Vs Self / Knumears
(Knumears) Photo Cred 📷 : @mikeqmckay
It has become a motif in recent years, where we see more and more, that contemporary bands carry forward the sounds of the wave prior to them innovating upon it in fun and exciting ways. VS Self however have decided to reach even further back, to the days of Emotive Hardcore, recalling sounds and feelings from packed house shows and VFW halls featuring the likes of Embrace, Boys Life and Indian Summer. Showcasing an enigmatic mix of screaming, shouting and singing amongst colorful drumming and al dente style noodling, VS Self’s sound feels close to home while also displaying something far afield in the scene, a decidedly fresh take on the 90s sound. Compositionally, songs like their opening track “Maudlin” or the 2nd to last cut “Departures” flash me back to moments on Science (Indian Summer) or Departures and Landfalls (Boys Life). When it comes to their closer, “Steep”, they keep it short, sweet and earnest.
Knumear’s side however is quite different. It's recorded softly, yet still comes across as quite huge. A band who you can clearly hear have a must-see live show in them. With vocal fried shrieks and huge drums that kick across unsparingly dirty guitar and bass to craft a mountain of noise to behold. There's a gnashing whirlwind of ideas happening on “I love you now I love you never” and personally I love them all. Call me old fashioned but there's a certain grit that's comes from a recording like this that I'll take over a cleaned and polished final product on any day of the week. Which isn’t saying enough about how Knumears manage to own their side of the split in a deeply visceral way. “Threehundredsixtyfive Days In A Week” feels like watching a boat fade into a stormy horizon from the shoreline. The buzzsaw quality of the guitars and rumbling, thunderous bass lines carry into a calm interlude of pained plucking and strumming before swelling and converging back into a rolling and frothing cascade of shouts, crashing cymbals and riffs.
Nothing excites me more than promising young bands, especially when they're from my home state. Knumears and VS Self have added a fantastic contribution to the tradition of the true blue Screamo split. We look forward to seeing what they both have in store for us next.
Both sides of the tape are hosted individually on the bands respective Bandcamps, with the whole tape for sale on each bands respective page.
Check out their Bandcamps here : VS Self / Knumears
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
08/29/22
