I’ve never had to review a Punktastic member of staff’s band before, having always delegated those kinds of things to someone else. Yes I’m a wimp. Now it’s time to take the plunge and pen my thoughts about Tellison’s newest release, their split with those aggressive kids in Seven Years. In fits and starts both bands promise great things, but the cohesion and consistency isn’t quite there on either part just yet. Both bands are also remarkably different, making for an interesting split that could bamboozle fans of either band.
Tellison are up first and the young Scots (well at least I think that’s where they’re based), but Steve (who incidentally is the Punktastic member in question) seems to travel around so much I don’t really know where they lay their hats. I’ve quite liked the Tellison material I’ve heard so far, which has always come across as an extremely lo-fi, indie-rock sound that probably has more in common with bands like Snow Patrol than it does the emo crowd. Still, the quartet of tracks on offer here are well-crafted gems, even if none of them really hammers home the band’s obvious talents. ‘Reader’ is possibly the best, although ‘How They Didn’t Knight Chaplin’ is also a keeper. But despite the strengths (the production really suits Tellison and the vocals are strong throughout), I feel that songs like ‘Painting’ really need to be taken up a further notch. Good songs and well executed, but there’s an ‘x’ factor missing thus far.
Seven Years, on the other hand, are aggressive little buggers, quite adept at screaming blue murder one second and then singing beautifully the next. ‘Another post-hardcore band’ I hear you cry. Well you’d be wrong. Seven Years are far too disjointed to throw into any over-saturated niche and with driving guitars and promising drumming there’s plenty on offer. ‘Worse’ is a decent offering, complete with well-placed female backing vox, but it’s the crazed ‘I Spit On Your Corpse’ that possibly works the best.
An interesting split between two very promising bands, but I don’t think either should rest on their laurels. There’s certainly room for improvement on both parts, and once a few things are added to their collective arsenals, both bands will be working their way up the ladder.
www.tellison.co.uk
www.hardfriggincore.co.uk
www.freewebs.com/j2r
Jaws 2 Records
Paul
