This is, by far, one of the strangest releases I’ve had to review in a while. Not strange in terms of the actual musical style which is an angular brand of post hardcore, but because it veers from being incredibly annoying to seductively pleasing within the space of a few bars. As you might imagine, that makes it a bastard to review.
Challenger are a band that can play spiky pop as well as Biffy Clyro and abrasive scream-led rock in the vein of K-Line to equal measures, but it appears that there’s no form guide since ‘Death Museum’ and ‘Unemployment’ are both similar in form but different in quality. The songs are drivingly energetic but there tends to be a reliance on familiar riffs that don’t display anything but an annoying desire to play safe. The pretension of the music grates after a while, with the almost constant repeating of refrains running throughout the album becoming pointless after the fifth or sixth time.
Having said that, ‘Give People…’ has a few gems. ‘Blackouts’ and ‘Brand Loyalty’ show sparks of melody and some good ideas that make them sound genuinely meaningful, rather than trading off stock images and recognisable motifs. ‘Sweet Vaccine’ makes inroads to a more hardcore sound that sits quite low in the mix, providing another edge to the Challenger sound. It’s the most striking track on the album, with the buzzing guitars and sledgehammer bass providing a swift punch that is fizzled out on the below-par ‘This Is Only A Test’. What would have been nice is a few more instants when Challenger take a new direction and try something new; as it is, they’re too sparse.
‘Crushed City‘ is a truly menacing pop song that is delightfully harmonic while being darker than Darth Vader’s shadow. It’s the dialogue between the light melody of ‘The Trojan Horse’ and the prophetic doom of ‘Death Museum’ that provides the hook for ‘Give People…’, since it’s genuinely interesting to see where Challenger are going next. Having said that, this album is far too flawed to be anything more than average even though it more than adequately displays promise and talent. The whined vocals can appear equally annoying or powerful and it wholly depends on your state of mind when listening to it – when I first put it on I hated it, but coming home drunk one night it provided the perfect soundtrack to a steady tumble into unconsciousness. I can’t recommend it wholeheartedly, but it’s worth a listen, if not a purchase.
Ben
www.challengermusic.com
www.jadetree.com