End Of A Year

Sincerely

Written by: TL on 15/10/2006 21:35:52

Albany punk-outfit End Of A Year claims quite impressive influences from the small group of bands that invented the concept 'emotional hardcore' back in the 80ies, and rightfully so, as you're gonna have a hard time not instantly thinking Fugazi or Rites Of Spring when you put on the newest full lengt "Sincerely". Rough shouted vocals on top of fast and simple guitarriffs with more than a substantial garage-feel to them take you on a trip right down memory lane. And then, that's it.

On End Of A Year's Myspace, they claim to be that band that just tour around doing the music they like, while not being really liked by anyone else. That comes as no surprise, seeing as you'd have to look for a looooong time, in order to find a record as utterly uninteresting as "Sincerely". While nailing the retro 80ies emopunk sound spot on, the band suffers from the VERY modern disease: poor songwriting skills. With the whole emo-explosion going on, bands are being dragged out of the underground by the sh*tload as long as they have a sound that can be remotely connected to emo, and this fact keep us reviewers busy listening to bands that have interesting and distinct sounds, but completely lack the gift of being able to write songs people will actually care about.

End Of A Year is no exception to this trend, and the eleven tracks on "Sincerely" races by without you ever really taking a notice. Listening to this album, you're often going to find yourself missing the fact, that you've actually heard four tracks and not just one. The songs are that alike, and that uncharacteristic. As a reviewer I'm tempted to say that the most appealing property of this album is that it is short, so that I'll be able to move on to more interesting things sooner. That is a bit unfair though, as the retro sound has its charm, and nothing on "Sincerely" is strikingly bad. To be fair, the record could serve well for anyone wishing to soak themselves in a bit of nostalgia, but then again, why wouldn’t you just listen to some of the bands that did it better when this kind of music was still fresh?

4

Download: Beleaders, You Better Work
For the fans of: Rites Of Spring, Fugazi, Mewithoutyou
Listen: MySpace

Release date 18.07.2006
Revelation Records
Provided by Target ApS

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