"There will be no peace on Earth, without you by my side. We will build a piece of Earth, ours to survive"
Qualms is the second EP from Elon indie rock outfit, Cloud Hands and features a much more defined, refined, and exploratory sound from their debut EP. Qualms will tug on your heart strings with songs that delve into the life cycle of a relationship. "Smithereens" opens up the EP with a forceful, driving drum and bass groove underneath twinkling guitars and soaring vocals flying in over top, reminiscent of a cross between Incubus's A Crow Left of the Murder era and Young the Giant. The end of this track features a very math-rock-esque 7/4 part which definitely shows that "Smithereens" is Cloud Hand's most experimental track so far their tracklist, but also just really sick. While the rest of the EP doesn't sound much too like "Smithereens", this just goes to show Cloud Hands' variability in their sound. From slow and post-rock influenced tracks such as "Still See You" and "Pity Love" to the more upbeat "Smithereens". "Brave the Sea" is also another faster track on the EP that showcases off some of the wet psychedelic guitar effects guitarists Connor Hanson and Jacob Gordner toy with throughout the EP. The guitar work throughout is very tight and complimentary. If you listen close, there are many intricacies that most will miss; guitar-wise and also just layering in general. In the rhythm section, Brian Dylla's drumming and Dylan Malugen's bass lines lock in throughout the entire EP and carry the winding guitar lines and vocals. "Still See You" features Malugen essentially jamming throughout the entire song. Dylla's drumming on "Pity Love" brings the house down and has everyone moving their bodies and jamming out on the chorus with that time change and drum fill. Zane Walsh's vocals do a great job at fitting into whatever direction the band goes in sonically. Walsh follows the more atmospheric tracks "Pity Love" and "Still See You" with beautiful melodies and vocal harmony layers while still moving rhythmically with the rest of the band on the other tracks as well. The blend of indie, psychedelic, emo, post-rock and math-rock elements that Cloud Hands mix into their sound sets them apart from other bands in their realm. From quiet and soft phrases to an explosive chorus on "Pity Love", Cloud Hands has very good dynamics all over this EP. "Still See You" starts off mysterious and reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and gets progressively more intense and louder until the explosive climax ending. Cloud Hands have embraced the concept of following the life cycle of a relationship on Qualms, hence the name, detailing many of the qualms throughout a relationship, from the beginning to the inevitable end. That's exactly what makes this EP sort of sad, as you listen to the first three tracks, you never want it to end, but it always has to. Even after the hopeful and ultimatum track, "Pity Love", it all comes to a close on the title-track "Qualms". Towards the end of said title-track, you can hear the pain in the screams that ride the song and the EP out. FFO: Young the Giant, From Indian Lakes, Incubus Support them here: Bandcamp
0 Comments
Recently, Sumerian Records posted this video teasing a new CHON album for this year. If you haven't listened to these math-rock jazzy virtuosos, do yourself a favor and give a listen to their debut album, Grow.
ArcTanGent. Ahh, my dream festival every year. Out of all the lineups of every music festival around the world this festival in particular suits my music pleasures and loves. For those of you unfamiliar with ArcTanGent, it's a music festival dedicated to the technical side of music held every year in Bristol, UK featuring genres of post-rock, math-rock, progressive rock and metal, and experimental rock. The beginning of every year, they slowly start announcing the bands that will be playing and unveils a massive mix of different bands across many different genres that somehow overlap in the end. This year, ArcTanGent's line already is looking quite interesting with post-rock giants, Explosions in the Sky, metalcore band Converge UK native prog-metallers Tesseract and also Japanese math-rock/punk quartet Tricot. The great thing about the mix of genres in one festival is the mix of music scenes that come to the festival. There will be the metal-heads who love to mosh and headbang to the heaviest of breakdowns mixed in with your hipster-esque math-rockers who love to bob their head to the complex time signatures and clap just that much more enthusiastically when the guitars are extra noodly. It will be interesting to see what other bands and genres will be playing at this festival. For some reference on how big this festival gets lineup wise, here's last years lineup: I'm hoping someday I'll be able to get out to the UK to attend ArcTanGent, as it seems to be the only music festival that truly captures my favorite music tastes all in one jam-packed weekend. SoundDive is a blog dedicated to promoting new music that most likely isn't covered by major music news sites or even smaller music blogs. We explore the niche genres and bands that deserve recognition for their unique sound across many scenes and genres. Here, you will find music news on bands you know, spotlights on more underground and lesser known artists, and other written pieces looking beyond the music itself, offering insights into the artist's life and writing/recording process and also the ever-changing industry surrounding them. Please sign up for our mailing list to receive the latest news and blog posts right as they're posted. |
Pick Your Poison
All
Archives |