Goddamnit

How To Take The Burn

Written by: PP on 20/05/2014 23:49:56

Man, that vocal delivery is nothing short of awe-inspiring throughout the Goddamnit debut album "How To Take The Burn". You'll seldom hear a scratchy shout as impassioned and emotionally charged as the one by everyone sharing vocal duties in this band, who take their cues from the 90s material by bands like Hot Water Music, Jawbreaker, Samiam, Small Brown Bike, and even Quicksand at times. Basically their expression is rooted in original post-hardcore from that era, but spiced with gravelly punk rock melodies that feel as intimate as they are smokily melodic and faded in the best 90s manner.

You need but one listen to album highlight "Quiet Distractions" to notice connections to aforementioned bands' best material, whilst also thinking about Crime In Stereo in the process. That's not something to take lightly considering the seminal status of every one o those bands I just listed, but also something to take into account when popping on "How To Take The Burn" for the first time. Much like Samiam and Small Brown Bike records, it requires patience and plenty of repeat listens before the subtle melodies reveal themselves from underneath the messy and distorted expression. And once you begin to notice how their primary singer pours his heart into the microphone every single line, this record's going to hit home hard. Whether it's the slow, passionately shouted songs, the faster melodies elsewhere or the casually paced mid tempo songs you like best, this record has them all, of course with a deliberately unpolished, slightly glitchy production. Think sharp guitars purposefully left roughened around the edges (just like the vocals - fuck pro tools here), but this is what gives the record its charm. Think back to Alkaline Trio's "Goddamnit", which also sounded equally sketchy but was precisely why those songs worked. New Found Glory's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is great exactly for the same reasons. Not to even mention the mid to late 90s records by the other bands mentioned in this review.

The middle of the album features an acoustic track called "It's Not Astronomy" that pauses the gravelly expression with a slowly dragging track with touching shouts of "I can't believe...every action has a purpose, to me, for a moment. It's a total surprise because so far the record has been buzzing with noisy 90s style distorted melody, and all of a sudden the flow changes completely, and it works. There's one more of these towards the end of the record, and it's equally good, demonstrating that shouted punk rock sounds fantastic even in acoustic mode. Again, credit to the incredible and passionate vocal performance present on every single track of this album.

Overall, "How To Take The Burn" is one of those niché albums that you'll either totally understand and fall in love with, or won't get at all. The gravelly expression isn't for everyone, but I'll guarantee that when it clicks, it does so hard. Expect this album to slowly become a cult classic within the punk circles as word-of-mouth begins to spread, because there isn't a single bad track on the release.

9

Download: Quiet Distractions, Citywide, Hear About It, How To Take The Burn, We Play Craps, It's Over Now
For the fans of: Hot Water Music, Jawbreaker, Samiam, Small Brown Bike, Quicksand
Listen: Facebook

Release date 16.04.2014
Creep Records

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