Label: Captured Track
Review by Warren Mayocchi
At twenty-six minutes Mourn‘s album is a quick listen. It is full of jangly, not quite in-your-face punk. Lyrically there is a lot of repetition which is possibly what gives it a Ramones or Sex Pistols flavour, musically they are quite polished, though not averse to throwing in a jarring moment to make sure we are listening. However, I think they are also alike 90s indie-pop. Bands like The Sundays, The Cranberries or 4 Non Blondes, but crossed with the punk influences. It is an interesting mix, and done well.“Ha, Ha, He” opens with “Flee”, an instrumental, and proceeds through eleven more short songs. There is not much time to dwell on any track with only one longer than three minutes, so it is of note to say they are all complete musical worlds. The drums (Antonio Postius) and bass (Leia Rodríguez) drive these songs, I particularly like the bass playing. The vocals (Carla Pérez Vas and Jazz Rodríguez Bueno) are interesting, as mentioned before, there is quite a range in how the band present – moving from a indie songbird to an angry shout in style. The guitars (also Carla and Jazz) are good in places and a generic background buzz in others, which results in the many songs having a sameness to them. The songs could be made more distinct by using silence more than they do, stronger rhythms, and a more distinctive songwriting – as they demonstrate on my favourite track, “The Unexpected”. Mourn have given us the next step in their evolution, and it shows they are going places. It will be good to hear them build on what they have done so far, “The Unexpected” caught my ear as a demonstration of how good the band can be. For now we have “Ha, Ha, He” to enjoy. Another track I enjoyed – “Gertrudis, Get Through This!” – has been made into a music video and gives you a good preview of what you will find on the album.
Rating – 78/100
Tracklist
- Flee
- Evil Dead
- Brother Brother
- Howard
- The Unexpected
- Storyteller
- Gertrudis Get Through This
- President Bullshit
- I Am a Chicken
- Second Sage
- Irrational Friend
- Fry Me
Line Up
- Carla Pérez Vas – Vocals & Guitar
- Jazz Rodríguez Bueno – Vocals & Guitar
- Leia Rodríguez – Bass
- Antonio Postius – Drums
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