Cables & Arms - self released

Got this gatefold extra wide single from the guys in Cables & Arms. It's their second single and a conceptual one at that both tracks being connected by the these tales of the sea. The packaging should be a give away these guys really know what they're doing, and this sound is a mystery. I know exactly what a cheap mic sounds like on a four track cassette, but these enormous crushing post hardcore swells are way beyond the brushes with recording I have. There's something undeniably powerful in this precision and vocal that reminds me of Sunny Day Real Estate or Atombombpocketknife.

I'm also a real sucker for muted dual guitar chords on A-Side's "November Gales" that are chunking away out of the silence, their crunchy distortion phasing in and out of a dense, concise equation. It's a humble beginning that runs into huge production that continues along the lines of Sparta down to those harmonies in the chorus that push this whole arrangements higher and higher. The palmed muted 'chk' at speed regularly lifts onto massive plateaus. They can't help but knock this back down though just to rebuild with rim shots and a minimal bass line. Here comes that heavy compression to knock you on your ass again. It's easy for the sea and boats to be a metaphor for just about anything, the sinking, the storms, being isolated while the life jacket on the cover is sinking down into the depths.

B-Side's "Drown on Your Shore" opens on the guitars again from Josh and Nick who also not coincidentally are both on vocals. They get the same kind of interplay in chords they do in vocal harmony, a really great match in both here. The drums pound away, stopping for those pin drop moments and The Hot Snakes are definitely an influence here or Sparta - this could be a long last B-Side. There's something undeniably rallying about this sound in the background 'whoaaaaaaa' vocal behind the main lyric that slides right behind it into a higher key. I have room for the drunken messes of bands that can't even play their instruments the same way I can appreciate guys like this that take the time for heavily constructed massive hardcore. I like this cycle they construct, this character is hoping the sea will offer some kind of redemption and then you go back to that A-Side to find - no not, really. I can't wait to get back to shore.

Get this from the band direct, really impressive package on clear vinyl.