This Is A Standoff - Be Disappointed
Blue Marble Vinyl
Released on Animal Style Records (ASR-006), March 2009
Well well well, what have we here! The second TIAS record, that's what! For starters I should mention that I'm biased in this review (then again this is just my opinion and the few that read this should have figured it out by now) because with This Is A Standoff, it's personal. I say this because guitarist John Meloche and I (well... mostly my band) go back a few years in the Ottawa local punk scene; him in FortyCentFix and myself in Contrabandit. So when John made me listen to the first TIAS demo, I have to say I was very stoked!
Now about this record: we can tell there has been an evolution from Be Excited, TIAS's first full length. My theory is that John plays an increasingly bigger role in the songwriting process. I find some ressemblances to FCF in these songs! Maybe it's just me being nostalgic...
What I particularly liked about this record: Knowing all the work that goes behind it! The band lives hundreds of KM apart during the songwriting process then takes the plane to jam and record. Then the band goes back home and works on getting it released through a handful of labels and distros. John and Steve's efforts go far beyond that in the fact that they design all their album art/merch, they book their own tours, etc. A+ for work ethic. Fuck, I'd even give them a scratch-and-sniff sticker for their work ethic. I also liked the shoutout to my band Contrabandit: I'm sure they've played with bigger, better-looking, harder-working bands, but they remember their roots; we remember their roots too.
What I did not really like: Uhm... I'm really trying hard to find something bad to talk about so that this review doesn't seem so one-sided, but you're shit out of luck.
The best songs: (in tracklisting order): Everything We Take, Can't Take Them All and Sunrise/Face The Sun
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