Out of my comfort zone on this one; being aging punk-ish, emo is a subgenre post my better days. Though the ever-reliable Wikipedia suggests, as a term, it was coined in the late eighties. It either travelled leisurely by airship across the pond, or I’ve had my head up my arse….
If I’m probably best left in a dark corner, crying about my lack of knowledge on the subject, that creates many reasons for me not to like Sketchbook Records latest cassette or digital download release, which is an EP by Chasing Dolls. It begs me to don my flatcap and yell red-faced at youngsters about the volume of this noise, and many other age-defining protestations, but they can all be cancelled out by the more straightforward observation, it absolutely rocks!
My adventures with hardcore punk, blowing eardrums to bands like The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Bad Brains and Butthole Surfers was adolescent and relatively short-lived. Yet if emo is a shortening for “emotive,” I’d squabble that all music should evoke emotion, otherwise it’s elevator muzak.
The thrash of hardcore debatably constitutes the least emotional genre of pop, only championed perhaps, by techno. Perhaps emo adds the element back into the rock melting pot. In which case, how does it differ from goth or grunge, for they’re both filled with emotion? These Chasing Dolls songs are massively better composed, with the rising and falling of emotion, than the aforementioned hardcore bands of yore, by a country mile, yet equal to the goth and grunge subgenres I’ve acquired to appreciate through the local bands producing it, like I See Orange and The Belladonna Treatment.
But this EP is growing on me as fast as bacteria multiplies; I’d be more complimentary if I reviewed this in a week, but I wanted to get it out there. From first impressions, its raw energy, a sublime cry of woe, and it fits.
What also fascinates me about Chasing Dolls, is that there’s no uniform, each tune holds its own, and differs in style and ambience. Cobweb and Blood Moon are the standout tunes, and with a slash make the title of the album. Cobweb comes in first with heavy guitar after a delicately placed riff, as I’d expect, and it’s certainly rinsed with emotion, as described by its pigeonhole.
Blood Moon is more me, of greater ambience and mood, it drifts in layers like oil finding its way down a congregated surface. The howls of emotion, the sublimely placed breaks. I’m none too fussed by pigeonholing, if only to describe something to you, if they say it’s emo, then I’m converted, feels like a natural punk progression through gothic and grunge. I may not be an expert on this, but I know what I like.
Step on My Shadow has a sprinkle of more universal indie-pop with an irresistible drum roll, and in part I’d imagine our favourite lads Nothing Rhymes With Orange might feel comfortable putting something out like this. Then there’s this live track, yet if Closest Thing to Heaven sounds like they’re going to get slushy, Hell is in brackets to ensure there’s controversy in the romantic topic, and it comes over a smidgen shoegaze. Love, it hurts most punk genres, emo takes no exceptions, in fact, going on this, exemplifies the anguish and pain of it, rolls it into a dramatic outpouring without boundaries, and for this, I now love Chasing Dolls.
Chasing Dolls are Hayden, Munch, Theo, Will and Jasmin, and long may they continue. As with many upcoming bands, there’s a notion in the ether they’ve yet to make that magnum opus, but this EP suggests they’re aching for it and will accomplish something progressively superior. For now though, Cobweb/Blood Moon throws everything you wanted to hate in your face, and turns it into something thorough, bold and challenging; top marks for that.
Thank you Sketchbook Records, you are opening an old man’s eyes to emerging local artists with an alternative edge, and now I’m hooked! Oh, and you can find Chasing Dolls at Swinterfest, headlining the Saturday (31st Jan) at The Castle.
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