EXTERNS existed for but a brief moment, but oh my what a (five song) legacy. This is about as close to a perfect recording as I can imagine - forceful, smart, catchy, intense, biting....a full collection of sounds. The sharp delivery straddles a line that connects UK anarcho and a harsher melodic wall of sound, something like FLUX >> WEDDING PRESENT perhaps. Eli's vocal barks are determined, a nod to early '90s USDIY perhaps, but combined with the oppressive high end clean guitar wail they create an anxiety (not actually a play on the title of the first track - "Anxiety" - though it works both ways) that only drop into power chords for the last bridge of "Total Enlightenment" just before the tape is complete. Everything here fires right, everything here feels right. As is the case with many bands who don't leave much in their wake: If this is all, then I'll take it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment