score deals without even playing enough gigs to build a following before being scooped up and being handed major support tours and slots at Glastonbury before the debut single even hits Spotify.

I know I’ve been sniffy – to say the least – about pop-punk. I’ve been sniffy about a lot, and I make no apology for it. As a critic, as much as I try on the one hand to be as objective as possible, I also am of the fundamental view that music is personal, subjective. Music that demonstrates more technical proficiency certainly isn’t superior because of it. But, as I say, I’ve been pretty down on punk-pop. But I’ve always said that there are two kinds of music – good, and bad, and maintained the position that there are great songs, even great bands, within every genre, even emo, nu-metal, and ska-punk. Well, maybe not ska-punk. There’s always a bridge too far somewhere.

Anyway, a full nine years on from their last proper release (discounting a cover of The Spice Girls’ ‘2 Become 1’ at Christmas, following a return to live shows last year, On the Ropes have reconvened for a new self-titled EP, with seven songs which stand some way above your identikit punk-pop template stuff, and I suppose it’s the sameness – and the endless buoyancy – of so much of the genre that grinds my gears. There’s a melancholy, a wistfulness, that pervades even the most upbeat songs on offer here, and while the vocals are super-clean and super-melodic – the pop, you might say, the guitars are beefy and up in the mix and the drumming is fast and hard, very much placing the emphasis on the punk element.

‘Deserter’ kicks off with a blast of energy and some well-timed minor chords which create a dynamic twist and an emotionally-rich – and yes, I suppose emo – edge. This is very much the characteristic form of their songs. And it works. This isn’t dumb, cheesy pop-punk, and nor is it self-pitying, whiny emo: it’s emo gone grown up, reflective, and exploring themes of love and loss, but letting it all out, and the songs are both punchy and catchy thanks to the contrast between the instruments and the vocals.

The slower, sadder, introspective ‘West Coast Living’ is certainly more Placebo than Panic! At the Disco, while ‘Broken Shutter’ packs a delicate verse with an explosive chorus and manages to be aching and epic and achieves it all in two-and-a-half minutes. ‘Saturnine’ has a Twin Atlantic vibe to it, and while it’s perhaps not the strongest song of the set, it’s hard to deny the quality of the songwriting, or the fact that this EP feels like the work of a much, much bigger band.

Local fans are going to relish this return, for sure – and given the quality on offer here, maybe they’ll actually become the much bigger band.

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Binary Order – The Future Belongs To The Mad

Posted: 21 November 2023 in Albums
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28th November 2023

Christopher Nosnibor

Following on from the interim Thrown Away EP release, which boldly, and perhaps somewhat unexpectedly – pitched a Papa Roach cover front and foremost, and taster single release in the shape of ‘Slow Blade’, Binary Order drop the new album The Future Belongs To The Mad. In doing so, Benjamin Blank’s techno / industrial / metal vehicle reveal just how much has evolved since previous album, Messages from the Deep.

So many acts in this musical sphere seem to exist in a sort of genre-specific bubble, grinding out endless psychodramas centred around dark sexuality and degradation, having taken the first couple of Nine Inch Nails albums as templates for their musical existence. Fair enough. It’s easy enough to become embroiled and fixated on the relentless turbulence of your angst and relationship disconnects and how they fuck with your head. At least when you’re a fucked-up hormone-explosion, which is pretty much anyone’s teens and probably twenties.

This could perhaps explain in part the difference in focus of The Future Belongs To The Mad. Blank has been operating as Binary Order since 2008 – the same year I got serious about reviewing music – and it’s been a ling and tempestuous fifteen years. Older, wiser… and more bewildered by the world.  Blank’s statement which accompanies the album is stark, bold, bleak, and honest – but at the same time suitably vague, and I shall quote in full in order to provide context:

“It’s never easy to be honest about these kind of things, but I feel it’s important with this release to be so. The Future Belongs To The Mad was written during possibly the most difficult period I’ve ever had to get through – a period I’m not actually done dealing with – and one from which I now fear I shall never depart.

