On first listen, one’s thoughts when the sounds here drift across are, oh no, not more boys with guitars, taking on angst and riffs which were long spent a generation or more ago.
But then you start to think, this is kind of good, maybe I’ll go with it. This is because of the sheer willpower and attitude these guys project over the course of these 20 minutes. Oh, and there is talent to go with it, too.
This is a sound which could easily fill concert halls, for This is because, rather than just slavishly copy their heroes (Nirvana, Muse, Queens Of The Stone Age, to name but a few), Masamune have elected to foist their own voice upon us.
It’s a raw nugget for sure, Tension & Resolution is an EP as colourful as its cover.
Shades will appear to hide at first then positively explode out at you, taking you by surprise by giving you a good old-fashioned sonic gut punch. It kind of takes you back to 1989 in a way too, as everything here has a slightly dancer undertone. You will feel your heel tapping as much as your ears twitching and if you feel anything like me, you’ll play this loud.
The singer has a fabulously dirty voice which carries the whole set along. Part Freddie Mercury, in the vocal swoops, part Kurt Cobain in the ragged and raw rage, but entirely his own in terms of attitude, it is It is backed up by (and sometimes collided with) plenty of dirty and dirges guitar riffs, played with energy and vigour by musicians who obviously have a good few New York Dolls and Rolling Stones albums in their collection. They know how to rumble properly.
This gives the whole EP a very live sound, quite possibly no coincidence, given that the band are about to go out on tour. It makes you want to dance about the room like everyone or no-one could be It would be an understatement to say that these guys have a massive Northern chip on their shoulders. It certainly comes through sonically, and is joyous to listen to, as they temper it with lots of fine tune Rather than being pleased this is over, as is sadly all too often the case with sets of music these days, this is one you will be playing over and over again, to see what you think you might have missed the first time round.
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We’ve had a couple of good reviews on our new EP! I hope they keep coming 🙂 http://t.co/YJRoLb5KXi / http://t.co/DwVodH1WeS
@isthismusic thanks for the great review!