Review Summary: Sometimes the bittersweet after-taste tells us more of a story than the first bite.
This Is A Standoff's, a band who represents a standard for many melodic hardcore bands, second record has a sound reminiscent of a hangover after a long, enjoyable party. You can still fill the happiness that was the theme of the night before, yet at the same time you see a degree of sadness that it's over and you have to readjust to the norm. Everything is a bit darker, a bit more painful to accept.
Be Disappointed shows a strong spine, the vocals are strained, the guitars are tight and the drums pound away in an effort to create a strong vibe that is conveyed to the listener. It may not be as enthusiastic as its predecessor but the meaning is still there.
As previously mentioned, the whole album has an almost melancholy feeling to it, seen acutely in songs such as
Sunrise or
No Thanks, the former being an instrumental which flows tiredly into face the sun. It seems unhealthy, it seems tired; the embodiment of a tired person who is sick of seeing the sun rise on such a world. However once it flows into
Face The Sun, the energy is there, perhaps focussed by the frustration of the suggested person. This narrator continues across the album, a person exhausted with their life and trying to find a meaning among the repetition of life. You have lamentations on current affairs (
No Thanks), radio friendly music (
Trails of White) and our failure to make our mark on history (
This Light Is Still On Broadmoor).
The music itself is in the vein of the previous album
Be Excited and is still in the vein of the band's predecessor Belvedere. There is fast thrashed out chords and a variety of dual guitar parts to create diversity, which end up filling the record as a whole with a well balanced sound. However, it's this well balanced sound that ends up leaving the album lacking something. It is these little things that culminate on this record and bring down the overall vibe. In a way, it is fitting considering the overall record. The disappointment isn't so much in the music, you just end up feeling left underwhelmed. It's not the fact that it's missing the previous sound of
Be Excited, the energy is definitely still there, it's just the volume isn't made up.
And now you've come to the end of the hangover, sitting in your chair cradling your head, muttering about it being the last time you drink that much, do you realise how much the world you live in suits your lifestyle? This Is A Standoff has produced another strong record which captures the mood of the aftershock of a long party that leaves you feeling sad with the world around you.
Recommended Tracks
Sunrise
No Thanks
Can't Take Them All