This album is an expression of my own inability to find meaning or purpose in life. And the utter disdain and emotional distraught that comes from the accumulation of living like that year, after year, after year. With this album I’ve managed to turn something that is for all intents and purposes destroying me, and created what is without any doubt in my mind, the greatest accomplishment of my life.

I don’t know if there is going to be anymore Binary Order after this. Finishing this album felt like an impossibility at one point, and now it’s done I feel like I am too. I hope anyone who listens to this can find something of value for within it. If not then I just appreciate having this platform to express myself in this way because it has kept me alive.”

Whether so much of this existential trauma was triggered by lockdown or other personal circumstances, we don’t know, but the fact that Blank is British and subject to the daily hell of living in a country in turmoil and seemingly hell-bent on utterly fucking itself and its citizens is worth highlighting, in that this seems to reflect the mood of many people I know. It feels as though the mad have already taken over and are stealing the futures of the rest of us, and our children. From this vantage, you look in, you look out, and you feel hollow and broken.

The Future Belongs To The Mad is harsh, abrasive, and rages hard from the offset, with the blistering hot guitar inferno of ‘Consternation’, which judders and stutters, halts and race, blasts of noise slamming in your face in the first bars. The vocals alternate between snarling, impenetrable metal roars in the verses and cleanly melodic choruses abrim with bombast.

Elsewhere, ‘Perfect World’ builds to a truly magnificently anthemic climax, while ‘Feel Again’ brings some crisp dark electropop that calls to mind mid/late 80s Depeche Mode with its layered synths and backed-off but crunchy guitars, over which Blank wrestles with his entire soul over darker feelings. There are dank instrumental interludes to be found during the course of the album. ‘Hope is a Mistake’ is every bit as bleak and life-sapping as the title suggests. ‘Skin’ is tense and claustrophobic electro, but again, there are segments which are smooth and soulful. ‘Face Beneath The Waves’ is a black blast of aggrotech metal / glichy electro / industrial / emo which takes your face off then soothes your raw flesh with some nicely melodic passages.

If nu-metal at its best / worst battled with stylistic duality, Binary Order carry this through to a Jekyll and Hyde manifestation of internal struggle on The Future Belongs To The Mad, which incorporates elements of numerous genres. These contrasts serve the album well in terms of it being a dynamic, energised offering, but such schizophrenic sonic stylings make for an album that’s almost pitched at two or more different markets. But more than anything, it feels as if these stylistic conflicts are the manifestation of Blank’s internal conflicts – and with this interpretation, The Future Belongs To The Mad works well. Blank hauls the listener through his difficult experiences, one at a time, and you bear witness to his self-torment a song at a time.

The Future Belongs To The Mad is not an easy album, but it is one that carries much weight and is well-realised. I won’t be alone in hoping it isn’t the last of Binary Order – but if it is, it’s a grand final statement.

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Arcade Fortress – Younique

Posted: 21 October 2022 in Albums
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26th September 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Ever spend time scratching your head wondering what a song or band remind you of, and drawing eternal blanks? Yeah, I get it a lot: I put it down to exposure. Too much music to process.

This is by no means my first introduction to Arcade Fortress: we’ve featured three of their previous singles here on these pages, and I personally described ‘Sabotage’ as ‘a fully-realised anthemic beast of a tune’. And I stand by that, too.

Younique the album finds them powering into the title track by way of an opener, there are samples seeping from the corners as they thrust away at a punk / rock / pop hybrid sound with incendiary energy.

Younique may not be unique by any stretch, but then nor is it derivative, and my ponderance for comparisons is a frustrating distraction but simply a habit of mine. I can’t help but try to place references, lifts, nods. It’s perhaps because there’s so much going on and Younique is such a melting pot of all things from 90s grunge to post-millennial punk-pop that placing any of it specifically is nigh on impossible, and as a result, what you’re faced with is the vibe, and it’s deep retro.

