Review Summary: Covers that rule.
You have to be on their fan mailing list to get these tracks and download. It's there way of weeding out the fake fans and such. Sign up for them here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=4183153&bl ogID=460858598
In a recent myspace bulletin post, lead guitarist Nick Reinhart mentioned how happy he was that he didn't have to tap one single note on this whole ep. "I felt like such a hack everytime I started to play 40 Rods..."
We could've had a full length in a recent time from Tera Melos. At least until drummer Vince Rogers left the band. But with Vince leaving the band, the whole idea of a new full length for us to steal came to a screeching halt. After picking up new drummer John Clardy, Tera Melos put the idea of a new full length on hold, and rather decided to pick up their instruments and play the songs that most inspired them. They describe these songs as: "These are five of the raddest songs ever written. Since we will probably never write anything as cool as these, we figured we'd recreate them. Also, since they will likely never be performed by the original artist again, and quite possibly by anyone, we will honor them by playing them live." Taking a few months to relearn their most influential songs, the next stream of releases coming out look to be Cover EPs such as this one, Idioms Vol. 1.
The music itself is a huge change of pace for Tera Melos as a whole. Gone is the crazy spastic, jazz like drumming found on their previous albums. Gone is the crazy tapping frenzy that guitarist Nick Reinhart and bassist Nathan Latona flung at your ears at a million miles per hour. We are greeted with toned down technicality, a flurry of effects, and most surprisingly, vocals. Tera Melos never really used vocals. First a few undecipherable lines on their debut LP, and then an added conclusion of vocals found on their split EP with "By The End of Tonight." Here the vocals are not used as another layer, but more as the fronting force. Nick's vocals are put through a lot of effects and such throughout the EP, and give the EP a more chilled-out feel. The guitar and bass are toned down from the aggressive and spastic nature found on their previous recordings. No more crazy time-signature shifts, jazz-style drumming. The one thing that still remains from previous recordings is the high use of sampling. Halfway through most of the songs everything will cut out and sample will cut over carrying the song over to it's next part. The guitars are much more simple and Nick relies on pulling his strings more than any other technique he has used. The bass is more groovy then pounding and the drums rely more on simplicity and substitute a few fills in here and there.
The covers themselves are very well done and more importantly, they're loads of fun. I can't imagine someone staying depressed through the EPs 7 minute 56 second play time. The songs are happy, bouncy and upbeat. It's quite evident throughout the whole playtime that everyone in the band was having a lot of fun recording the songs that they know, love and grew up with. The songs flow through in a fantastic way that allow the EP to flow as smooth as a slip n' slide. For one, I'm happy for this new transition in Tera Melos' writing process. It seems that they have completely dropped what had made them original in the first place, to progress into a different realm of song writing and techniques. If they actually do decide to change their sound completely, only time will be able to tell us that. But enough with this rambling, if you're a fan of fun, I suggest joining their mailing list and downloading this free EP. Or just wait for some little s
hit to upload it onto a torrent site (that's how they feel about downloading.)
Now only if Tera Melos happened to do a Godspeed You! Black Emperor cover.
oh well, still a great little EP.
