27-03-2013

Every weirdo looks like you

There's this band called Every Stranger Looks Like You. They have a new record out. That is why I'm writing this. To tell you that they have it out and that you should listen to it and buy it.

They call themselves a grunge/hardcore mix, and upon first listen, that's basically it. Rough, mid-paced, punk-ish, with possible influences of Dinosaur Jr. and Quicksand or something. It's definitely something I don't hear a lot of, which is always cool. They're pretty cool and there's dudes on the guitar and drums and a lady on the bass. The alternative scene can always use some gender diversity, I guess. (Ask RVIVR.)

Every Stranger Looks Like You - Cursed Soul/Golden Heart
(2013, DIY (?) )


1. Deaf Ears
2. Black Eyes
3. Cursed Soul
4. Golden Heart
5. Cold Hands
6. Heavy Arms
7. Life Ender




The record starts out like it should. With a riff worth headbanging to. I could imagine myself stomp-moshing to this. Deaf Ears is an ominous tune that gets your senses tingling. Catchy lyrics, pretty dark groove. The bass tone is rad. It's really rough, deep and the bass lines really work together with the guitar riffs.  Black Eyes, the shortest song on the album at 2 minutes, has a similar vibe. The drums are really cool on this track, I have a feeling these three peepz have a genuine synergy going on and it's really nice to listen to. I've only seen them live once before but I definitely got the same feeling.
I really like how all songs have the same title structure of [adjective+body part], with the track Life Ender concluding the album and the transition from Cursed Soul to Golden Heart almost creating a breaking point. The lyrics are both really personal and direct, yet spiced with the occasional metaphor or cryptic description. And the occasional sneer of desperation. Mainly pretty clean vocals though. Sounds cool.
There's a lot of dynamics going on on this record, like contrasting heavy intros with mellowed out verses, or the guitar-only part in Golden Heart right before the outro-outburst. The riffage is pretty cool on this record. It doesn't seem all too difficult, there are pretty standard progressions (and some odd ones) but the use of a high pitch and the distortion adds a lot of dimension to the songs, and there are some pretty original chords in there, if my hearing doesn't fail me (normally it does, so don't believe me for my word).
Cold Hands is a 5-minute-long epic with a really heavy break near the middle, and then there's a weird part but I guess it kinda works? It's a cool song but that one part seems kinda forced in there, it doesn't fit together as well as other songs do. Anyway, the album is rather solid. It starts out pretty neat, it goes on just great and it ends like a bomb. Cool!

Tough review. I mean I like it and it's actually a record that'll get stuck in my head if I listen to it some more, but I can't put my finger on it, ya know? It's consistent, it's dark, yet it's very recognizable. It's kinda weird.
Pick this up.

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