The Fear

Here Goes Nothing

Written by: PP on 30/10/2012 14:25:39

Hailing from York, UK, The Fear are a fiery technical punk rock unit that borders melodic hardcore and pop punk equally much while delivering an expression mostly inspired by the greats in the technical punk genre, namely A Wilhelm Scream, Belvedere, and Rufio. The instrumentals mostly follow the melodic hardcore rooted approach of AWS, whereas the vocals are sourced from a pop punk environment, hence the Rufio reference here. Obviously, underneath it all you have the distant, but still audible skate punk influence as well which justifies the Belvedere reference here.

Vocally, the band sometimes lean on the melodramatic side, delivering emotionally charged clean melodies throughout the record, which function as a counterbalance to the hard-hitting lead riffs and the thick, impressive bass lines on the background. And that's essentially what "Here Goes Nothing" is all about: mixing poppy but catchy choruses together with impressive instrumentation that'll close the mouth on anyone claiming punk is just playing the same three or four chords in differing arrangements. The guitar leads swirl and curl across the soundscape in both lightning speed and more subdued arrangements, delivering a technical proficient and thoroughly interesting instrumental backing. Nothing to complain there.

But it's essentially in the vocal melodies where the album lags behind its influences. Where songs like "The Bitter Taste", "Saving Grace", and others are solid, they aren't quite as memorable or as instant home runs as many of the tracks that helped elevate a band like A Wilhelm Scream into a cult band within punk rock. They are also missing the same exuberant youthfulness as Rufio's are played with, and instead come as more straight up melodic singing. There's some character, but I'm afraid not enough to push the band to the next level just yet. Still, "Here Goes Nothing" overall is another example of the classic European style technical punk rock we've seen resurging in the last few years.

Download: There Lie Better Days Ahead, Saving Grace, The Bitter Taste
For the fans of: A Wilhelm Scream, Rufio, Belvedere
Listen: Facebook

Release date 26.05.2012
Lockjaw Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.