RGG June 2016 - p.15
Verdict:
The brand new album from singer
songwriter The Humdrum Express aka Ian
Passey is crammed full of cut-throat cultural
observations, hilarious satire and if you aren't
able to understand how sophisticated the lyrics
are, then at least you have 10 peachy songs to
bounce to. We have the up-tempo folk driven
'Copy Cats' whose targets include Ramones
tshirt wearers, cover bands and town
developers; the peaceful arpeggios of 'Leopard
Print Onesie' that lampoons Mods, Skins and
Rude boys, pokes fun at footballer Joey Barton
and lovingly praises punk legend TV Smith. But
this album isn't the soundtrack to Mock the
Week, it's a smart tasteful reflective look at
everything that is haywire or senseless in society
from the point of view of someone armed with
common sense. 'End Of Part One' with its heavy
roasting of advertising slogans fittingly marks the
album halfway point with an anti-commercial
break and salutes his trademark spoken word
outbursts at live shows. Arguably the most
intelligent rap tune ever created. The album
produced by engineering wizard Mick Lown is a
delight from start to finish. Other highlights
include album closer 'Catch A Fallen Star', title
track 'The Day My Career Died' and 'Festival At
Home'. A first-class album.
THE HUMDRUM EXPRESS
Album:
TheDayMy Career Died
www
thehumdrumexpress com
Verdict:
Heavily recommended for fans of
Visions Of Disorder and 36 Crazy Fists; this
brand new three track EP from West Midland /
Shropshire alternative metal band Our World
Below? opens with 'Silence Till Morning' clocking
in at over 7 minutes and displaying an
abundance of great, well written, stop start
heavy guitar riffs and technical metal drums
combined with a consistently solid vocal
performance which overall comes across as a
much harder sounding Deftones. Title track
'Dwarf The Earth' continues the previous trend
but perhaps shows off more melody than
brutality; later some well executed vocal stabs
steer this back to a mosh-friendly frenzy. EP
closer 'Kick Finger' is arguably the heaviest and
more epic tune of the bunch with an
extraordinary guitar solo that really is evidence
that less can be more; simply by the guitarist
shying away from the standard hundred notes
per second philosophy and instead using level-
headed phrasing and creative note choice to
help make this a very memorable moment of
metal. It's an independent self produced release,
signifying a few influences from the 00's and as
a result sounding different to the majority of
bands in the current metal climate.
OUR WORLD BELOW?
EP:
Dwarf the Earth
www
ourworldbelow weebly com
ep
month
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NICK
J
TOWNSEND
r
gg
21
YEARS
1995-2016
