A Love Hate Relationship,
Since By ManWhen I first heard ‘We Sing the Body Electric’ by Since by Man, it changed me a little. Gone were my tired stereotypes of hardcore being all about thrashing along at speed and shouting for two minutes. Knocking me off my feet with their compassionate delivery of a dozen or so tracks, Since by Man swept most other releases aside in 2003 with the clever use of making everything distorted and fuzzy and not quite letting the listener into the secret of the bands formula. During the time they’ve been away the touring quota has been fulfilled, including a successful stint in England during May and they have now returned with a four track EP served as a mere appetiser for the forthcoming full length due in September. It is nothing radically different from the bands previous output, but the standards are still ridiculously high and that serves extremely well for the band, Revelation Records and us.
‘Swan Killer’ begins the EP and serves to display what is missing when Since by Man aren’t around with an effort laced with melody, pace and aggression, while ‘What you got is Gold’ stutters the forward motion with a more traditional take on there chosen genre featuring some ballsy guitar riffs and great vocal patterns from frontman Sam Macon. ‘Goddamnit Baby this is Soul’ has the proggy intro (Which incidentally sounds like something Muse may produce) we became accustomed to last time round before the usual onslaughts are served, while ‘Who Would I be without my Middle Finger’ proves the best example of what the band can do with an assortment of instruments and time on their hands. It displays thunderous riffs, pounding drums and some sublime vocal patterns. Hardcore wasn’t meant to sound this sexy.
The key to SBM’s success is that they know how good they are. From the moment the first beats begin until the moment the curtain is drawn, blood sweat and tears are poured into everything they produce. Managing to fuse the boundaries between dancy-post punk, metal and hardcore is no mean feat, but they manage it with aplomb. They still sound like the bastard son of Refused, and they are still at the top of their game. Roll on September.
Jay
Revelation Records
www.sincebyman.com
