Any band that describes themselves as ‘screamtional jazz begetting meats-informed poshcore’ is bound to be interesting – either that or they’re a bunch of Oxbridge Uni students with their heads up their arses. Thankfully for Piano it’s the former and not the latter as they manage to bridge the gap between confidence, arrogance and a creative sound that is intelligent and unique, if not a little weird. A four-piece coming together via Winchester and Nottingham, the band state the likes of Poison The Well, Glassjaw and Thrice among their influences. It’s at this point where the Punktastic reviewing staff usually let out a collective groan as we go on to listen to the usual uninspiring, turgid riffs that switch from quiet to loud in a mere breathy vocal. Except there is the odd occasion when a band breaks the mould and does something different – and Piano are one such band.
The three tracks on offer here are aggressive, interesting and adventurous. There’s passion, fire and melodies and on the numerous listens I’ve had so far, I get the impression that the band can throw the bastard offspring of Every Time I Die and Brand New into the mix as well. While Piano are certainly a talented bunch, at times this collection of three tracks is a little too overblown; coming across like The Next Autumn Soundtrack if they were having organs disembellowed without a general anasthetic. Tracks like ‘Free Association Imagery’ and ‘Becoming A Novel’ growl and thrash around, yet underneath it all is a semblance of muscial genius, featuring musicians dying to break the shackles of a restrictive genre.
It’s almost as if Piano are looking to stick two fingers up at reviewers with the choice of named influences. They’re nothing like any of their peers; they’re Piano, a band that have their own twist on music with a sound they are quite literally carving out themselves. If this is the way they hope to go, Piano have one hell of a future ahead of them. The desire to be different and inventive, yet not to stray too far away from familiar territory, is a breath of fresh air. Even better, these youngsters are British and unsigned – although I suspect not for too long. A band to mark down in the ‘you-heard-it-here-first’ category.
www.thisispiano.com
Paul