The first of these reviews is of a
young band that could be called EndAnd who are best described as,
what would happen if the Police made garage rock. Suffice to say,
this record is pretty interesting. With rockers next to new wave
ballads this album is a fairly unique effort. The guitar parts are
pretty cool and usually have a lot of that good old garage energy.
Yet there is also a more experimental side here that shows some cool
noise punk sounds. The bass work is also pretty nifty and really
shines on those experimental bits. I particularly like the drumming
on this record as it shows a nice combination of styles and is often
very tasty. Finally the vocals can vary from choral parts to garage
rock screams. All in all this is a really cool record that is very
hard to put down; Lets go a bit more in depth.
From slow acoustic portions to heavy
noise punk the parts are really fascinating and its hard to fully
grasp the power of this travail. My favorite parts are the garage
rockers in tracks like Commando which have a fun blues feel which
adds some flavor to the noise punk feel. The majority of the playing
is just loud and brash and straightforward. It really gets the manic
noise punk energy in there. Yet the acoustic sweetness on tracks like
Legend really balances this record out. It makes everything seem
fuller and more complete. There are a lot of genres that are fiddled
with here and it's pretty impressive to hear the guitarist execute
every one perfectly. Overall the guitar playing on this record is
varied and always correct. While maybe the guitarists role is not
gigantic he is definitely a key player and makes this band very cool
sounding.
The
bass playing is very good on this record and he can even take over as
a lead instrument. On some tracks he manages to come up and play the
melody line. This makes things a bit tastier and makes the music a
bit more than just generic noise punk banging. Yet when the noise
parts come around the bassist knows how to rock. He makes the band a
lot heavier and really can get the crazy drones down. Meanwhile on
the garage rock side of things he adds a Kurt Novoselic feel with his
solid rhythms. Even though this record is not really rhythmically
interesting the drummer gets a lot of really good fills in. In some
of his solos (yes he gets solos) he plays some really interesting
fills that show off his technical skill. Overall though, his playing
comprises of fairly standard Punk, Noise Punk and Rock. To finish,
the rhythm section of this band is pretty cool, and while their
playing might sound standard there is definitely more than meets the
ear.
Now we have the
vocals. The singer definitely has some technical skill, he just does
not always show it. On more melodic tracks like Labor Force we hear a
more gifted side of his singing. However on noise punk blarers like
Commando we see a shrieking blaring force come down and give us a
face full of rock and roll. Sometimes shouted, groaned or screamed
these songs are very interesting to hear. His varied singing styles
are complimented by cool effects on songs like Dawi where the effects
help add a lot to the vocal lines. This is another way that these
guys remind me of New Wave bands like Status Quo. I really like the
different sounds to be found here and they show that this band is
more than your average group. In brief, the singer ofo EndAnd is a
gifted vocalist who is a pleasure too listen to.
In conclusion,
EndAnds' new record Adventures of Fi in Space is a venture in noise
punk, but also a bunch of other genres. This is a varied album that
shows off many sides of the band and proves that these guys can
pretty much do anything. The guitar playing is always accurate and
always meets the standards of the song. Meanwhile the bass work is
excellent and can even take a melody role at times. This bands
drummer is truly gifted and shows multiple layers to his playing.
Finally the vocals are skilled and show a lot of skill. In other
words, buy this album! You won't regret it!
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