Progression – it’s an essential word for any band, especially for a band on their second release. If there’s no progression between CDs 1 and 2, then something is going drastically wrong. Thankfully for Leicester’s Another Direction, there’s a whole host of progression with ‘Faking Smiles and Forcing Speech’, their new four-track record. The vocals no longer sound like those of Inme, the guitars are inventive and the drums loud – on first listen this is good stuff. But over time this record falls a bit flat because while first impressions are good, it does become apparent that for all the gloss, there’s not that much substance.
While ‘Rebirth’ looks towards Poison The Well, it’s the fantastic ‘Art School In Paris’ which grabs the attention. It twists and turns and never settles, allowing the song to sound interesting and slightly different to the masses upon masses of bands that peddle their post-hardcore wares. It’s way ‘Tracing Fate’, as good as it is, doesn’t really suck you in as much – after all the guitars predictable crunch and the backing vocals scream in all the right places. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds good, it’s just a little predictable.
This gets three-and-a-half stars just as the last record did, but this CD is better. The reason it doesn’t score higher is because this is pretty unoriginal stuff, although it is done better than most. I’d like Another Direction to start going down their own path rather than trying to spar with the big boys. There are parts of songs that really impress, while others are generic. Either way, this is a really good listen and a band you should check out.
Paul