What Hands Are For

...Please Believe Me EP

Written by: DR on 05/05/2010 20:02:49

California based What Hands Are For aren't exactly the most prolific of bands, releasing one EP in 2007 titled "Loud Ass", and then waiting three years before releasing anything else. i.e. this. It's highly unlikely that you've heard of these before, so I'm gonna go ahead and skip a lengthy introduction and get right to describing this quartet's sound.

What Hands Are For are doing the whole post-hardcore thing, except slightly different to the myriad of acts out there. They combine brief quickly spoken word passages with solid cleans and passionate screams (none of this is in a La Dispute woe-is-me way) with an underlying feel that's instantly familiar yet far from a carbon copy of any band out there. The screamed vocals have that harshness and sudden intensity reminiscent of Adam Harrell (ex-Chasing Victory), whereas the cleans will undoubtedly remind you of Kurt Travis (Dance Gavin Dance) Neither are perfect, but that's their charm. They sound believable, which is a refreshing contrast to most of the bands that over-produce their pipes to perfection. As for the musicianship? Imagine early mewithoutYou, with the aggression of "Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest" -era As Cities Burn. There may be a case for citing a Dance Gavin Dance feeling, in the sense that both bands have little regard for conventionality, and both seem to thrive on being different. There's only one guitarist, which is fairly uncommon in this genre, so the bass really has a chance to shine, and thus adds a groove to "...Please Believe Me".

"We Love The Knife Fight" gets things going, though it is a slightly disappointing opener as, when compared to the rest of the EP, it's relatively simplistic in its clean/screamed dynamic. "Deer Country!" is next, and it more than makes up for the sub-awesome opener by boasting one of the bands' finest riffs to date, bursting out of the blocks with the combination of rapid-fire screamed-delivery. The contrast of calm cleans and manic screams are one of the finest things about "...Please Believe Me", especially as the muscianship is versatile enough to interchange between a quick and a slow tempo, and all the speeds inbetween, seamlessly.

Throughout the five tracks there are examples of their ability to experiment, whether it be quickly spoken passages (as aforementioned) or gang shouts (see "Me Myself And My Terms") yet without any of them seeming even slightly out of place. It's certainly a very tight, creative and convincing EP, which shows more than just "some" promise. I only hope I don't have to wait three years for the next one.

Download: Push Waves, Deer Country!, Me Myself And My Terms
For The Fans of: Dance Gavin Dance, Chasing Victory, La Dispute, (early) As Cities Burn
Listen: To it all here

Release Date 23.03.2010
Unsigned

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.