SCREAM OUT LOUD
Live It Up
[Indianola Records]
Verdict: 7/10
RIYL: SILVERSTEIN, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS, OUR LAST NIGHT
As a music reviewer, sometimes you feel you need to challenge yourself. Sometimes you like to take a trip outside the box and see how far your music spectrum can go. Lost in that becomes listening to what you know you actually like. Admittedly SCREAM OUT LOUD exude a hint of nostalgia with their debut release. This is the style of music I grew up with, the so-called early 2000s “screamo”. This is what post-hardcore sounded like when it was more interested in crafting catchy anthems than beating the listener over the head with more breakdowns per minute than should be allowed by the musical equivalent of the Geneva Convention. SCREAM OUT LOUD’s sound is driving, melodic, and downright fun. Usually I would be irritated at the fact that the band isn’t doing anything new, but frankly, I don’t care. This is a group of guys who obviously know how to craft a three-and-a-half minute song, and that allowed me to forgive the band’s shortcomings. The other major element in Live It Up’s favor is that the production is fantastic. Eschewing the modern ideal of auto-tuned bubble gum and compressed instruments, the album sounds like the best releases of ten years ago. It’s not raw by any means, but it adeptly captures the energy of the band, and sounds like something that can actually be replicated live. Fans of the the “scenecore” of yesteryear should embrace this with open arms. – by Nicholas Senior
Recommended Listening: “Danger” and “Not Like the Movies”
Release Date: January 31th, 2012
In Conclusion: While SCREAM OUT LOUD’s debut isn’t perfect, it encapsulates what I loved so much about post-hardcore ten years ago, before the advent of breakdown-core. Fans of bands like Silverstein and Hawthorne Heights will certainly enjoy this.
