Still Bust: 77 For You (57 For Me)

Artist: Still Bust
Title: 77 For You (57 For Me)
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 8th September 2014
Reviewed By: Ben Chapman

It's good to see that Still Bust remain well within their stride with 77 For You (57 For Me) cleanly continuing the break to their ten-year performing career that arrived when the band treated us to last spring's If You Don’t Like Videogames. This Gloucester-based hardcore act are back, and yes, it's fairly personal, with the album's title addressing the lead singer's diabetes drawing attention to the expected average lifespan of a suffer in comparison to the population's general average.

It's not all stats though, many of the musical passages are craftily emotive as well as technical, as amongst four tracks of loud, heavy, and tormented riffing there's a passionate wail of fated injustice ever followed by its dooming backdrop. But more prevalent are the positive elements to the EP. The music's sheer energy screams for survival, its power is its own ventilation, and there's an encouraging message, not a whining play for pity, but a defiant resolution to cope and focus away from getting lost in life's other trivialities. Most importantly, Still Bust continue to bring out plenty of sturdy breakdowns as they loudly indulge their love of long song titles, which I suppose they multiply if you count each song's smirking parenthesis.

It’s Your Fault and You’re Stupid (Kind Regards Barbaros Icoglu) opens the record well with loads of ideas crushed into one crunchy tune and plenty of authentic bite. The dissonant alternation of ringing chords and heavy shouting that's nevertheless catchy makes this one of the more accessible tracks in what's certainly a challenging yet rewarding EP. Paradoxical guitars harmonise towards a youthful, almost primal angst that’s hinted at in the next song's title.

TV On After Breakfast (Would You Like Your Hair Cut) leads wildly by wayward chord progressions that don't follow the expected route. Still Bust lay down a satisfying punk feel with a progressive hardcore edge. The lead singer roars the menacing interrogative ‘Did I ever tell you / about that time in Beijing’ so twistedly that the listener would probably rather not know.
         
I've Never Been More Happy To Have A Hypo (However This Could Mean I Have Irreparable Knee Damage) suggests a silver-linings attitude. There's a rapid intro that degenerates into a heavier, slower thrashing that picks up emotional momentum and throws in the occasional disturbance. The following track Twenty Foot (Broken Foot) is a nicely structured series of unexpected riffs. Here, Still Bust show off their ability to throw so much variety into one song, laid down with a heavy precision, organised madly. The intro's winding melody intrigues and is tough to follow. This ending track is arguably the most progressive and inventive whilst still not diverging from its own powerful sound. The song may break into a tender walk of soft piano chords, yet the ever-present, intimidatingly impressive shout of the vocals, which Matty sings are ‘out of tune / but never out of spite’, somehow manage to croon along whilst still sounding appropriate if jarring. Afterwards an intensely drawn out build-up led by some brilliant drumming smashes the final track into the listener's memory.

It's a solid four tracks. Perhaps you could admit the band seems to have lost only a slight degree of the energy and heavy hooks that are heard in their last release. Take the last minute and a half of their previous album's title track, If You Don’t Like Videogames. Or the humourously honest How Much We Sound Like Rise Against (And Other Things We Shouldn’t Say to Each Other). You can tell something in the songwriting has developed in this newer release, but that does mean they've left something behind. Nevertheless, this more wayward and progressive hardcore hailing EP has a definite impact that'll be a keeper among fans and serve as an enjoyable listen-in for those seeking a moment of heaviness.