Superb split-release from two up-and-coming bands
Despite hailing from Scandanavia, Jeniferever have thankfully resisted the seemingly genetic national temptation to don suits and offend my ears with yet more faceless retro irony. Thank goodness for that. They have instead used their homelands stark beauty as a source of inspiration, helping them create bleak emotional landscapes of guitars that relentlessly sway between fragility and hostility over the course of the 13-or-so minutes of their two-song contribution. Their sound is close in nature to that of a Deep Elm band, mixing the brooding melodies of The Appleseed Cast with the driving urgency of Giant's Chair to great effect. 'This Day The Violence Died' is particularly impressive, with waves of fuzz just failing to completely drown the delicate lines beneath, sounding like Mogwai at their most reflective.
Flying the flag for the UK are The Next Autumn Soundtrack, who do not dissapoint. Their sound is similar to Jeniferever, albeit slightly more upbeat, and with vocals that sound like a mix between Kelly Jones and Colin Doran! Their best effort here is 'nightnightbyebye', which reminds me of the now sadly defunct And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots.
This won't appeal to those who like their music in easy-to-swallow 3-minute chunks, but if you want something that is slightly more challenging and thought-inducing, but without the heaviness that often accompanies technical bands, this release is nothing less than essential.