Formed from the ashes of Light This City, Heartsounds are a bloody revelation. And a total surprise, as you’d not have though that 2/5ths of a melodic death metal band would release one of the best punk albums of 2009.
Until We Surrender taps the Epi-Fat vein of melodic
pop-punk-rock-skater-core, thankfully managing to avoid most of the cliches along the way. The record reminds me of the Swellers musically in more than a few places, the singers sound similar and the Swellers vocalist even guests. Heartsounds also manage to implement a fair bit of technicality in their music, a la Strung Out, but more often (and not surprising given the majority of the music is tracked by one man) tend to forge ahead in the style of Rise Against‘s early driving power-chord led melodic hardcore.
I know most people will probably be thinking -what makes this special? What makes this worth a listen over and above any other Epi-Fat release? There are a metric fuck-ton of bands that sound like that. What’s the hook? It’s pretty easy actually – the dual vocalists. The male/female vocals mix so well, it’s at times unexpected and disarming. They play well off each other, bringing an energy that is sometimes sorely lacking in the genre – and their harmonies that pepper the record throughout are restrained and used to complement the music without ever turning it into anything overly poppy. It really does push a solid record into the ‘something special’ bracket. Take opener ‘The Song Inside Me’ – solid and anthemic, enough to make you nod you head and even sing along but it’s not until Laura Nichols chips in that the song kicks into gear, raising the bar considerably.
It’s fair to say Heartsounds don’t reinvent the wheel – but they have released a 28″ wheel with loads of those colourful spoke clickers that you used to get in cereal packets – it sounds fucking huge.
Kieran