Dream State
Still Dreaming
So, how much longer do you reckon the window for Dream State is going to stay open for? Not to throw shade on a band still in the midst of readjustment, but Untethered did come out a year ago now. The intervening months haven’t been unkind, yet the lightning in their bottle does seem to have been trickling out. Jessie Powell hasn’t struck as a vocalist on the level that CJ Gilpin did, and little else outside of a three-song taster can make it difficult to form a wider opinion. At the same time, it’s more than a bit unfair that the excitement around them seems to have dropped like a rock, when they’re no drastically different now than they’ve ever been before.
But maybe there’s a more of a point there than previously thought, when you look into it. With the perfect opportunity to expand, or at least escalate, their sound, Still Dreaming still reads like the newbie plugged into the pre-existing role, rather than finding her own voice within it. The main difference is that Powell can get more snarling and guttural than her predecessor, which is good for some extra grit on top of boundless emotional release. If Dream State’s post-hardcore can seem a little too clean sometimes, the illusion of being heavier is better than nothing. Otherwise, this is a Dream State release, sporting the same qualities that put them on such a high pedestal to start with, and which could do with a bit of refresh now, in all honesty.
Even if they’re yet to tip into outright backlash with it, the fatigue is definitely starting to rear its head. There’s always been an element of interchangeability, and after so long, it’s beginning to wear down in a way that sheer power can’t always cover for. And when that’s the absolute pinnacle of what Dream State have to offer, you wish they’d be a bit more flexible. The closest they get is Set Free, an interlude inspired by shimmering, misty EDM that’s the most variety that Dream State have squeezed from their skillset, coupled with the unfortunate realisation that it’s about as throwaway a prospect as they come. This isn’t something they’re likely to invest in more readily, not when it’s been sectioned off wholesale and used exclusively as a break from the normal.
It likely feels even more true when there’s still mileage in that normal, like how Chin Up Princess and Day Seeker can still brute-force a chorus like no one’s business. If Dream State do decide to stay around there, they’ll ultimately be fine. It’s a bit of a missed opportunity, though, seeing as they could handily benefit from an increased breadth. They’re already among the stalwarts keeping post-hardcore this slick and flashy alive well past its expiration date, which is something to be commended but not necessarily married to. You realise that most when Still Dreaming doesn’t produce a lot to meaningfully say, outside of “this is a Dream State release” and the associated observations. Exhibit A: this whole review.
For fans of: Holding Absence, As Everything Unfolds, Casey
‘Still Dreaming’ by Dream State is released on 26th January.
Florence Black
Bed Of Nails
If Florence Black were from the US instead of Wales, any buzz around them wouldn’t be nearly as sideswiping. This kind of hard rock adorned with a glossier finish and ‘heavier’ affectations couldn’t be more normal among their parade of radio-ready photocopies. In the UK though, it’s what you might like to call the ‘Massive Wagons Phenomenon’—on-the-ground support independent of major trends that pushes these bands up, when in normal circumstances they’d be on the level of the classic-rock throwbackers perpetually slogging around the pub circuit. At the same time though, because there’s not a total hegemony of this stuff, the British ones that do rise within tend to do so for a reason. That’s roughly about where Florence Black are—not exactly a showstopper among the greater rock world, but above what’s usually yielded here.
A big part of that comes in how the lack of a radio-rock environment in the UK to a similar degree isn’t bending Florence Black over backwards to conform. Just from the opener Start Again, it’s made clear how much heavier grind and gristle has gone into this, with nary an overdone production layer to be found. Honestly, you’d be amazed by how much that can achieve on its own, and coupled with what feels like true intent to make this stuff good only aids it further. As much as Florence Black remain tied to the ol’ hard rock machine in structure, they aren’t stymied by it. Just look at how close they get to full-on metal with the title track and Solid 9, or how there’s a clear galvanisation of the classic rock foundations at play on Look Up.
Of course, the hard rock path can wind like no one’s business, meaning that Florence Black aren’t faced with a straight shot past the chaff. Out-and-out revivalism does rear its head with takes on boogie-rock on Taxman and The Way Home, both of which succumb to more roteness than is preferable; similarly, Beautiful Lover most often reads as a Buckcherry ballad, down to Tristan Thomas’ vocals picking up some noteworthy similarities to Josh Todd’s honk. It’s indicative of how even a mediation of the lower-hanging tropes of this approach can be somewhat uncertain, despite Florence Black still being alright at what they do. Certainly next to the ground-out commodities of the wider scene, their bar is a solid bit higher, even when their own ideas run drier. Thomas has the voice for it most times, powering up an already hook-heavy repertoire into something kind of decent in its own right.
And sure, it’s not precisely a glowing appraisal, but this type of album rarely allows that when it entirely falls on its own grading curve. It’s more helpful to place Florence Black against the similar acts that they’ll instinctively be pitted with anyway, and on that metric, Bed Of Nails is pretty worthwhile. There’s more of the energy and bluster you’d want from hard rock in this vein, trimmed of the empty calories that often just serve to highlight how much malaise this scene can produce. A full-fat experience seems to be the way to go, and Florence Black execute that with the bravado it deserves. Alright work, overall.
For fans of: Stone Broken, Black Stone Cherry, Breaking Benjamin
‘Bed Of Nails’ by Florence Black is released on 2nd February.
BIB
Biblical
Ready for another band to kick each other in the face to, hardcore fans? Well, say hello to BIB, another bunch of disciples to the Flatspot Records / Convulse Records schools of heaviness, in which keeping their blows short, frenetic and uncompromising is of the utmost importance. Yeah, it’s true that there’s loads of them around now, but when they’re contributing to one of the most exciting dominant movements that hardcore has seen in some time, can you complain? Plus, they’re hardly clogging up space; BIB’s 2020 album Delux didn’t even clock 20 minutes and still yielded a satisfying battering.
Biblical, then, is more an expansion on that above anything else, where the general creative impetus has gone unchanged. The bones are plainly hardcore, supplemented by a Turnstile-esque, Alt-Nation approach to rock music for similar ‘90s pivots. Amongst all of that, frontman Nathan Ma projectile-vomits out his syllables, practically indiscernible as actual words when buffered by an armour of reverb. It’s the most novel thing that BIB have going for them, despite a rather fractious approach to lyricism that becomes subducted by the whirlwind more than usual. At the same time, if you’re searching for a good aural leathering, the vocal equivalent of a drowning Rottweiler chomping at scant breaths of air likely won’t kill your buzz.
To return to the Turnstile likeness, Biblical feels like the distinct melding of the old and new ways of thought. There are ample whiffs of grunge and ‘90s alt-rock to be captured in a meaty guitar tone and style of playing, almost holding together the stringier elements of a hardcore thrashabout like on The Circle. Producer Arthur Rizk has credits with Ghostemane and Power Trip under his belt, and instead of stylistic crossover with either of them, his fingerprints can be found in the particular punk leanings in BIB’s volatility. It’s all about wringing out as much spirit from brief hits of grunge groove as possible, and for this limited of a timeframe, it’s fairly solid.
So do BIB supersede the billions of other upstarts all vying for the same patch of hardcore land? Well, it’s still not easy to say when, so far, there’s no clear hierarchy fallen into place. It’s actually rather healthy to see how these acts complement each other, in the living, breathing, metastasising state of current-day hardcore that always has space for a new recruit. Biblical specifically isn’t any wild step forward for BIB, but it sets up their induction into scene’s Cool Kids Club rather nicely.
For fans of: Turnstile, Candy, Going Off
‘Biblical’ by BIB is released on 26th January on Quality Control HQ.
Words by Luke Nuttall
