Squirt Guns – The Departure [2015]
Squirt Guns – Hailing from Kathmandu, Nepal, hardcore punk trio Squirt Guns have released their second full length The Departure. Running just over 30 minutes the album consists of 8 tracks, recorded at their own home studio. Unlike their 2013 release “Slide To Unlock” which was more of a straight forward punk rock record, this time the band decided to incorporate crust punk, sludge, post-hardcore and a bit of post rock elements.
01 – Perfect Life
While listening to the intro..i thought this probably going to be just another record with heavy hardcore mood. Permulaan yg agak intense dan heavy tapi terlalu pendek. Macam tak puas pulak.
02 – Two Face
One of my favourite track. Didnt expect pon part bunyi ska ni which is pada aku pretty neat touch. Vocal yang agak punk-ish sudah mula kedengaran berbanding track pertama tadi.
03 – Something’s Wrong
Track ke 3 menghidangkan beat yang laju. Drum stroke tipikal untuk muzik punk pada verse lagu ini memang membuatkan ko nak pogo dan moshing around.
04 – Tel-lie-vision
Bermula dengan sedutan sedutan klip iklan television, bersesuaian dengan title lagu. Chorus yang catchy. Dan minit ke 2:35 sekali lagi di hidang kan dgn fast beat hardcore punk. But in my opinion if that part can be longer than it is that would be nice!
05 – Tempation
The longest track on the record. Vocal hanya kedengaran selepas minit ke 2:50. Sebelum tu hanya instrumental layan kepala. Half of the songs sounds like emo-core rather than punk. Beat agak mellow secara kesulurahan. It was a good attempt, tp macam out of place pulak dari track track yang terdahulu.
06 – The Departure
The second longest track. But yang ni fully instrumental. A nicely done track. Layan.
07 – Turn the Page
Since track number 5, the songs slowly leaning to sound more post-hc than a pure hardcore punk. Screaming pon dah lebih lemak dari track track yang sebelum. Riff guitar yang lebih bermelodi. Track yang agak panjang jugak. Mood sedih dah macam Raein, June Paik, line line skramz europe.
08 – Futility of Existence
Yeapp..this band just literrally goes from Minor Threat to Old Gray in one record. I honestly like this song. But from track 1 to 8, macam dengar a different band. Maybe they still trying to figure out wich direction and sound they going to. But it’s a great start.
Overall, a nice record. More like experimental phase for the band i guess. The songs arrangement boleh diperbaiki supaya lebih balance on the hardcore punk part that blends with post-rock element, as per claim by the band, release mereka kali ini banyak ber-influence kan band seperti Downfall of Gaia, Fall of Efrafa, Anomie, Dystopia, etc..which, i can feel it their going sorta the right way. Production sound can be improved. Snare tone tu aku suka. Guitars and bass might need improvement dari segi mixing. Guitar macam agak tenggelam. Looking forward for the band new release in the future.
Listen to the whole records here.
