With A Menshevik Stride,
Year ZeroI know this is going to kill off their reputation immediately, but Year Zero remind me of Fightstar. Sorry guys. It's a vocal thing - Jamie Giarraputo bears a passing resemblence to a certain Charlie Simpson, and while sonically the Year Zero aren't too similar, there's enough here for me to lazily lump them together. The five-piece actually claim to cite Fugazi, Far and Cursive as influences, although they're more a cross between the likes of Muse and Million Dead, often branching out into spaced-out epic guitar riffs rather than the more catchy shouty/scream parts many of the bands of this ilk sound like.
'With A Menshevik Stride' is actually pretty good - although tracks like 'Goodbye Dissent' are a little too drawn out, the band manage to maintain catchy-ish choruses with enough time changes and harsher parts to keep things interesting. 'This Is Popular Culture' sounds good, albeit in the same vein as a stack of other bands. I guess it's difficult to sound that fresh and new, but Year Zero have a pretty good stab and come off better than most. With support slots to Against Me! Ensign and Yourcodenameis:Milo already in the bag, there's a fair chance these guys will continue to make strides in 2005/
www.yearzero.co.uk
Live Without Dead Time Records
Paul
