Pure, tough, blue collar…loud, fast, sweaty…caution to the wind, man; guitar, drums, vocals…bare, brutal and invigorating, like a shot n’ a brew downed voraciously before engaging in scream therapy inside the chrome bed of a barrel-rolling monster-truck that gets sucked up by an angst-augmenting tornado…
What might be lost (or at least fervently whisked over) in a live performance, are the layered guitars and intricate percussion, or perhaps the subtle melodies giving a poignant tint to the cathartic feedback roars – the refined ear of Ypsi’s Brandon Wiard was able to tease out the nuanced melodic blooms from the otherwise gnarled guitars and efficiently mic up the drums to capture every invigorating plod and punch – best displayed on side two’s batch of comparably less bombastic rushers, singer/guitarist Anthony Anonymous and drummer Jehan Dough show their valiant rock anthem sides in “Humans,” their knack for melody and rousing marches on “Walked,” while detoxifying via the ferocious tears of “Smoke & Mirrors” and “Fight Song.”
You know, “Yeeeeeah” – screamed out, gratingly and gloriously as “Fight Song” revs up, kinda says it all. To hear this record, you’d peg them as some overly bellicose post-hardcore/piss-and-vinegar punk thing – but the album title, Half Full, hints that the energy, however raucous, is to be channeled positively. “Yeah!” “Fight Song” has a much more inspiring ring to it then, say, “Lazy Song.”
Jeff covers music for Current, posting weekly show previews and highlighting new bands in the area.
