Darren McLeod
02/10/06, 03:36 PM
Crime In Stereo - Fuel.Transit.Sleep. EP
Record Label: Nitro Records.
Release Date: Nov. 30, 2005.
Crime In Stereo have been turning heads since their explosive debut full-length (pun intended), and they followed that up with one of the best EPs of 2005 with The Contract. Playing a brand of melodic hardcore reminiscent of bands like Strike Anywhere and A Wilhelm Scream, Crime In Stereo's fist-pumping anthems have been given a tune-up for their Nitro Records debut. While we still have a couple of months to wait before The Troubled Stateside is released, Crime In Stereo have treated fans to a download-only EP entitled Fuel. Transit. Sleep. The EP features three songs from the upcoming album, which they rip through in under six minutes.
Now, this EP suffers from a minor problem, and it isn't even the brevity of it. Nor is it that the songs aren't particularly good, because one listen will show that they are. It's just that they aren't Crime In Stereo good. After The Contract EP and Explosives, and the Will To Use Them, expectations for this EP were particularly high. Sure, it opens with a proverbial bang in the form of "Slow Math," with technical guitar work and brilliant lyrics like "Once we've exhausted all the oil and pornography there will be so much to teach of the slow math of debt and dreams. Yeah, we deserve that much at least. For every land a new war, for every man a new disease." However, after that initial blast of energy, the EP loses steam, and can't seem to pick up the pace again. "I'm on the Guestlist Motherfucker" features some great lyrics ("So put a big black sticker on the front that says 'For Fans Of.' And you can donate a penny to my future pension"), and is a solid track. Yet simply being solid isn't enough for a band like Crime In Stereo, who are capable of so much more. The instrumentation for the last two thirds of the album doesn't stray from the tested-and-true melodic hardcore formula, and is best described as "safe."
Though it is a satisfying disc in its own right, when taken in the context of Crime In Stereo's proven track record Fuel. Transit. Sleep. is moderately disappointing. As a teaser for a full-length, I can only hope that the rest of The Troubled Stateside will share more in common with the first track than the last two. Though still standing above their competitors in melodic hardcore, Crime In Stereo have left themselves with something prove in April.
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Download EP: DownloadPunk (http://www.downloadpunk.com/?webaction=website.Albumdetail&albumid=8822)
Record Label: Nitro Records.
Release Date: Nov. 30, 2005.
Crime In Stereo have been turning heads since their explosive debut full-length (pun intended), and they followed that up with one of the best EPs of 2005 with The Contract. Playing a brand of melodic hardcore reminiscent of bands like Strike Anywhere and A Wilhelm Scream, Crime In Stereo's fist-pumping anthems have been given a tune-up for their Nitro Records debut. While we still have a couple of months to wait before The Troubled Stateside is released, Crime In Stereo have treated fans to a download-only EP entitled Fuel. Transit. Sleep. The EP features three songs from the upcoming album, which they rip through in under six minutes.
Now, this EP suffers from a minor problem, and it isn't even the brevity of it. Nor is it that the songs aren't particularly good, because one listen will show that they are. It's just that they aren't Crime In Stereo good. After The Contract EP and Explosives, and the Will To Use Them, expectations for this EP were particularly high. Sure, it opens with a proverbial bang in the form of "Slow Math," with technical guitar work and brilliant lyrics like "Once we've exhausted all the oil and pornography there will be so much to teach of the slow math of debt and dreams. Yeah, we deserve that much at least. For every land a new war, for every man a new disease." However, after that initial blast of energy, the EP loses steam, and can't seem to pick up the pace again. "I'm on the Guestlist Motherfucker" features some great lyrics ("So put a big black sticker on the front that says 'For Fans Of.' And you can donate a penny to my future pension"), and is a solid track. Yet simply being solid isn't enough for a band like Crime In Stereo, who are capable of so much more. The instrumentation for the last two thirds of the album doesn't stray from the tested-and-true melodic hardcore formula, and is best described as "safe."
Though it is a satisfying disc in its own right, when taken in the context of Crime In Stereo's proven track record Fuel. Transit. Sleep. is moderately disappointing. As a teaser for a full-length, I can only hope that the rest of The Troubled Stateside will share more in common with the first track than the last two. Though still standing above their competitors in melodic hardcore, Crime In Stereo have left themselves with something prove in April.
---
Download EP: DownloadPunk (http://www.downloadpunk.com/?webaction=website.Albumdetail&albumid=8822)