With Hiding With Girls, My Awesome Compilation and My Favourite Co-Pilot (now Stories and Comets) as alumni from the school of BSM Records, you could say the Oxford-based label is rapidly gaining a reputation for picking up on bands on the rise. The label’s latest release is a limited edition 7″ split between the aforementioned S&C and new boys Face For Radio – who I have an inkling won’t be unheard of for much longer.
With only one track each this is really the kind of stuff that collectors will want to buy, but at £2 a pop it’s value for money. Stories and Comets start things off withe the brutal ‘A Pox, A Plague, A Poison’, taken from their up-coming debut album on Deck Cheese Records. The track is arguably the heaviest on that record, and after hearing the full length in unmastered form I can tell you that you’re in for a treat. The track on offer here is an aggressive bugger, with the dual vocals screaming and roaring out of your speakers in the way that Alexisonfire have managed to patent. It’s not the most original of tracks, but the thudding riffs are coated in a nice screaming/singing melody whioch sticks out from the millions of clone bands around.
Face For radio also stick to the post-hardcore formula, but instead look to sing rather than shout – and boy do they do it well. ‘Plot Route On Yellow Paper’ may be more accessible than their split buddies, but there’s something about it which makes it also stick out from the post-hardcore pack. The Midlanders have a distinct Quicksand feel to their rugged guitar tones and with comparisons to the might At The Drive In already under their belt, FFR look set to make a name for themselves later this year.
Only 500 of these blighters have been made, so you best get your hands on one fast…
www.bsmrocks.com
www.storiesandcomets.co.uk
www.faceforradio.co.uk
Paul