They encourage us, the listener, to sit back, relax and enjoy a rollercoaster of a ride over 12 anthemic rock tracks, but it’s not as easy as all that. The slow-burning Sabotage’ sits four tracks in and there’s no questioning its anthemic enormity, and I can’t help but think of a grungier take on the sound of Depeche Mode circa Ultra, perhaps, when they were grittier and more guitar-driven.

But there’s a lot happening here. It’s not all absolutely killer: ‘Alan Bell’ gets a bit emo and lightweight, and elsewhere, and ‘Killing Time’ sits between Weezer and 80s hair rock, while ‘Tangible’ throws an area-friendly curveball. In contrast, the driving ‘Uppercut’ is more reminiscent of Therapy? circa Troublegum and its tense, taut, and totally kicks arse, as does the riff-driven ‘Strontium Dog’. ‘Dark Seeds’ is more of a punky / hard rock crossover.

It’s not always easy to make a casting vote, and it’s not always fair to get off the fence when it comes to weighing up maters of opinion and taste. Ultimately, Younique finds Arcade Fortress packing some solid tunes, and that’s hard to argue, regardless of taste.

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Panic Lift – Pieces

Posted: 30 December 2021 in Singles and EPs
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17th December 2021

James Wells

Pieces is the second in a projected series of five EPs, and on the face of it, it’s an immense undertaking: this release contains five tracks, and its predecessor four. Across the project, that’s a full two albums worth of material… until you clock that half of the tracks are remixes. Not that that’s a criticism per se, and I won’t revisit my eternal remix peeve yet again here, because no doubt readers are as sick of that as I am of remixes as a thing.

So ‘Pieces’ is in effect a single, comprising of ‘Disease of Kings’ and ‘Failure Principle’, bolstered by a brace of remixes of the former and one of the latter. ‘Disease of Kings’ is a in some respects a surprising choice of lead song, in that it’s a slow, brooding cut with expansive, cinematic synths casting an arena-wide vista over the reflective mood. It’s well-executed and emotionally charged, but the vocal treatment – namely a fuckload of autotune on the verses – is perhaps a little overdone and reduces the impact of the song’s kick-to-the-chest sincerity. It’s a fine choon, but maybe a fraction too produced and polished and even a little bit Emo, where a slightly rawer edge would have bitten harder.

‘Failure Principle’ is geared toward the mid-tempo, with quintessential dance tropes in full effect, with nagging synth loops rippling over and over an insistent dancefloor-friendly beat. While still featuring the core elements of techoindustrial, it carries a keenly commercial style.

The Assemblage 23 Remix of ‘Failure Principle’ is a standout by virtue of the way in which is accentuates the track’s danciness and general catchiness, bordering on euphoric dance which seems somewhat at odds with the lyrical content. But then, the medium is not necessarily the message, and there’s something to be said for slipping darkness in under the cover of light. In that sense, it works, although the extent to which suggesting any song by an industrial act has mainstream crossover potential and a broad appeal is questionable.

Rounding off the EP, the KALCYFR Remix of ‘Disease of Kings’ beings some fuck-off dirty great guitars and grinding bass to the party and comes on way more Nine Inch Nails, and tempers the vaguely emo leanings of the original and GenCAB remix.

The ‘limited-edition PANIC LIFT FACE MASK to accompany you on your journeys through the current post-apocalyptic landscape’ is a nice touch, too – because we need some nice things to help us navigate living through the reality of all of the dystopian fictional futures becoming reality all at once.

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Fast Blood – Fast Blood EP

Posted: 21 February 2021 in Singles and EPs
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Cruel Nature Records – 5th March 2021

Christopher Nosnibor

I know next to nothing about Fast Blood beyond the brief biographical info that accompanies this, their debut EP, which follows a brace of singles.

Apparently, the members of the foursome are stalwarts of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne DIY scene, but as a unit they only came together in 2019, performing together for the first time in April of that year. They managed to amass a decent resume of support slots in the eleven months before the world ended for live music, and announced their arrival in November 2019 with the hooky as hell ‘You’, which is featured here as the EP’s second track.

