Sweden's Same Old Story come with a distinct youthfulness as part of their make-up. It's there in their papery, colourful artwork, and it's there in their music too.
Keening yells of raw emotion propel this fiery, remarkably consistent batch of pop-punk tracks - everything feels speedy; guitar, bass and drums all blending into one unified force.
It's a battering ram of sound, a sonic assault that comes reinforced with a strong sense of the band knowing exactly what kind of album they want to make.
In 2009 the band released their taster EP Waste Of Time, and combined with their name itself - Same Old Story - there is a constant notion of urgency in everything they do.
The intention is clear, a straight-out fight against any kind of stagnation, a malaise so often present in debut rock albums. And thankfully, stagnation is something this record never falls prey to.
Early highlights Another Reason and Don't Blame The Penguins see the band at their most melodic, riding high on powerful guitar solos - the latter even finds time to launch into a bizarre interlude of circus music.
It's here we see the album's undercurrent of dark humour, bringing a real punchy personality to the tracks. Daily Crime benefits in this respect too, whilst also blending in a muscular bassline reminiscent of the Silversun Pickups.
If there's a 'best track' though, it's to be found in Reality. Standing proud in the album's mid-point, it is the anchor to which the rest of the record can steady itself from.
Sound-wise, the album shares much of its DNA with another incredibly accomplished debut from this year - Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows' self-titled effort, released back in February. Both records feel alive with the enthusiasm of the respective bands' members, the album functioning as a natural extension to their own lives.
A speedy adrenaline shot of cool, A Great Disgrace leaves you breathless in its wake; a fitting manifesto for a band plainly brimming with ambition.
A Great Disgrace is available to download from iTunes now.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.