Review Roundup #8: Balance and Composure/Tigers Jaw, Grown Ups, Helen Earth Band, Maker, Mue Sephei, and Thinking Machines

Balance and Composure/Tigers Jaw – Split

This split features two underground favourites from the planet of Indiemo.  First off: Balance and Composure, who will bring back memories of Devil and God-era Brand New.  Desperate vocals and catchy melodies (musically and vocally) dominate their four tracks, making for a welcome listen.  ”Burden” is reminiscent of “Jesus Christ”, ”Twenty Four” shows the band embracing their inner rock stars, complete with guitar solo and destructive bridge, while closing track “Rope” features aggressively layered guitars, complimenting the band’s singing duo of Andy Slaymaker and Jon Simmons (who both play guitar as well).

Tigers Jaw is a band I was familiar with before this split; their self-titled is, quite simply, catchy goodness.  Their half of this split is no different; “Lodging” and “Danielson” sound like a mix of No Age and Weezer; “Jet Alone” is, despite only really being two chords, very enjoyable, while closing track “Dent” begs similarities to summer music gurus Surfer Blood.

This is a split in which both bands put forth a strong, enjoyable effort.  Not only is this a good listen, but it makes you want to explore both of their back catalogues as well.

(7.5/10)

Grown Ups – More Songs

Much like Balance and Composure, Grown Ups may bring back some memories of Brand New, this time in the vein of  Your Favorite Weapon.  Vocalist Doyle Martin sounds like Jesse Lacey when he was still uninhibited and raw, especially on “Six More Weeks of Winter”.  On other tracks, the band takes on its own sound, fusing melodic punk, intricate drumming, and those clean lead guitar lines that have been popular in the indie/emo crowd since the 90s.

It is easy to resort to calling Grown Ups unique, and while in today’s musical climate it could be appropriated as such, it is also easy to note where their influences come from.  More Songs is a good full-length, but hard to take all at once; unfortunately, this style of throwback emo music can get a bit monotonous.  That said, if you dig Cap’n Jazz and Algernon Cadwallader, give More Songs a thorough spin.

(6.5/10)


Helen Earth Band – Our Own Ghost City

Alternative rock has become associated with mainstream, everything-sounds-the-same radio rock; ironic considering the term was first used for music that was an – you guessed it – alternative to everything else.  Helen Earth Band are an alternative rock band, but instead of falling into alt-rock conventions, they are a refreshing glimpse back to when “alternative” was actually used for bands doing something different.  It isn’t that Helen Earth sound like any late 80s grunge band, but instead that they experiment with ideas their contemporaries might not.

It sounds somewhat pretentious, but for what its worth, the band borders on progressive rock as well (I know how that term is thrown around with no meaning attached to it); “Fifteen Sixteen” is a showcase of this – the band utilizes catchy verse-chorus-verse before engaging in a beautiful instrumental section that utilizes sensible lead lines, keyboard, and woo-ing harmonies.  A large part of Our Own Ghost City is like this; friendly to listeners of the radio, while inviting the more indie listener for more than just a guilty pleasure.  Fans of Minus the Bear will find something to like here.

(7.0/10)

Maker – I-91

If I-91 had come out a decade ago, Maker would be rich and famous.  Despite only being a four track EP, it is made up of the kind of pop-punk gems that made the scene huge years ago.

There isn’t much to say here; Maker’s style of pop-punk is far from comedic or atypical, but will be easy to digest for just about everyone.  This is the kind of band that should be on Warped Tour (what happened to that festival anyways?).   If you like to sing along to your music without feeling guilty, the ten minute I-91 deserves your attention.

(7.0/10)

Mue Sephei – Mue Sephei EP

If there is one word that perfectly described Mue Sephei, it’s “charm”.  From the little Post-it note on the CD (from singer Noemie Derib), to the rough, warm sound quality of the three tracks that make up the EP, it is hard not to smile when listening to it.  That said, my first listen through the band’s EP threw me off; Noemie’s croon is way more unique than I would have given her credit for (it seems like more and more female vocalists are starting to sound the exact same), and the mix of aggressive vocals and lyrical heartbreak (“my heart was still holding your name” Derib musters over the bluesy rock of “Broken Pieces of the Whole”), was just a bit surprising.

However, once you get to the second half of “Fix It”, the EP hits its stride with a noisy climax, featuring – like the rest of the EP – a tight rhythm section that leads the charge.  Despite the stark contrast of the first two songs (“Fix It” being a slightly uptempo aggressive number, “Broken..” being a bluesy ballad), “Pirate Song” is a little bit of both, giving itself a little bit of a Cure feel, while remaining true to the band’s honest, blue-collar sound.

From its imperfect production and lack of pro tools, to its warm, personality-filled music, Mue Sephei’s self-titled EP is definitely a surprising listen.

(7.5/10)

Thinking Machines – Work Tapes

It is weird to think that Thinking Machines have almost been around for an entire decade.  As the band’s fourth full-length, Work Tapes explores the band’s more indie-focused sound, rarely embracing the shoegaze and post-rock tendencies they had in the past.  It works at times, but it is hard to get through all of Work Tapes without being bored at some point.

Songs like stoner jam “Titan”, off-kilter “Parallax”, and the massive title track, make Work Tapes worth the listen.  However, it is hard not to skip a good portion of the record to get to those songs. When a few songs are on a much higher level than the rest, it begs so many questions – where they written at different times? Did they give up after a bit? – which seems very unfair, as they are all from the same band, regardless of quality.

It would not be completely surprising to hear people arguing for a good portion of the album (I can see a lot of these songs being indie rock favourites), but when they are overshadowed by the ambition of other tracks, it makes for a rollercoaster ride of an album (and I don’t like rollercoasters).

(5.5/10)

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