Some Of Us Never Die

As The City Burns EP

Written by: TL on 28/11/2010 15:07:20

Okay so the last couple of reviews I've written, I've started with a feeling of not having much to say about the record in question, hence expecting to write a short review. Both reviews turned out long anyway, probably because I can't stop paraphrasing myself endlessly. The reason I'm even adding length to this review by talking about this, is because I enter it with the same feeling, and am curious to see if the result is the same. Some Of Us Never Die is another British band, a quintet from London to be more specific, and their record in question, the six-track EP "As The City Burns", has appeared to me as one that I shouldn't need too many lines to describe, so let's have a go at it shall we?

SOUND (not wondering why they have such a weird name anymore are you?) assign tags like alternative, emo, post-hardcore and powerpop to themselves on their myspace page, and I find myself in agreement with at least the middle two of those. Record-opener "Tales" showcase a healthy doze of breaks and clean/scream dynamics, nailing down the post-hardcore tag, and the following "So Alive" does the same, featuring a signature riff sounding almost exactly like something the Australian proponents of the style Behind Crimson Eyes did, back in the early days when they were still any good. If that's too obscure a reference however, I guess you could also draw some parallels to early Funeral For A Friend and Alexisonfire, as SOUND seem to occupy a similarly confusing middleground as the one those bands explored back when nu-metal was still slowly turning into post-hardcore.

It's evident from both songs, as well as the following ones, that SOUND have a promising knack for coming up with attention-grabbers, both in terms of simplistic lead riffs and vocal phrases and melodies, and that is their main strength. It is balanced out somewhat however, by this whole recording being distinctly "early material" in its sound. The production values are of the kind that might have gotten you by a decade ago, but sound today like it took the max out of the available equipment to just get it to sound decent. What I mean is that over the years, listeners of post-hardcore have grown to expect a certain 'oomph' in the mix, and here the sound is rather of a rough 90's-ish quality that rarely gets the best out of the pseudo-heavy sounds a band like this likes to employ.

Compound this observation with the recognition of vocals that, despite good articulation and conviction, are rather average at best, and with the feeling that SOUND not only balance on the edge between what's passionate and what's corny, but also occasionally sound like their ideas are just a bit too similar to something you've heard before - And it should be evident that this band still have some hurdles to clear before realizing their potential. Promising. No less, no more.

6

Download: Tales, So Alive, My Feet Do The Same
For The Fans Of: Behind Crimson Eyes, Funeral For A Friend, Alexisonfire
Listen: myspace.com/someofusneverdie

Release Date ??.??.2010
Self-released

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