When I first listened to this band-submitted album, I thought of Interpol. I was going to start this review by saying, “If you miss when Interpol made edgy, raw music, Fell Runner might scratch that itch.” But then on second listen, I heard less of that. And so much more. Badada starts extremely lo-fi–you can barely hear the lead singer–but ends in a crashing jam session that feels more like jazz improvisation than rock. And Better Isn’t Always Better is the opposite. It starts with free form banging and strumming and builds to the vocal swell at the end. I’m hearing more Pixies. More punk. Something almost tribal.
And then they can do melancholy (Cobwebs), sounding like one of Nirvana’s quieter moments, or something close to pop (Rain Room), or Modest Mouse (60 Seconds).
I guess what I’m saying is, there’s a lot here. You won’t get bored. You will be happy you listened. Yeah, $15 is a bit much for a Bandcamp download, but check it out. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
