 | Tracklist:
1. Death To Kent Hovind
2. These Ones Lay Eggs
3. Nautilus Vs. Irish Ferry
4. Husband & Wife (Sliced Lung, Served Cold
5. Atom & Eve
Release Date: 02/09/2008 | |
| | other reviews | Dave de Sylvia STAFF (4)
A bulky yet malleable sound that can turn on a hatpin from blistering punk rock to smooth, jazzy pos... |
On 9 Lists
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| Summary: BATS will destroy you, and you'll fucking love it. |
3 of 6 thought this review was well written
BATS is a band that most people on Sputnik are familiar with, but beyond that they're pretty unknown. And that's a damn shame. Cruel Sea Scientist is their debut EP consisting of 5 tracks of balls out aggressive and in your face post-hardcore that you won't soon forget. In comparison to their full-length [i]Red In Tooth & Claw[i], CSS is heavier, more raw, and even has some psychedelic tendencies at moments.
BATS is most unique in the respect that their lyrics and and songs are structured around their strongly held beliefs on creationism, evolution, and their propensity for science. This is most obvious on the opener "Death To Kent Hovind", a scathing attack on, er, Kent Hovind, figurehead of Young Earth Creationism. Beyond the ridiculously over the top lyrical assault the band delivers, the music here is the real highlight. The song switches from dissonant chord shifting to a decent breakdown in the vein of a death metal band and then finishes up the deal with the band members trading off screams of "BATS will destroy you!"
The aforementioned psychedelia that BATS dabbles in on CSS is prevalent on second track "These Ones Lay Eggs." Vocals take the back seat initially for some nifty little cowbell work, tremolo guitar picking, and a silky smooth bass solo. This all builds together into some of the most impressive instrumentals the band has ever recorded. About halfway through the track makes a 180 turn and slows down with some subdued riffing and falsetto vocals that I'm not sure whether to laugh at or not. Either way, its damn good.
"Husband and Wife" and "Atom and Eve" showcase the poppier side of the band, and for a band that plays predominantly post-hardcore, it works rather well. "Atom and Eve" is a choice track with some great lyrics based on evolution. Religious zealots might be better suited to stay away. The clean singing really shines on these tracks, but is once again outshined by the fantastic multi-faceted guitar playing. That's not to say that the vocals aren't great, but I personally tended to focus more on the instrumentation.
As a mere 5 tracks, "Cruel Sea Scientist" is an unfortunately diminutive EP that will leave you thirsting for more crazy *** guitars, science based lyrics, and attacks on creationism. But that doesn't stop it from being the crowning jewel of 2008's post hardcore scene. Pick it up now, and lets BATS destroy you.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 4.5
Downloaded this the other day and was surprised how much i liked it... maybe more than the full length. Can't decide. They both kick ass kinds of ass though.
Digging: Eels - End Times | | |
Sweet shit. Band rocks.
Digging: Andrew Jackson Jihad - Can't Maintain
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
And as always, critiques and suggestions are more than welcome.
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Only problem with the review is the coding error in the 1st paragraph. Need to check it out, pos'd
Digging: Faithless - Renaissance 3D
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
fixin'
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In comparison to their full-length [i]Red In Tooth & Claw[i]
The review is okay, but a lot of your sentences tend to sound choppy and difficult to read. Using semicolons might help break up your paragraphs, but other than that read through your reviews out loud to pick up any grammatical mistakes.
Also, that neg isn't mine.
Digging: O' Brother - The Death of Day
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This has cowbell? I'm on that shit.
Digging: KUKL - Holidays in Europe
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
+1 awesome for willie.
| | | Album Rating: 4
^ so does RIT&C
Digging: Faith No More - Angel Dust | | | Album Rating: 4.5
"members trading off screams of "BATS will destroy you!"
I always thought it was "BATS will destroy you!" and then "The facts will destroy you!"
i have the cd and booklet around here somewhere but i always thought the above made sense.
Whatever, awesome band, awesome ep, everyone check em out.
Digging: The Antlers - Hospice | | | Album Rating: 4
It's probably meant to be deliberately ambiguous, it's cool like that.
Digging: VOICEsVOICEs - Origins EP | | | Album Rating: 4.5
haha either way, its a really good ep. but yeah the best cowbell they have is definitely on higgs boson particle on RIT&C
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i love Red In Tooth & Claw but i still haven't listened to this yet, i really am interested to do so, but maybe later lol
Digging: Neurosis - Given to the Rising
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
its good, get on it!
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where did you download this? I have the hardest time finding stuff from these guys. I heard people were having problems with orders from their label's website. I finally found 1 copy of RIT&C on Amazon and swooped it up but I don't see this EP anywhere.
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