Somewhere in A Second From the Surface's nonstop barrage
of relentless snare, noise and screaming vocals, you can hear
traces of an old school hardcore band trying to break through.
The album, The Streets Have Eyes, is fast, both in
playing and running time, 10 songs clocking in at a mere 20
minutes. Hardcore elements are evident on “Waterhead,”
“Fleeting Swarm” and “Chicago Punch,”
when A Second From the Surface sounds more like an '80s hardcore
punk band than this new breed of noisecore band that we're
seeing more and more these days. Nice song titles, eh? Yeah,
I guess when your songs run a minute and a half you need catchy,
quirky titles like “Champagne and Bubblebaths,”
“Lips and Assholes” and “Black Vomit.”
However, the songs seem to have something to say, rebelling
against pop culture and certain ideas being shoved down our
throats, among other things.
If noisy, incomprehensible fodder is your thing, then this
album is for you. While I enjoyed parts of The Streets
Have Eyes, overall I was frustrated. If the band knocked
out all the freakin' unnecessary clatter, then we're talking
about a great hardcore punk record. But obviously that's not
what the band was trying to do. I guess it still qualifies
as hardcore punk, just not great. For now, think of them as
an unusual mixture of Minor Threat and Cattle Decapitation. |
