The PR blurb claims We The Faceless are a “new grunge” sensation, which unfortunately has me sniggering and uttering the questions “Wasn’t “new-metal” bad enough!?” Yes, it certainly rang a few alarm bells for me that lead me to half expect some watered down grunge-fuelled angst interspersed with rapping and sampling. Thankfully things aren’t as bad as they might seem. There are no traces of “nu” anything here, with the music instantly embarking upon a time warp to the khaki clad 90’s, albeit with one or two modern (read modern, not nu) bits thrown in for good measure.
The E.P. opens with ‘Firefly’ which comes buzzing in with the steeped up distortion that reminds me of Muse. Soon enough, the chorus kicks in with a lively riff and vocals that have that ever-so-slightly out of tune intonation of Kurt Cobain. The guitars throughout these few tracks generally carry the noisy raucousness prevalent in the grunge scene of the early 90’s through bands such as Sonic Youth. There is nothing clean about this record; even at it’s cleanest this sounds like it has been dragged through the mud borne out of the Seattle rainfall. ‘Burn The Witch’ is a particularly soulful affair, with vocals that come off as a hybrid of Zakk Wylde and Eddie Vedder, adding a slice of diversity to the mix.
It literally takes me ages to figure out exactly what the opening riff to ‘Taxi Driver’ reminds me of, and eventually it comes to me that it is Weezer’s ‘Hash Pipe’. This one has a lively bounce to it, with a thumping bassline that sits fairly close to the front, that leads into a boisterous chorus. ‘Yellow House’ is a nice mellowed out track, with a certain reflective feel to it and one again the similarities to Eddie Vedder in the vocal department come to the fore; with a visitor at the time asking me if it was Pearl Jam on the stereo.
Overall this is a well put together E.P. that should be enjoyed by anyone who holds a place in their heart for the grunge sound. Check them out at…
http://www.myspace.com/wethefaceless
http://www.wethefaceless.com
