Campaign

The Black Album EP

Written by: PP on 23/09/2013 17:06:07

Roared, halfway gravelly vocals, a Midwestern-style punk rock sound that draws equally much from Dillinger Four as it does from Hot Water Music and Small Brown Bike. Sounds familiar? There's a ton of small bands in the US doing this sound now, which is probably why Campaign have decided to alter their sound somewhat for their latest EP, "The Black Album". Here, they bring in elements of rock'n'roll, 'bar fights' (as their promotional material puts it), and also hardcore to spice up their expression.

Opener "Breaking Bones" is much heavier and more aggressive than we're used to hearing from the band in the past, on either "Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!" or "It Likes To Party" EPs, which were basically Hot Water Music emulation from start to finish. They were good, though, which is why it is surprising to come into a conclusion that aside from the excellent "Slums" that is immediately catchy, this EP is plagued by too much experimentation. It results into a sound that is all over the place and too chaotic for its own good, exploring the outer realms of the punk rock landscape they originally started with. The raw shouts, the melodic hardcore oriented guitars, and the generally heavier sound simply doesn't suit Campaign as much as the gravelly punk rock they excelled in on previous records.

Where in the past the band's soundscape was driven by a warm, melodic sound characterized by one of the greatest sets of melodic, yet roughened pipes you'll hear in modern punk rock outside a Nothington release, "The Black Album" EP features none of that beloved expression, with songs that are nowhere near as catchy, and suffer from the heavier, noisier, and more buzzed-out sound. This is simply an experiment gone wrong in this scribe's opinion.

Download: Slums
For the fans of: Hot Water Music, Dag Nasty

Release date 05.06.2013
No Breaks Records

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