This 6 track EP is on the Birmingham-based Iron Man Records. And it is here that the Sabbath connections end, sadly enough. I will firmly admit not probably not being the best placed to review this EP since I’m a bit fed up with all this post-hardcore stuff. I know that I’m going to get slagged for this but hey. It’s just an opinion kids!
You know how whenever you make mix tapes you choose and absolute blinder of a track to kick things off? A track that’s going to sound awesome when you click ‘play’ and walk out of the house? Surely you’d think that if you were releasing an EP you’d make sure that the first song is a stomper? The opener to Talking Points, Not Tragedies goes by the name of ‘Televison Led’ and really, really gets on my nerves. The lyrics reek of GCSE poetry scribbled on rough books and are just screamed without any conviction whatsoever. The music is quite derivative and reminds me of a more lo-fi At The Drive-In – obviously I’m not slagging the actual sonic quality – but seems half-finished. Repetitive basslines feed into the whiny vocals without actually going anywhere. The final thirty seconds of the song are something else: a truly mellow and melodic breakdown that takes you by surprise. It’s a delight to hear and I just with there was a touch more of this instead of the predictable ‘quiet bit loud bit jangly riff’ formula.
‘Chinese Whispers’ could be Rival Schools with the rolling rythmn section acting as an adequate underlining for the guitar work, which does actually transform the song into a more upbeat version of itself. The trouble is that the vocals detract from the inventiveness of the guitar work by being so pretencious and predictable. ‘Hindsight Is a Wonderful Thing’ starts off promisingly with a riff that threatens to kick ass at any minute but just repeats itself over and over. The chorus serves to break up the song (obviously…duh) and leads into the now-familiar instrumental section that consists of instruments being hammered into submission before returning to yet another chorus. That’s the problem with Sist: you can second-guess where the songs are going before they go there. There’s little innovation and that frustrates the hell out of me. If music is going to attempt to be aggressive or calm or whatever then I don’t believe that it should be so formulaic.
By the fourth track the whiny, monotonous vocals really REALLY start to grate. It’s a shame because at times the vocalist makes the songs soar with a more reflective tone that is evident within ‘Second Best’ but all too quickly he slips back into the familiar drone. ‘Misguided Thought Process’ is quite Alk3-esque musically but yet again I find myself saying the exact same thing yet again: competent guitar work brings the song up but then the whole thing devolves into pointless repetition and flat, dull whines. I admit again that I’m hardly the biggest fan of this particular brand of music but it’s just so formulaic! This very review says the same things over and over again simply because the songs do the same things over and over.
Quiet – loud – quiet – instrumental breakdown – loud
Every bloody time. Sist have potential – musically there is strong evidence of their competency. But they have handicapped themselves by sticking so rigidly to one plan. If they let themselves fly about a bit and took more risks I think they would reap the rewards.
Ben