Review Summary: Playing to their strengths, Expire create an album devoid of any real imagination but rampant in catchiness
After showing constant promise with their breakdown-laden style of hardcore in a couple EPs and demos, Milwaukee, Wisconsin four-piece Expire release their debut album
Pendulum Swings after being picked up by the flagship label Bridge Nine. Cutting through all the bullsh
it, the album delivers the goods that Expire promised in their previous music.
Pendulum Swings doesn’t beat around the bush with opening track “Just Fine”, fast-spitted vocal delivery akin to Trapped Under Ice and bar-chord guitar work that sacrifices any sense of ingenuity with catchy jams from start to finish. While this very same formula for simplicity and filler-killer would very much choke nearly any other band with redundancy, Expire keep their guns close and well-replenished by keeping every song under two minutes; almost as if the need to keep the listeners attention was one of the primary goals into creating the album.
Pendulum Swings is not inventive nor is it even remarkable in any sense. It’s simply an album that plays to a band’s strength in keeping the activity and catchiness at an all-time high. Essentially playing it safe for their first debut, it’s enough to keep the listener satiated while we look to what Expire can do in the future. Promise might not be blatantly apparent throughout the album but the band has possessed a respectable self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses.
Pendulum Swings is a great culmination of a young band who have shown constant potential and while not breaking any barriers in their freshman album, show more spirit and energy than most similar bands in their genre.
