In the early 2000s, Funeral for a Friend’s ‘4 Ways to Scream Your Name’, Thrice’s ‘Illusion of Safety’ and Thursday’s ‘War All the Time’ celebrated the virtues of raw, unpolished post-hardcore. Lastoneout’s debut EP transports you back to those days, possessing sparse production, up-tempo rhythms and multi-layered vocals characteristics.
‘This Was Never My Story, It’s Yours’ is not short on ideas or inspiration, particularly in the vocal department. Throughout the record, the band throw as many vocal layers and melodies into the mix as they do early post-hardcore influences. This works on ‘Two Months Eight Weeks’, the stand-out track, thanks to a cohesive structure and memorable hooks. On the flip-side, ‘Box of Matches’ tries to handle too many warring ideas and with so much going on vocally, it gets cluttered and confusing, detracting from the effect of the harmonies.
Musically, while the EP is competent, it isn’t particularly memorable. The muddy guitar tone lacks clarity, relegating the guitar work to providing structure rather than being a feature of its own. The EP’s consistently fast tempo provides an upbeat and energetic atmosphere but too often songs feel like a race to the end and would benefit from more focus on dynamics. ‘It’s Better to Burn Out’ could be an effective song if the riffs were given more time to breathe by introducing slower sections and altering the mood.
‘This Was Never My Story, It’s Yours’ is a pleasant hit of nostalgia that welcomes memories of raw, post-hardcore records from the turn of the century. That said, the band could benefit from the genre’s more modern innovations, most notably the improved production values and less cluttered songwriting. At this stage of the band’s career though it’s better to have too many ideas than not enough and, with some refinement, these ideas can be moulded into something more coherent and effective.
MARK JOHNSON