Thursday, May 24, 2012

Baklavaa - Hairmoans

The only other band I have listened to that includes a zillion little tiny nearly (both) melodic and chaotic bits in their songs in Mass Movement of the Moth. I think there are a ton of similarities, both have synths and stuff, or I don't know what those are, swirling noises that remind you that post hardcore is also very experimental; the over amounting aggression of not playing overly aggressive sounding songs; and the shouty, not shouty, and the sometimes kind of sung vocals. With bands like these, you have to try to wrap your mind around what other influences they have other than the experimental side of post-hardcore, or even of music. Mass Movement of the Moth was one of those bands that proudly wore their influences and turned them into their own ideas, I feel that Baklavaa does the same. I think it'd be hard to kind of go ahead and tell you what this band digs, but the revolving door of band members inserts a revolving door of influences. The album starts out very modern post-hardcore, like the stuff that's been rolling the deep end of blogspot, tumblrs, and bandcamps for the past two years or so, but it quickly flips the table a minute in, adding a synthy sound without the fear of the musicianship nearly collapsing. It isn't even in a very bland 2012 emotional hardcore type of way either. Then again, it quickly shifts back to where it started with. I think that kind of alternate balance with sound is important nowadays. Bands all too quickly indulge in trying to find out what their fan base will eat up (even underground DIY bands) and play the same song over and over. Baklavaa starts off sounding like a modernized version of Commander Venus (again, with this band today) in "I Don't Understand Anything," then again the song collapses near the end, then picks itself back up with a very natural progression. Somehow the album just keeps building up in this way all the meanwhile as it touches with different styles or influences of post hardcore, until Marijuana Abuse closes out righteously. I think I've already written a good amount.

Baklavaa - Hairmoans
http://baklavaa.bandcamp.com/album/hairmoans

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