Crime In Stereo

I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone

9.4

• Bridge 9
• 2010

Best New Music

When “…Is Dead” was released, it became apparent that this group of underground heroes was on their way to create music that pushed the boundaries and limits of traditional Long Island post-hardcore.  Still – they weren’t quite there yet, and the album lacked consistency; while about half of the album was filled with energy and powerful resonance, the latter half sounded, simply, ordinary.

No longer is the case.  From the moment I started listening to “I Was Trying…” I knew this band had found their mark.  “Que Moderns” opens the album with a dissonant, dark feel, immediately reconciling the band’s obvious influences to bands like Brand New.  But, alas, the influence becomes less apparent.  “Exit Halo” is a prudent rock epic exploding with pulsating energy and vocals pushed to their limit, as is often the case on this record. The band's singer coolly carries the verse behind an intense bass-line, then suddenly explodes into territory somewhere between a scream and a yell.  His vocals, truly, sound like his own – for the first time in the band’s history.

But where the album really takes flight is, generally, a little more than halfway through each track, when the song catapults into an amazing bridge.  “Exit Halo,” with its reverbed, buried vocal chant, conjures images of sweaty mosh pits, eventually followed by skewed crunches of guitar and an angry outro.  The chaos lends itself, oddly, to a sort of wonderful confusion, and thanks to producer Mike Sapone, the mixing is almost impeccable. The rhythms and drumming on this record is, truly, something to be proud of; where most bands might be happy with a straightforward 1-2 drum beat, Crime In Stereo's drumming pushes the limit with progressive, challenging rhythms.

Angular, resonating guitar lines are met hand in hand with more straightforward guitar progressions, but there’s almost always a wonderful blend of hooks and leads going on.  And as the CD nears its end, the band takes a turn for spacey, swooning guitars, almost like Hopesfall did it in their prime. 

And as the album comes full circle with a terrifyingly energetic rock anthem, the only thing that comes to mind is to press repeat.  Crime In Stereo, officially, have written their career best (by and large), and have an album that should, by all means, turn the head of every avid music fan who got into this kind of music when it first began.

See more from Crime In Stereo on The Music, The Message.