“Secondsmile closely resemble US counterparts‘ Hopesfall, At The Drive-In and Thursday combined with complex structure and striking Refused-esque vocals.â€
This statement comes straight from the bio over at Big Scary Monsters, and no offence Kev, but I’ve read the exact same thing said 1,000 different ways over the last 18 months. Post-hardcore bands are ten-a-penny now. It’s a dull, lifeless and boring genre that has been overplayed and over-sold. Too many bands have saturated what was once a flourishing and inventive scene. Then the major labels found a new cash cow to milk and flooded the ‘market’ with Thursday clones. Secondsmile should not be chucked into the same bracket as the bands that are mentioned above. Firstly they sound nothing like any of them, aside from the fact they have driving guitars and shouty bits. And I’m sure they’re excitable live too. Secondsmile are chaotic, crazy and creative and, best of all, they’re British.
‘I Am Not Romeo, You Are Not Juliet’ is a good little EP, but the band’s strength must surely lie in a live environment. I’m yet to see the band live (let us know when you’re up Leeds way fellas…) but I can imagine in the energy and enthusiasm that is not captured here is certainly present on stage. The quintet sounds more like Alexisonfire or The Bled than the names mentioned above, and there is a difference. At least I believe so. Secondsmile put a lot of emphasis on the lead guitar work, which is consistently fast and frenetic. The vocal melodies are always there too, making songs like ‘My Tribute To Those Eyes That Can Sink Ships’ catchy and singalong-able, as well as bringing out the air guitarists in all of us. And boy can Ross Smithwick shred. The guitar parts are really, really good throughout, so when tracks like ‘This Is Your Hometown And It’s Cutting You’ build up, the guitars and drums really bite back during ‘Easygoing Girls Are Always One Fuck Away’. It’s almost cathartic. Which is nice.
A tired genre this may be, but as long as bands continue to push the boundaries of their influences, it gives music fans hope that this style of music will survive the backlash that has already begun. The crows are circling, but bands like Secondsmile are fighting them off the rotting corpses of other bands. Fans of ‘the mosh’, as you cool kids like to call it, are going to love this band.
www.secondsmile.com
BSM Records
Paul