Scream Hello - Everything is Always Still Happening

October 10, 2008, 06:05 PM

Views: 1672   Comments: 87

At first I didn't really expect this album to be anything better than average, however I was rather suprised with what I heard.

Scream Hello are pretty much unheard of in the UK, but this four-piece from New Jersey, US have already been signed by Red Leader Records. They are rather unique and don't sound much like any other band around today, although classifying them in a genre would be difficult. This would be my main criticism of 'Everything is always still happening' - it doesn't really flow as an album. The songs all fit in different genres, and the band themselves class themselves on their myspace as Indie/Post Punk/Punk, thats like saying it's pork, cabbage and chocolate. It doesn't combine well.

Nonetheless, if you look at the tracks individually then they are mostly all quite catchy and pleasing on the ear. 'Golden Anniversary' is a particular favourite of mine. The lyrics are excellent and the way the backing vocals help to emphasise the main vocals in the chorous is a very strong feature of this song. The guitar riff in this track is also very memorable and the best thing is that it is so simple, but still sounds great.

The use of backing vocals is actually quite prominent throughout the album and I feel it adds a very nice touch and really fills out sections of the songs.

The album begins with the track '35 plums' and this is again a decent track. The guitar riff is again simple and catchy. If i was to choose a band this sounded similar to I would say there are glimpses of 'The Smashing Pumpkins' in there to give you some idea of what it might sound like.

'20/21' is a good finish to the album. The lyrics are a bit strange, but the track is well composed and ebbs and flows between the different segments of the track quite fluently. The song builds to a high-powered, full-textured climax, which is a superb way to end this album.

If I had to choose a weak track I would have to say song 3 'Business Ethics'. It begins with a sample from a well-known 'cheesy' piano sample and then immediately cuts into a high-energy rapture of mess before cutting back to the piano sample. Whatsmore, it only lasts 52 seconds. There was absolutely no need to put this track on the album.

Other than that though, there are no real complaints. It is a good, solid album from a promising band who I would like to hear more of in the future.

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