Crime In Stereo

I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone

Written by: PP on 24/03/2010 14:00:56

Hot Water Music. Jawbreaker. Brand New. The bare mention of three such awe-inspiring, seminal bands in the same context with words like "emotionally charged", "unpolished punk rock expression" and "huge grower" should be enough to make anyone drool from sheer excitement. For those three bands and those three descriptions exemplify perfectly what the new Crime In Stereo album "I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone" is all about. It's a record that blurs genre lines by borrowing equally much from gravelly punk rock as it does from mid 90s grunge movement, throwing in a good deal of raw emotion from the original post-hardcore bands from nearly a decade ago now.

At first, much of the disc will inevitably feel bland and uninspiring (the case for the undersigned), but that's only because Crime In Stereo's songs are constructed in a way that their effect is neither direct nor obvious. Instead, the band relies on subtle build ups and dark, melancholic vocal lines that take a good few listens to properly digest, but as a result, as soon as you discover the embedded raw emotion and internalized rage that's lurking just underneath the unpolished surface, you're in for a ride. All three bands are referenced but not directly cloned (except in one instance, more soon), leaving each track sounding like it's writers were inspired by some of the best modern bands known to man. Lets take "Queue Moderns", for instance, which has a distant How Water Music vibe from the "Caution"-era after the initial quiet build up (it sounds a LOT like some seminal indie band I just can't get to my mind, help me out in the comments), but the vocalist puts his own, unique strain to his voice to distinguish the band as something original. The next three tracks, on the other hand, take the newest Brand New album "Daisy", and interpret it with pure punk rock feeling and energy. Especially "Drugwolf" has a similar rage brewing within it like the latter band is known for in the music circles. Included are moments where the similarity between the two bands is striking, but also passages where you'll have to do a little digging to relax your comparator-rules a bit to find a meaningful connection. But that's perhaps the best part about this record, the strong emotions it arouses in the listener, as a direct result of other great albums you've heard in the past.

Then it's time for some obvious Jawbreaker references, most notably the crazed scream buildups in "Young", the groovy, dirty riffing and vocals on "Type One", and especially on the album's undeniably best track "Republica". It's a track that could be argued to be straight from 1992's seminal "Bivouac", although I should stress once again that Crime In Stereo overlay the familiar expression with their own unique twist. The chorus "She says: can we get free?", by the way, is among the most infectious ones I've heard this year. This while avoiding sounding poppy altogether, impressive.

For the rest of the album, and on the tracks I didn't mention just yet, Crime In Stereo sound just like they do on the aforementioned tracks; like a perfect blend of the raw punk rock of Hot Water Music, the emotionally charged, grunge-esque punk of Jawbreaker, and the explosive rage and intelligence of Brand New. Which should be enough to convince you to get a hold of this record sooner rather than later.

8

Download: Republica, Type One, Queue Moderns, Drugwolf
For the fans of: Hot Water Music, Jawbreaker, Brand New
Listen: Myspace

Release date 23.02.2010
Bridge 9

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