Decent Dissent
Usually when bands say they draw influence from Fugazi, Far, Cursive and Glassjaw I laugh out loud, they usually never have the talent to justify such claims, it's usually just screaming and noise I don't like or understand. However London's own Year: Zero are a distinct anomaly, I really enjoyed this CD; it brings light and differentiation in a somewhat bland genre of wannabes and rip offs. What makes me happiest is that whilst using the title post-hardcore I'm being dead honest, because they're NOT emo! I know it's hard to believe, but take a deep breath and say it with me "Year: Zero aren't emo".
Now that we understand one another I can tell you that Year: Zero write catchy songs which will stick in your head in the best possible way. It's mellow but very straight to the point at the same time. "Orwells Vision" and "This is popular culture" are the two better tracks on this CD, I found the other two tracks had firstly too many of those nu-metal esque screamo takes that are so played out these days and secondly unoriginal melodies, not quite up to the standard set by the first half of the CD.
Apart from that, this makes for a surprisingly cohesive listen. I'd suggest checking them out live; I sense that this would make for one really good live show for those of the post-hardcore persuasion. This band have the room to grow into something very good, as long as they stay true to themselves and don't fall prey to the nasty "scene" sound cliche.