For The Life Of Me - Closure EP

Reviewed by: herbienay (02/25/13)

For The Life Of Me – Closure EP
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Record Label: Self-released

It seems somewhat peculiar for a band’s first release to be named Closure. But whatever, that doesn’t really matter too much, since Closure is pretty awesome.

For The Life Of Me is a four-piece rock band from Portland, OR. They play a style of 90s-influenced rock similar to Balance and Composure or Daylight. This band was, at the time of this release, comprised of Ray Canarios on vocals/ guitar, Austin Davis on guitar, Dan Hargadine on drums, and Jeff Galusha on bass.
The EP opens with “Eleven,” a track most will be familiar with from its lyric video featured on this very website. This song is pretty indicative of the band’s style, quickly shifting from loud to soft to very loud. The track begins with a driving introduction that leads into a slightly quieter verse in which Ray Caranios sings, “I’ tried to fill an empty space with emptiness/ and I’ve been pendulating back from faith/ and forth towards consequence.” This builds up into the next verse, in which he shouts, “I fell hard/ but I swung the whole way down!” The next track, “TV in My Head, Part II,” is the longest on the album at nearly six minutes. The song’s chorus, despite all being shouted, is ridiculously infectious.

“Winter Sleep” is the shortest song and by far the heaviest, as it is all screamed. Not yelled or shouted, but screamed. The reasoning for this is that it was recorded at a different time than the other three. Beneath all of the screaming is some of the album’s best instrumentation. Closer “Sung out of the Blue” finishes Closure out on a high note. The song stops and slows down at around 3:20 after the line, “Sung out of the blue as a cheap way to escape,” and leads into an impressive two minute outro. So in summation, How is For the Life of Me’s debut EP? It is thoroughly impressive.

“Pick apart the ways to waste a life.”

Recommended If You LikeBalance and Composure, Daylight – The Difference in Good and Bad Dreams, Basement – Colourmeinkindness, Title Fight – Floral Green