The Distance

The Rise The Fall And Everything In Between

Written by: TL on 16/02/2007 00:32:20

Okay, so after my many first listens, I was ready to write that the opening song "The Set Up" of The Distance's most recent album "The Rise The Fall And Everything In Between" was the only track worth listening to on the entire cd. Sitting here paying full attention to it I have to let that idea go though, seeing as there are actually at least a handful of songs here that aren't half bad, but before I get around to those, let me explain the reasons for my initially harsh judgement.

The Distance basically sounds like a softer version of Comeback Kid, and every song on their new effort can fairly be described as pretty straightforward hardcore-punk with the usual fast paced drumbeats, catchy guitar hooks and scratchy vocals. Now except for the fact that these elements aren't exactly groundbreaking, there's usually nothing bad about them either. The negative stuff take the stage in form of some very very very cliche (in the BAD way) elements, like pieces of vocalwork that's been mixed to sound scratchy and radio-like and way to much bad content about broken relationships, in some places being delivered in a way that I think is very far from convincing, let alone useful in terms of creating a good expression.

Opening with the mentioned "The Set Up" everything looks alright at first though, as it has all the stuff needed to make up for a classical emotional post hardcore track. That's exactly why the two next tracks seem irredeemably pathetic. The chorus of "Inspired By You" is simply ridiculous, and way too soft to fit the style of the band, and the background "beat beat repeat"-shouts of "Life At The Crossroads" are so tacky it almost makes me angry anyone paid to have it on record. Throw in a chorus just as soft and annoying as the prior one, and you have another track that makes your pointer race to the skip button.

Now this might be where I gave up on the band in my first couple of listens, because the fourth track "Phase Two" is actually quite good, as it sports the band sticking to playing their melodic posthardcore without any mainstream friendly gimmicks. Then comes "Let It Rain" and we're straight back to the shit formula that characterized tracks two and three. "At Least I'm Good At Something" doesn't stray too far from it either, but somehow here, the band made it work quite a bit better, and with the vicious breakdown near the end, the song escapes the 'irredeemable' term.

I could keep on describing this rollercoasteride of an album in details, but I think you get the picture by now. It's a strange record, constantly stumbling back and forth between 'pretty cool' and 'boring and/or annoying'. About half the tracks are okay, nothing too special, but cool in their own right, and the rest are.. Well let's just say you're gonna wanna skip them.

6

Download: The Set Up, Phase Two, Just For A Couple Of Hours
For the fans of: Comeback Kid, With Honor
Listen: MySpace

Release Date 24.11.2006
Alveran Records
Provided by Target ApS

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