Transport yourself back to 2009 – theatre kid precociousness and scene kid snottiness overlap (often with an X drawn on the back of a hand). Closure in Moscow sit at that intersection, and their debut
First Temple clearly draws inspiration from the big-hitter emo bands on top of the world at the time… think My Chemical Fall Out More at the Disco.
Opener “Kissing Cousins” is slightly math-core, slightly circus, sincerely melodramatic and somehow so satisfying. “Sweet#hart” is another highlight with its chugging guitars that propel a killer hook (you could really visualise a concert hall of teenagers chanting along to “Too much head, but too little heart, oh honey”). In other instances (“Reindeer Age” / “Arebico Message”) the dense onslaught of guitars can make it a little difficult to pick out a catchy melody, and a chorus is lost within the thicket of noise.
The unnecessary ambient interlude “Permafrost” does kill the momentum a little bit, and the last 5 recycle the thrills of the album’s first half without offering up any new tricks. But these thrills are not cheap. You get the sense that each individual member of Closure in Moscow wants to showboat as much as possible, which can sometimes feel like a cacophonous high school band recital, but for the majority of
First Temple the stars align to make for a virtuosic, theatrical delight.
