REVIEW ROUND-UP: Gladie, Filth Is Eternal, S8NT ELEKTRIC

Gladie

No Need To Be Lonely

Don’t be disheartened that Gladie aren’t quite the who’s who of emo all-stars they’ve been in the past. Even without alumni of Modern Baseball, Tigers Jaw or The Spirit Of The Beehive among their ranks, they’re still an extremely capable band. Besides, Jeff Rosenstock produced this; Gladie aren’t going into No Need To Be Lonely entirely without greater pedigree. Not that the album would lack merit without it otherwise, of course. In fact, it might be Gladie’s strongest work yet.

They aren’t moving outside their regular bounds for that, mind, though if you’re actively searching something like this out, you know what you’re getting. Organic, even, emo-adjacent indie-rock remains Gladie’s bread and butter, now a bit punkier to put it further in line with acts like The Menzingers. It’s still entirely familiar, but you can feel the growth in songs like Brace Yourself and I Want That For You. They’re bigger and more potent, in greater contrast with the tight coil of Augusta Koch’s voice.

She, too, fills the role of an indie-punk regular seeing the benefits of this tune-up. In tone, she’s very like her contemporaries, though never stymied for it, as No Need To Be Lonely works through a more effervescent emotional palette that lets Koch form a bigger presence. You’ll instantly notice the trills and yelps that crack through Push Me Down and Poison, shorthand for Gladie’s all-natural fervour. Conversely, a more controlled and understated Koch is the perfect fit for I Will If You Will, a full country pivot with brushed drums and an excellent, hollowed atmosphere.

Even if there’s not a second of envelope pushing going on (and Blurry comes far too late as a perfunctory fragment to just gloss over), Gladie really have hit their stride with No Need To Be Lonely. As far as earnest, earthy indie-rock goes, it’s a nice bit higher than the mean while staying recognisable. It’s what bands like this tend to search for but rarely find, often ending up a bit anonymous as a result. At least Gladie are taking steps towards figuring that out, big names among their number or not.

For fans of: The Menzingers, Remember Sports, PONY

‘No Need To Be Lonely’ by Gladie is released on 20th March on Get Better Records.

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Filth Is Eternal

Impossible World

Perhaps Scowl’s hyper-melody-infused hardcore hasn’t necessarily torn a swathe through the genre as we know, but as long as album’s like this keep arriving, the dream’s not dead. It’s true that Filth Is Eternal have always had a clearer punk streak to them, but never has it been clearer than on Impossible World. They fully channel The Distillers now, thanks to Lis Di Angelo’s insouciant rasp and a sound doused in gutter-swill on songs like Hellfire and Outbreak. That effect comes from the band’s FILTH EQ+ pedal, a bespoke bit of kit that (if you wanna get technical about this) makes it all really thick and really dirty.

Thus, Impossible World carries this monstrous tone around with it, almost acting as the pivot that everything else branches from. What would pass for pop-punk compositions are plunged neck-deep into this mire with no accessibility sacrificed. Similarly, the polemics of lyric sets absolutely work against this dirtier backdrop, though hooks aren’t pushed aside either. It’s the ideal balancing act, fitting for an album that ropes in guest talent from as wide a breadth as The Blood Brothers, Baroness and Fall Out Boy. In the sliver of crossover between those three, you probably would get Filth Is Eternal, doing their own thing with gnarly resolve.

For fans of: The Distillers, Scowl, Die Spitz

‘Impossible World’ by Filth Is Eternal is released on 17th March on MNRK Heavy.

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S8NT ELEKTRIC

OFF THE EDGE

Other than that absolute state of a name (‘S-eight-nt Elektric’? Coulda given that another half-a-minute’s thought…), there’s nothing about this band that stands out much. Sorry to be so blunt, but no amount of preamble can soften that. Imagine a functionally-okay hard rock band, wash off all the sleaze of their LA spawn point, and you’ve got this. Doesn’t exactly sound like an all-timer, does it? Presumably, the slicker, poppier feel of S8NT ELEKTRIC is supposed to be their selling point, but it just leaves them more anonymous, if anything. What’s the point in being superficially big and bold when a total dearth of substance means it’ll never stick?

It’s the death blow to OFF THE EDGE before it’s even properly found its feet. You’ve got a reasonably talented band and a decent singer in Bri Carbajal, but with no outlet to show any of it off in a lasting way. Character is in short supply, either sheared off by production or never there in the first place. As for the music itself, it’s lively enough for an obvious throwback that’s ashamed of the fact. In trying to punch up that old, classic mid-pack material, S8NT ELEKTRIC just end up sounding like a whole different brand of C-lister. This isn’t special or ear-catching, or even all that fun in the way that even the most disposable hard rock gunk might bump into once and never again.

There is one kinda-funny bit, though; River’s chorus has Carbajal earnestly proclaiming “I promise you won’t forget my name”. …Doubtful.

For fans of: Dorothy, Yonaka, Dead Honey

‘OFF THE EDGE’ by S8NT ELEKTRIC is released on 20th March on Long Branch Records.

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Words by Luke Nuttall