The very first time I saw a picture of I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism In Your Yearbook was the band playing in a library. A LIBRARY. One should not expect any music to be played in a place of study, let alone a screamo band. This got me wondering, thinking deeply... Is this some kind of STATEMENT? Could this be some kind of attempted music catalyst? Is this a symbolic gesture? No, it is merely a description of the insane aesthetic of IWHACIYY, displayed best on their first collection of demos, '8 Song Demo.'
Quickly paced with symbiotic guitar licks, melodic and calm at times but invigorating at others, blast-beats, emotion-wrought lyrics ("I will commit suicide at the very peak of our desperate love") and vocals, this band manages to produce one of the craziest punk records I have ever had the luck of coming across. Few bands have had such an impact on my own musicality. The opening track, "Untitled 1" (all tracks are named "Untitled", followed by their respective number) is first a sad guitar tune which builds up to a cathartically suicidal purge. "Untitled 3" portrays such intensity more perfectly. This album constantly destroys my eardrums, pounding hard drums and heavy bass, the absolutely horrible production notwithstanding.
'8 Song Demo' is definitely not for everybody; to some, it may seem very derivative and generic. This is because most of the tracks on this record appear to be rather homogenous. I cannot tell any one track apart from the next without going back and listening to them. The vocals aren't necessarily top-notch either -- at times it seems as though the vocalist is just yelling rather than saying actual words. IWHACCIY is obviously not very serious about this whole "music" thing either:- sloppily played songs lead to lesser enjoyment among auditors.
Every picture I see IWHACIYY in, they are smiling, having a great time, playing their hearts out, screaming until their larynx's are no longer functional, singing about what they want, when they want... where they want. This band is not serious or aggressive -- they are here for themselves, not for their few fans. The picture I saw with the group playing in a library was a perfect description of this sort of music; expecting a band of such playful nature to be something less loose and raw. But no, here is I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism In Your Yearbook, playing in a library. I bring to you their first recordings. 3/5
