Review Summary: A fun little E.P. that leaves you wanting more.
Merchant ships - I Want To Forget About Everything Bad That Ever Happened, Ever.
(Background history)
Merchant Ships is a Midwestern Emo/Screamo band formed in late 2008. Very soon after they formed they released their debut EP "I Want To Forget About Everything Bad That Ever Happened, Ever". Soon after they released a demo called "Bummer Times", then broke up around mid-2009. At the end of 2009 they decided that they wanted to get back together again.
At the time of this recording, the members of the band were really quite young, so the instrumentation(particularly the Guitar work) is quite impressive. The Guitars sound like that Snowing "clean guitar and noodly crap". It works very well in Merchant Ships case, the guitar in my opinion make the vocals so much more emotional and desperate. In my opinion the vocals are great too. Behind the Nick the guitarist, i believe that Jack(The vocalist, I have no clue what his last name is) is the most important factor of Merchant Ships' sound; His scream is raspy and high pitched, and comparable to one of the dudes from "The Number 12 Looks Like You". I showed my friend some of the tracks, and he said this statement word for word: "This f***ing Emo faggot sounds like he's about to cry!!". Though i wouldn't word it that way, the idea which he states is actually quite true. Jack's voice is extremely emotional, and sometimes a bit 'too' emotional(though I'm not saying it's a bad thing). Especially on the verse build-up on "Long Term Relationships Were Only Cool When Divorce Wasn't", I swear he sounds like he is about to break down.
Michael the bassist isn't extremely audible throughout the recordings, but it sounds like he does his job. Dwayne the drummer i have to admit isn't the greatest drummer in the world, but he does the job, and he does it pretty well!
Merchant Ships are one of those bands that will grow on you, so don't worry if you don't adore them on the first listen, i certainly didn't. It seems their build-up songs("My Journey to the Weed Den" and "Long Term Relationships Were Only Cool When Divorce Wasn't") are the most accessible and catchy on the first few listens, While the other three take some time to really get into. "The First Time I Got ***ed Up Was to the Party Song by Blink 182" and "Coffee, Hot Showers, and Hangover Jams" are definitely the most upbeat songs on the E.P., the former being the worst song on the E.P., and the latter being a highlight. "We Don't Need Luck to Make It" is the balance between the upbeat songs and the build-up songs. "We Don't Need Luck..." is still a fast paced song(like "The First time....." and "Coffee, Hot Showers....") but still creates a rather melancholic atmosphere like the build-up songs.
Another great characteristic of Merchant Ships' songs is the Screaming and clean singing at the same time. I'm sure there are quite a few bands who do this(that i don't know of(please suggest a few bands who do the clean/scream combination for me if you know any!)) but it just sounds so awesome on "My Journey to the Weed Den" and at the end of "We Don't Need Luck to Make It".
Besides from the 'not-too-good production of the EP, its pretty good considering it was recorded in Nick's(the guitarist) basement. Songs are catchy, emotional and very fun. Overall, this is for sure a very solid first release from the Mid-Westerners.
Highly recommended.
Download here: (if you are outside of the U.S.)
http://www.mediafire.com/?imiyrljn2rz
If you ARE from the U.S., don't be stingy, buy their ***, support local music!
http://merchantshipsmerch.bigcartel.com/
check them out:
http://www.myspace.com/merchantships
