Originally Posted by Trollheart

Title: Still Bummed
Artiste: Nouns
Genre: Emo/Punk
Familiarity: Zero
Recommended by: Machine

Expectations: Not much: I see the words “noise rock” and “emo punk” thrown around in the description of their music, none of which appeals to me. At least all the songs are short.

1. Dogs: Somewhat less frenetic than I had expected; quite relaxed guitar intro in fact. Very melodic. Didn't expect this at all. More like indie rock at the moment. Will probably kick up in a minute ... well yeah, but still pretty cool when it does. Sort of a marching beat to it, good vocal with good backing vox. Some really new-wave synth is odd and yet doesn't seem out of place. Yeah, enjoyed that. Lyric is hilarious.
2. Still bummed: Short, frenetic, still very damn good.
3. School bus: Starts off as a real emo song, slow and emotional, then kicks, almost literally, into a raucous “we ain't gonna take it” style slice of chaos, then back to the reflective guitar and emo stuff. Good juxtapositioning.
4. Conch: No such emo in this one; bouncy and exuberant from the off. That weird little Casio-like keyboard going again.
5. Yaw: Another nice little gentle guitar here, reminds me of “When love breaks down” by Prefab Sprout. Wonderful vocalise; runs along on a really gentle swaying balladic theme. Well, for about half the song, then it kicks into life on punishing drums and harder guitar.
6. Dumped: Now that's some stark piano, and a hollow vocal for the first few seconds, then it just explodes with emotion and drama. This would be the emo in emo/punk I assume.
7. Way: Bassy single piano notes and a narrated vocal. Interesting. Then heavy slow crashing drums and just the piano until one hell of a wounded vocal comes in. Strong organ joins in and the recording returns.
8. You're not the one that I want: Another fragile piano with vocalise, very slow and morose. Really nice guitar in this.
9. The graduate: Alternates between stripped-down guitar and more solid synth and piano, good closer.

End result: Really expected to be writing a harsh review of this and ranting at Machine for wasting my time, but I'm quite surprised to find I really liked everything here. If this is what emo mixed with punk is like, maybe I should open my ears to more of this.

So, Love or Hate? Thought it would be Hate, or maybe Meh, but I have to admit, it's worth a Love of anyone's money.