Monday 22 June 2009

Review - None The Less - The Way To Save Ourselves

None The Less - The Way To Save Ourselves

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5 out of 10

Hurrah, another three word "Something The Something" band name. So what do we think it's going to sound like? Bulgarian jazz-grind? Afrobeat sludge? Nope, it's another serving of metalcore come melodic rock for the masses. I must be getting old, since I can't see how bands still playing processed palm-muted riffs this tried and tested can get a video on Scuzz, a nationwide tour with Young Guns (although I must also add - who?), or a slot playing the Download festival.

'The Payout' fades in to a fairly stomping riff and breakdown, like a less epic Bullet For My Valentine, or a more metallic Alexisonfire. There's the bits of screaming on the verse, a melodic chorus, a breakdown, but then it doesn't really do anything but repeat on itself. 'Define' is more of the same, albeit with a bigger breakdown, but 'News Of Cancer' at least has a more interesting structure, kind of like an erratic riff-collage. The fourth track is a minute and twenty second melodic interlude, which seems a bit of a cheat, throwing in some filler on what is only a seven track mini-album in the first place. Essentially, it's an extended intro for 'I Had The World Resting On Me', where some syncopated drum rhythms at least make the segues between verse and chorus a bit more interesting.

Two tracks later, after the admittedly catchy gang chant of "I Feel Like Your Enemy", it's all over. All the requisite parts are there, but they've been done before, and in better arrangements. To intentionally misconstrue a lyric from 'Four Fours', it's passable, but unfortunately "Nothing is amazing".

Listen: www.myspace.com/nonethelessonline

Tracklist:
1. The Payout
2. Define
3. News Of Cancer
4. .
5. I Had The World Resting On Me
6. Four Fours
7. I Feel Like Your Enemy

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