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A
quick glance at the cover art, the band name and the record label
all suggest that the sound spewing forth from the speakers will
be an intense and choppy metalcore attack with underlying themes
that are darker than black. What a surprise then that the listener
is greeted with the clean vocals and the melodious, twee indie-pop
of ‘Quit Being Thoughtless’. ‘Moros Eros’
aren’t interested in dabbling in just one genre and as such,
they inject distorted and angular melodies into irregular song
structures, all of which are wrapped in an aggressive post-punk
aesthetic in order to create a highly appealing and somewhat unique
sound.
It is obvious that ‘Moros Eros’ have a lot of influences
and ‘Jealous Me….’ acts as a spring-board to
showcase them. From the stomping electroid indie-rock of ‘Chokes’
to ‘Wake and Wait’ which captures the perfected pop-menace
of ‘The Cure’ and features a suitably rousing choral
motif which is sung over a bed of highly distorted yet melodic
post-punk guitars, it is clear to see that ‘Moros Eros’
are a highly ambitious lot with enough skill to carry it off.
It is the middle of the album which sees the band move into more
experimental and intense territory. ‘Safety Net’ is
a frenzied art-punk rabble which features inebriated melody progression
and sees vocalist, Zach Tipton providing a scorching, ‘Refused’
style choral yelp. ‘Old Friend’ starts off with fabulous
cluster drumming over a sea of progressive bass. The track then
explodes and showcases ‘Moros Eros’ at their most
angular and emotionally intense as they engage in cabaret-esque
drunken piano-laden ramblings which bring to mind ‘Get Hustle’
jamming with ‘Love Life’. Towards the end of the album,
‘Lows and Highs’ engages in slightly more restrained,
straight-edged indie pop reminiscent of ‘Of Montreal’
whilst ‘Pride and Joy’ provides a refreshing slice
of hxc which rides upon a dark glistening wave of Chicago-school
post-punk. The closer ‘The View from Below’ is a joyful
and slice of west-coast pop-punk featuring a deep, drugged out
groove and a massive soundstage.
Across the 38 minutes, ‘Moros Eros’ display their
ability to produce songs which defy easy catogorisation. They
fuse elements of indie-pop, art-punk, post-punk, indie-rock and
punk-rock into an extremely listenable and captivating final product.
Furthermore, they showcase an abundance of bristling energy which
they bring to the fore with rousing ‘shout-along’
choruses which will undoubtedly give them massive live appeal.
(RM)
For fans of: Jesus Lizard, The Celebration,
Flaming Lips, Refused
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