Move the Island - EP (2010)

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This month has been extremely scarce with posts for various reasons. At the moment I acquired two writing jobs, one already in motion, one waiting to start next month and just the preparations for those are really draining my energy for writing. Since I'll keep the blog running of course, you should probably expect more interviews and a bit shorter than usual reviews. But enough rants, let's get this one going.

"Move the Island" is a hardcore/punk band coming from Birmingham, Alabama. This four track EP was recorded in November 2010 and as much as their blog (found here) suggests they immediately went onto writing and recording some new stuff for a full length. There are just a few posts over there and for a second I thought the band stopped existing, but luckily they have several shows in line, so all is well.
So, what do you get in this neat little EP? The majority of sounds in the four songs present here are surprisingly, for this genre, mid tempo. I was actually expecting to hear some maniacal rampage or something similarly wild, but was actually greeted with an easy going record. Don't get me wrong though, this is not a flaw at all, the tunes are very well composed with a lot of shifts in melody and the band is exceptionally well presenting its skill and talent. In the sea of mid tempo playing, there are some faster peaks and it is quite interesting how they literally spice up a song. Thanks to great recording, the sound is completely superb and you can hear everything. At times I was literally forgetting a currently playing song as a whole and was just focusing on a particular instrument. I was very surprised with how well you get to hear the bass and how good the lines actually are.
It's all good and nice, but what does it sound like? Yeah, this question was bugging me during my initial listening, since I really couldn't put my finger on it, a definite seal of uniqueness for this band. In the end, I kinda managed to find some similar projects, but thinking about it now I don't know if it will make sense. "Move the Island" swings on the line of "Bright Calm Blue", creating a bit more punk version of "Asymmetry Set" and at times morphing slower bits and pieces of "La Dispute" into more hardcore. Lyrics are also written in such a manor, bouncing between social criticism and emotional dilemmas. Don't take my words for granted though, it sounds strange, but it makes perfect sense in my crazy mind.
But forgetting influences and all that for a second, the fact that you should take for granted is to just take a listen to this band. I was stupid enough to really delay listening to them just to be in the right mood, yet once I took a listen I realized that I would love their music despite the moment I initially listened to them. So don't make the same mistake as I did and just check them out. If you are not into downloading music at the moment, you can take a listen to "Move the Island" on their bandcamp page found here. Enjoy!