For Fans of: Concealed blade, To Release and BRUTAL YOUTH.
Who: Castaway
What it sounds like: Pop punk
For Fans: Trophy Eyes, Marietta and CenterfoldsÂ
Split w/ Statutes by Castaway
This split record brings the collision of two distinctly different, yet equally talented (and heavy) emo/punk acts together. With the professional support of Recording Engineer, Ian Boult of Stuck on a Name Studios (Basement, XrepentanceX) and the mastering of Bob Cooper (Citizen, Self Defence), this split has the production level and sound to set it apart from the pack.
Statutes (ex The New Sheriff), a fairly new band from Melton Mowbray, England, begins the split with a running start. With eerily powerful vocals (reminiscent of Pianos Become the Teeth) and building instrumentation, these tracks take you on an emotional roller-coaster.
Statutes joined in late 2013 and released their first full-length LP, In The Throes Of... in 2014 (also recorded by Ian Boult).The album is available for a pay what you can donate at their bandcamp page.
Each of the three songs on Statutes side of the split are great, but âCharacter Assassinâ is the standout track with superb instrumentation, and haunting vocals that climb over the instruments, and translate emotion on multiple levels. High screams, low growls, group vocals and a segment of twinkle-heavy guitar create a truly memorable track.
Castaway, from Nottingham, UK, don't pull any punches, and their half of the split hits just as hard in their own distinct style. Formed in early 2013, the band grew quickly a three-piece to a five-page as this group quickly established their identity. With shared influences and musical tastes, the band found a unique sound in the vein of Polar Bear Club, Basement, and more.
A week after playing their first two shows in 2014, their debut EP, Bleak, recorded, mixed and mastered at Electric Bear Studios with local producer Phil Wilbraham was self-released on their Bandcamp page on a pay-what-you-can basis.
Castaways style varies from raspy-vocal emo tracks like âHexesâ to fast-tempoed screamers like âMilkâ. Each track, with its own distinct sound, is a solid addition to this split.
The Statutes/Castaway Split EP is scheduled for release on May 25th across multiple formats; Hellur Records will be releasing a run of cassettes in the USA along with Sad Panda Records in the UK. The Split EP will also be self-released on CD and across all digital providers.
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People are so quick to say there is something wrong with you
But they donât realize that the wiring runs through your head differently
Just as everyone elseâs is an endless hot mess of cables cooked at a temperature of 98.6 degrees
When people say things like that, we all fail as a human race
We let down and forget that all of our brainâs cortexes flow in-between differently through the endless molecules that pass through the receivers for thought to become vibrations to hold meaning
So take those words and throw them into the trash like the bad thoughts you try to abandon as you pick yourself every night
And try to breathe
In and out, in and out, just like the tides with the pull of the moon
Survival techniques in its finest and weâre marching to the drum that our heartbeats instill in us as the electrical signals from the wiring in our brains trickle down to make the blood flow in between our bodies to made radio waves of negative and positive vibes that all flow within a room
You tell yourself to stay alive under the pressure of standing next to what you perceive as Adonis when youâre Medusa, reducing him to a marble figure to freeze as time wards off your deepest regrets and enemies
The people who perceive metal illness as a flaw are the same people that hold the most resentment inside, locking themselves up into a self fulfilling prophecy of oblivion
But hey, who am I to make assumptions when all my life my disorder has reached stigmas just like the tattoos I wear on my wrist to address the pain Iâve held onto for so long only to come out in ink on the arm and songs to speak of in quiet rooms where other people can hear the voice inside my head called my conscience
And who am I to say that theyâre true because where is their scientific method or sources to back these claims that there is something wrong with me or I should blame myself for something that is hereditary
This isnât a passing phase either, all the times your phrased the words only to come out wrong and feel the disappointment rise in you
And the feeling that Iâm only a stigma in your eyes and how the labels of my illness and medication make you blind
You tell me Iâm sick but you are the one who canât see past the syllables that can only be treated and how Iâm doomed to the life of realist fantasies
And Iâm trying to find a new way to breathe as you can see but only to degrees to where you canât hear my cries at the end of the night
Iâm only trying to find a new light to feel and as old skin peels from the blisters that covered up the steel beams around my heart
What it sounds like: Awesome Emo Revival, Don't sleep on this album!Â
For Fans of: Prawn, Foxing, Any Emo RevivalÂ
Three Years by running shoes
    Running Shoes is a four-piece emo band from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their latest EP,  Three Years (streaming now at www.runningshoes666.bandcamp.com), delivers eight tracks of gut-wrenching emo you can't help but replay in your head, all day long.  Â
    With enticing instrumentation and lyrics that tug at every emotion imaginable, this is not a record to sleep on. Each track shines, making this a record that once it starts playing, it's hard to turn off, and you get excited to listen to it, again and again.
    Running Shoes got their start in 2012, and have since released a premiere E.P, Follow Your Feet, a demo, and a split with SRVVLST (Released on Vinyl by Tightwolf Records). Although their other work is consistently good and catchy emo-rock, Three Years, is a higher caliber of songwriting altogether.
    The first two tracks, "Quad Cop" and "Ace Ventura: Get Perspective", are the two biggest standouts and a great start to the album. The lyrics are memorable and hard-hitting with verses like,
   "The way her bangs just flirt with her eyebrows, I never noticed it,  until we go out. Maybe it's the lighting inside of this apartment,  If love is a storm, then the lightning's just part of it."  "Ace Ventura: Get Perspective"  Running Shoes
  The Instrumentation is solid the entire album through, and shines especially on tracks like,  "Dooley Lives Large" and âQuinterludeâ. Even the down-tempo songs like "Die In the Game" have a nervous frenetic energy about them that comes through with the lyrics, occasional group vocals and twinkle guitars, typical of many emo/emo-revival bands.
      I had never heard of the band before stumbling upon this album, which according to their bandcamp, will be released in January of 2020, so streaming will have to do until they decide on details for a release. They did have a short run of cassettes put out by TightWolf Records, but that has been long sold out. I couldn't find much of a negative to the album, and I can't really vouch for it anymore than I have, so I'm just going to go listen to it again
Favorite Track: Quad Cop, I Know You Do
Recommend? Â Hell Yes
-Christopher Hantman
www.facebook.com/christopherhantman
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