The Great Explainer

The Way Things Swell EP

Written by: PP on 13/10/2010 06:34:40

And so the Hot Water Music wagon keeps rolling. Though the band is practically only playing scattered shows a couple of times a year, their legacy lives on in the souls and hearts of their fans, and the countless fans that have found deep inspiration within their pioneering brand of original post-hardcore / punk rock. The newest band in this bunch is The Great Explainer from Trenton, New Jersey, who are joining the company with an entirely decent and easily-likable four-track debut EP, "The Way Things Swell".

The drill hasn't changed from the likes of Daylight, Campaign, Small Brown Bike et cetera. Like those bands and so many others, The Great Explainer take the core Hot Water Music sound, the gravelly vocals that ooze of pure honesty and passion for (original) post-hardcore, plus the jagged guitars and interpret them in their own way. In this case, melody lines have been amplified with the occasional mathy guitar bits and plenty of bright chords, complete with a warm, fuzzy distortion that leaves an air of optimism hanging over their sound. We're talking mid 90s-late 90s era post-hardcore, before emo made its headway into the genre, back when the genre had much more to do with hardcore and punk rock than with fringes and high-pitched singers. Like when buying a cone of vanilla ice cream, you know exactly what you're getting, no surprises here, but you can also count on a sense of familiarity and good taste when it comes to consuming it. You see, bands who've been inspired by Hot Water Music haven't just decided to play music that sounds like those guys - the songs have had enough of an impact to make the sound a significant part of their lives. That means immense amount of care and love has been placed in the little details, from the interplay between the bass and the melodic guitar lines to the snarly vocals that never cease to inject just enough melody to sound so very pleasant. So in short, The Great Explainer continue a trend that so far has gone unbroken for every band that I've come across who sound like HWM, they sound very, very good.

Download: I Finally Found My Dreamboat
For the fans of: Hot Water Music, Daylight, Small Brown Bike, Leatherface
Listen: Myspace

Release date 13.07.2010
Chunksaah Records

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