They trade in short – three minutes or less – poppy punk tunes, and for all their ‘nods to 90’s Midwestern indie/emo, hardcore and garage punk’, what actually comes through above anything is how they hark back to a more classic female-fronted punk vintage. That isn’t to say they sound like X-Ray Spex, or Penetration, or Blondie, but there’s certainly something of that vibe infused within their driving, guitar-driven songs which are big on energy.

‘Why do I keep doing this to myself? / I keep telling myself I’m not worthy’ Abigail Barlow sings on ‘Milo’, which was released as their second single in January last year, and while the delivery is accessible, and very much driven by a sense of ‘song’, and ‘melody’, and there’s nothing that’s overtly dark about their songs, there’s an emotional honesty and a sincerity about the lyrics that runs deeper. In this sense, it’s the best of both: a vintage style with a contemporary edge – without the crap connotations of punk-pop dragged along by the likes of shit like Panic! At the Disco, New Found Glory, and All Time Low – they balance bite with something altogether more easy on the ear. Kudos.

AA

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All Runs Red – What Good Would That Do?

Posted: 28 October 2020 in Singles and EPs
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Christopher Nosnibor

A collective of international origins spanning Belgium, Italy, and New Zealand, All Runs Red’s debut is a stylistic hybrid, too, beginning with a drifting picked intro that’s a bit prog, a bit post-rock. It’s one of those tracks that makes a series of rapid transitions and leaves you feeling a shade dazed, but also confused and confounded, as you sit, stunned, just three minutes or so later, wondering how you got from A to B.

Initially, it packs a simmering tension, but one infused with a certain slickness, even a light funk groove before hinting at something else. I’m on the fence here, then between loving and loathing, because that smoothness reminds me of insipid cack like Maroon 5, but then there’s something building beneath the surface… and then the chorus breaks and it’s got ‘stadium’ written all over it – or at least arena. It’s sonically immense, and big on emotion, too, then there are howling backing vocals and a huge guitar workout breaks forth and then…it fades out? What? How? Who would do this, and why? I feel a little short-changed, and like I should perhaps complain – but what good would that do?

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I’m no Chessman – Amateurs (EP)

Posted: 20 November 2018 in Singles and EPs
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26th October 2018

Christopher Nosnibor

‘Dramatic and bold’… ‘driven and experiential’… songs which deliver ‘a perfectly executed sense of tension and release’… I’m No Chessman promise a lot with this, their second release. Do they deliver all of it? Well, it’s a matter of taste as much as opinion.

When I relaunched my reviewing ‘career’ such as it is a decade ago this month, I thought it would be neat to make providing objective reviews my signature. Over time, I’ve come to revise this ambition, having realised that the way one responds to music has precisely nothing to objective matters like technical competence. Granted, poor production can ruin a great set of songs, but the best production in the world won’t transform songs that are technically proficient in terms of musicianship but otherwise predictable and lacking in emotional resonance exhilarating.

Music is intensely personal, and how an individual responds to a composition isn’t purely about the recipient or their tastes, but their headspace and the precise context in which they first hear it.

All of which is to say that this EP is well executed, and despite what the title may suggest, is decidedly not the work of amateurs (just as it has nothing to do with John Niven’s debut novel, which is about golf. And wanking. Well, maybe it’s about wanking. Some of it is a bit Fall Out Boy). It’s that combination of poppy, up-tempo guitar-driven punk with spitting angst that will enthuse or antagonise dependent on your politic.

But yes, throwing in bouncy pianos and widdly guitar breaks in between big, hooky choruses, it’s impossible to deny that they do bring elements of ‘riven and experimental’ and ‘(melo)dramatic and bold’ with their expansive theatricality. All of which is t say that objectively, the band’s appeal is clear. Subjectively… I’m probably not the right demographic.

AA

Im No Chessman