Thursday, June 14, 2012

Guidelines- S/T EP (2012)

Whoa! This is some rad shit! I can’t say I really listen to much screamo anymore, when nearly all of the progenitors of the genre and the second wave bands went the way of the dodo so did my interest. I peek in every once in a while to see what the haps are, but these days every band I hear seems to be a Pg. 99 clone doing the quiet/loud thing over and over and over and over again. That’s cool, I’d rather listen to Pg. 99. They all seem to have become so concerned with the pretty, quiet parts and crafting the most epic build that they completely forget the payoff; the violent, unhinged, sounds like it’s going to go spiraling out of control at any second, bordering on grindcore bits of screamo songs that I absolutely adore. You know, like what Orchid and Textbook Traitors excelled at. Call it “emoviolence” if you’re one of those people. It’s those delightful tidbits where Guidelines shine. Sure, there are still the melodic sections and the quiet/loud dynamic, that’s part and parcel of the genre, but what is truly remarkable is how these New Jersey gents manage to transition into and even combine the chaotic elements of screamo with the melodic. Listening to this brings me back to a whole different era of punk rock music, but also gives me hope for the future. Thanks, Guidelines.


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