Post Glassjaw? Nothing to get too excited about. The first completely new material recorded by Glassjaw in years takes on a decidedly more experimental and proggy vibe, heavily exploring the softer side of their music which will please some and under-please others. The chaotic, emotive vocals are less madness influenced, and actually sound quite a bit like the little I have heard of the Deftones vocalist. Each song sounds relatively similiar, and the EP flows from track to track with such incredible ease that it is often hard to miss the ends and begininngs of songs if you don't pay attention. My standout track is "Gold," an urgent, thick, and textured song that pulses along like a defective heartbeat. The rhythms of each instrument seem to only be loosely related, like they were playing at different tempos and it just happened to match up. Directly after a disorientingly deep bass slide, a drum fills starts of the next track, "Vanilla Poltergeist Snake," which showcases everything that I feel is wrong with this album. It's restrained the whole way through, feeling like it's about to burst into a huge soaring chorus but instead it remains claustrophobic, never reaching it's potential power. Not to mention the actual chorus is just irritating, as the lyrics "no one gets out alive, no one" are repeatedly mashed into your skull. Luckily, the next track, "Miracles in Inches," is like they took the previous song and compltely reassed the weak points and worked it into a new and improved piece.
Overall, if you're dying for more Glassjaw releases pick this up but otherwise I'd say skip it for maybe Our Color Green or one their classics.
5.5/10
Our Color Green
Everything I could have expected and wished for. Heavy, soaring post-hardcore influenced by madness.
I believe this e.p. is composed of songs that the band has been playing live for several years, and this is the first time they have shown up together on a non-bootleg release. It explains their sound; They sound like what you would have thought Glassjaw would have recorded right after their last e.p., quite a difference from the direction Coloring Book went in. All Good Junkies Go To Heaven starts it off with a lively and technical piece, making about as much noise as is possible with a guitar, bass and drums. The second track, Jesus Glue, has a great loud and quiet aesthetic, unforgettable vocal melodies and a screwed up freak out to finish it off. But the best is saved for last in You Think You're (John Fucking Lennon). Rhythmically mobile, the song cruises by with ease as Daryl Palumbo screams his lungs out over the wide guitars. The great thing about this release is that it still feels like classic Glassjaw, but there is obviously a great deal of experimentation beneath it all.
8/10
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