While still thin and very demo-ey, the prod on this is far better and at least acceptable compared to the one on their actual demo tape. I like how 1 wastes no time getting to the meat of it, but 2 felt like a stronger track with a cool intro and early math-rock vibes. The thing is that the hyper intense Beau Navire screamo vocals and general vibe feel a bit incongruous on that type of instrumental, which whilst good feels like it doesn't quite belong there? 3 feels a bit less cool instrumentally, but also more congruous. From then on it is like the band realised they wanted to do screamo and not Don Caballero with despaired shrieks, as 4 shows a fantastic intro that finally feels like it belongs with the voice and the general vibe. Sadly the track doesn't unfold too great after a minute or so, but the ensuing three tracks work very well, 5 being especially chaotic. These last three tracks feel like the band finally found its sound. And while on its own this album doesn't feel super convincing, owing mostly to the prod but also to the kinda weird compositions early on, it did set them up for the rest of their discog. Not a great debut, but an encouraging and exciting one. 3.25
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