Review Summary: ‘YOUR DEMISE, 2010 BITCH’
The growing UKHC scene has few innovators, but many followers, and from this new LP, one can easily tell which side of the fence Your Demise are seated. After Ed McRae joined Your Demise (replacing George Goebbels), the band has seen their already decent outfit excelled, making them stand-out from the crowd in a scene which has more than a couple of fans. Their 2009 debut ‘Ignorance Never Dies’ saw the band begin to experiment with sound, creating a dubstep interlude, but mainly playing it safe with pretty standard Hardcore. ‘The Kids We Used To Be …’ sees Your Demise massively mature, and shows that they are one of the leaders of the UKHC scene.
From the go ‘The Kids We Used To Be …’ still maintains the aggression from previous work, with ‘MMX’ fuelling the fire for the rest of the LP, with the resounding “Your Demise, 2010, Bitch”, leading straight into the stunning single ‘Miles Away’. One of the main improvements Your Demise have made over the years is writing outstanding chorus’s, which are made for live shows, such as in ‘Miles Away’ and ‘The Kids We Used To Be …’, which are some of the most impressive I have heard all year. The title track itself is a song dedicated to how simple life was as a kid:
‘So let's bring back the best years,
Nights spent hanging out not giving a ***, being down on our luck.
Some people say that best friends stay same, but I'll prove you wrong.’
Immediately Dallas Green from Alexisonfire springs to mind, with the clean vocals woven into ‘the Kids We Used To Be …’ with the chorus of the title track being nearly similar to You and Me At Six – and it works. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a Madball or Sick Of It All record, but it is still heavy a ***. ‘Like a Broken Record’ and ‘Scared of Light’ are both stomping hardcore anthems, and although it may not be as visceral as Converge or Trash Talk, it will still create mayhem on a live show basis. The ever present breakdowns do not just feel like a compulsory factor for a hardcore band, they are well placed and fit in effortlessly. Although serious in places, ‘The Kids We Used To Be …’ is a very fun LP, with the track ‘Get The *** Out Of Little Rock’ being something different, riddled with influences from early hardcore and crossover acts, with a nice guitar solo, and the shouts at the end just show this band wants to have fun.
Listening to this LP just makes me imagine how awesome ‘The Kids We Used To Be …’ will be live, with the huge gang vocals on ‘Give Up, Get Dropped, Lose Out’ and ‘Miles Away’ and the bouncy chorus of ‘XO’, and although this LP takes a couple of listens to really dig your teeth into the lyrics, this will become one of the predominant Hardcore albums of 2010.
In Summary, Your Demise has moved forward from their straight forward hardcore, to a much more definitive and mature hardcore release, and I will not be at all surprised if they become one of the biggest names in the UKHC scene.
