Welcome to week four of Mosh’s Face The Jury where we pick a random selection of tracks from the array of emails which we are sent. These tracks make their way to a random selection of staff where they let us know their thoughts. Will they be pretty amazing or just damn right awful? Let’s take a listen to this weeks selection. It’s time to face the jury!
Chasing Cadence – Dear Life
Donnay Clancy: A sprightly effort from this young band. There’s definitely potential here. Synthy bits are slightly cheesy but the widdle-tastic guitar solos make up for it. Chorus is catchy is hell. I like! 3/5
Jay Hampshire: Bright, upbeat riffing but the sub-Enter Shikari synths don’t mesh well. Weird, off/on, stop/start bit doesn’t help the pace. Neither does the pointless noodling. It’s like a 14 year old scored their dream super awesome video game. 1/5
Emma Younger: Just like an ice cool cocktail on a summer’s day, Dear Life bursts at the seams with a ‘slap in the face’ guitar punch. The latter is a refreshingly tame melodic pop-punk infused number, and personally, its pretty sick. I’m not sure on the electronic intro though, its a bit cheesy in my opinion. Overall, its a solid track. 3.5/5
Michael Baird: Song is alright, don’t think there is any real need for the Ibiza anthem interludes. Song is strong enough without having to shoehorn that in. No need for it and just seems weird. I wish bands would show a bit more imagination with their videos, I have probably seen 800000000 this week alone just like this one. Come on people, step up, be original, show you have balls!!! 3/5
Antoine Omisore: Hmmm. This song huffs and puffs but fails to blow you away. The riff is ordinary and the vocals lack character and drown in mediocrity . You would have more fun on The Smiler. 2/5
Young Empires – Sunshine
Donnay Clancy: Nice chilled out vibe to this track. Not really my cup of tea but I can appreciate the melodies and pretty harmonies. The singer’s vocals grated on me a bit…I’ll admit I skipped to the end after the second chorus. Quite forgettable. 2/5
Jay Hampshire: Very 80’s vibe – lots of reverb on the vocals. The drums sound like pots and pans. Bit of a mess really, lots of jarring sounds stabbing in and our, one is like a child’s toy crow. Bubblegum rock. 1/5
Emma Younger: The first thing that came to mind when listening to the track is that its some wannabe Imagine Dragons tune that’s trying to be hip enough to feature on Made In Chelsea. Its about as plateau as you can get. Next please! 1.5/5
Michael Baird: Nice little ditty this. Wont cause offence to anyone. Ever. Nice, safe, relaxing summer tune. It has a formula, it sticks to it. Harmless. 3/5
Antoine Omisore: This has the laid back vibes. Think early MGMT mixed with a little Two Door Cinema Club. This is a sexy track, perfect for the summer. HOT! 4/5
Being As An Ocean – Sleeping Sicarii
Donnay Clancy: Interesting arrangements and wonderful use of clean guitars raise this track above the generic post-hardcore outfit. This has a killer riff and an epic chorus, magnified by an emotional and passionate vocal performance from Joel Quartuccio. Liked this a lot. Maybe it’s because I listen to a fair amount of metal, but I couldn’t help wishing this was a bit heavier. Still, it’s a wonder that this band isn’t signed to a bigger label. 3.5/5
Jay Hampshire: Hardcore shouting and a nice running riff that’s snatched away as we drop into a more ‘standard’ melodic framework. Nice guitar tone but the multi-layered vocals are truly horrible. 1.5/5
Emma Younger: The number of times I’ve heard melodic hardcore tracks open with some kind of distortion is starting to get on my nerves. Begrudgingly though, it bloomin’ works here. Unlike some of the band’s previous work, ‘Sleeping Sicarii’ shows off its pop side with vocal tendencies that really tickle my tastebuds. Although, the gang vocals seem like a pointless addition in this instance – just to ensure it sticks to their supposed typecast genre. On the upside, the power and guts this band possess never falter, and whether it be through drums, guitars, vocals or all of the above, they always deliver in the end. 3.5/5
Michael Baird: Is this stuff really still happening? Raaaarrrrrgggggh im angry, now I’m sad, wait for it, here comes the melodic part with some screaming over the top. It’s just been done to death and sounds so tame nowadays. I’m sure there is place for it. I mean Alexisonfire always killed it but this just feels forced. 2/5
Antoine Omisore: Pummeling drums, throat shredding howls and dose of melody for good measure. Sounds better than most of the hardcore bands out there. 3/5
Iselia – First Strike
Donnay Clancy: This starts off fairly promising until the vocals kick in. Terrible. Sounds like they were recorded in a toilet and like the singer is in desperate need of a Strepsil. The track is generally incoherent – the best thing about it is that it was only 2 and a half minutes long… 1/5
Jay Hampshire: The shimmery, dreamy guitar textures are a bit like EARTH or TOOL, but then everything gets a bit more mainstream. Nice warm bass tone and some decent dynamic shifts. Not bad. 2.5/5
Emma Younger: Considering it takes half of the track to actually get into the track, its a bit of an odd ball. The vocals may be sinisterly dark, but unless there’s a fortress of musicality behind it, then what’s the point? I’m left feeling like I’ve lost two and a half minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. 2/5
Michael Baird: This is cool. It has an almost old Dischord record feel to the music. It’s raw, it has passion, just if anything it is too short and you feel it could have built up and gone further. Whats there is good but it does feel a bit like an overlong intro to something bigger. 3/5
Antoine Omisore: Forget hearts on sleeves, this is cut your own heart out with a Stanley knife for all to see post hardcore. This is moody, atmospheric and honestly will transport you to another world for 2.30 minutes. Brilliant. 4/5
King 810 – Eyes (Sleep It All Away)
Donnay Clancy: Well I wasn’t expecting this! Very different from King’s previous stuff. This is probably the first time I’ve actually been able to tell David Gunn’s vocals apart from Corey Taylor’s, which is definitely a good thing. Ambient, haunting and atmospheric, with a spooky video to match. I felt the song ended on a bit of an anti-climax though – was expecting a colossal chorus to burst through the melancholy after all that build up. 3/5
Jamie Hay: Angsty, phasy vocals. Are you sure this isn’t SLIPKNOT? It would build tension if it wasn’t so fucking boring. It sounds like the ‘interlude’ track from an album but released as a single for a joke. 0.5/5
Emma Younger: If you looked up the definition of the word ‘ambient’ in the dictionary, this track would be in bold on the page (and probably in capitals too). Its subtly and intriguingly dark from the outset, and in some way’s overdramatic. There’s a lingering feeling that its a peculiar direction for a band that thrives on a solid, gang-like exterior. Whilst its atmosphere is spot on, its not clear as to what they’re trying to achieve here. 2.5/5
Michael Baird: This is not what I expected at all! I’ve seen this band, I had their old EP and they were VERY angry and heavy as shit. This is much more restrained and does show yet another layer to the band which can only be a good thing. Last thing I expected but good all the same. 3/5
Antoine Omisore: This is dark. Like an obsessed, psychopathic stalker, who has a shrine of a woman who doesn’t have the foggiest. It builds slowly with murky synth beats and vocals set to creep. Decent track. 3.5/5
