Review:
Being a reviewer sometimes has its perks. A lot of the time I am treated to some of the worst music anyone could possibly hear and then other times I get the pleasure of hearing something good that, under normal circumstances, I would have never given a chance. This is where the young bucks in What It Takes come into play with their demo/EP Directions.
Over the years I’ve become what I always hoped I wouldn’t, the hardcore nostalgic. You know the self-proclaimed “old head” that hates everything new. If you take a look into my CD collection you’ll notice most of the hardcore records I own are dated 2000 or earlier. It’s becoming rarer and rarer these days for me to stumble upon something that I actually like that isn’t by a band that has been established for years. So much like every other hardcore release I come across I went into listening to this with a sour taste and prepared to yawn myself to sleep over the course of it’s 6 songs.
That was not the case. Now while I’m not necessarily a fan of the old school style of hardcore because I got into hardcore through metal and none of those old bands (i.e. Bad Brains, GB, and Black Flag) mattered to me. These kids are able to keep the old school vibe but blend it nicely with some heavier material that I can identify with. And when I mean old school they go all the way back and pull riffs from the 80’s when hardcore was still the bastard offspring of punk. Interjected are two steps and singalongs are that are catchy and the breakdowns aren’t super chug heavy and have more of that creepy crawl feel to them. I wasn’t annoyed or bored giving this disc a spin.
My biggest gripe comes with the singer. It’s not that he’s a bad vocalist but there are definitely issues there. For the majority of the record he reminds me of a bad Dwid (not really a bad thing) but it seems that the power in his voice dies out at the end of a lot of his sentences or lines. The first song it’s most notable. It’s something that will most likely be fixed over time as his vocal chords become used to being abused. Then onto track #3, Thanks To You, he makes the big mistake of trying to do the half Keith Caputo vocals that everyone seems to be on a kick for. Instead of being able to pull it off like say, George from Blacklisted, it sounded closer to Sloth from the Goonies crying for help.
Overall the record isn’t bad. For a notorious hater of this style of hardcore it must say something if I can dig it. It’s not the best record out there but it’s a solid listen. Fans of the old school thick hardcore should definitely give these kids a listen. If you worship the Gods Of The Mosh then you probably will hate it.
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