Yet, we all know it's not. It's pretty awful and absolutely surreal. Lockdowns, self-isolation, social distancing. Tours have been canceled. Venues have closed. Thousands have lost their jobs. And, of course, people are dying. It's indescribable but, if you took all that crap away, I'd be pretty happy right now.
Surprised, because when Go To Prison and then Green Star came out a few years ago neither grabbed me. Obviously, not because they weren't any good – they are both great records – but like I say, my taste has mellowed and I tend to go for a more melodic listen these days.
But then frontman Zach Quinn released his acoustic album, which I have so much time for, and the band did the split with Direct Hit! which I loved. Still with that hardcore flavour but with a song like Arduous Angel they suddenly seemed to have become a bit more melodic. And then, what sealed it for me, was early this year they released Comfortably Dumb as the precursor to the new album. Again, it's what I still think of as hardcore but with a really harmonic and tuneful chorus – their sound has changed – and sometimes it continues to change not just from track to track on the album, but even within the same song. I really like it.
The album starts with Killing Me – feedback and heavy guitar, but it's not overly frantic and it's very easy to make out the vocals. Then halfway through it slows and takes a different direction before returning to the tuneful vocals. It's a really great opening track.
Zero Wheels is more in the, what I would consider, traditional Pears style. Hard and fast and only about a minute and a half long. The old Pears are still very much on this record.
These two tracks layout out the feel for the rest of the record – different in style and often switching direction within the song itself. Comfortably Dumb, the song that ultimately persuaded me to buy this record, does just this. Hardcore, melodic, hooky and singalong all found in the same track.
Dial Up, Rich To Rags and Nervous all follow that trait – twists and turns but with that hardcore sound at the core of the songs.
The track that next really stands out to me is Naptime, which starts as if it's going to be a full blown, pop-punk song. It is really hooky, with singalong vocals. But then it turns, becoming a hardcore, albeit catchy track, that builds before fading into few seconds of acoustic guitar to finish.
The penultimate song Traveling Time is perhaps the one track that is unlike any other Pears song that I'm aware of. It's a poppy ballad for starters, full of fuzzy guitars and easily distinguishable vocals. I love it.
To finish though, the band return to that familiar hardcore sound with the tuneful vocals on Cynical Serene. Again, it jumps about a bit, in that halfway through the vocal becomes very serene itself, and then the track stops abruptly about 30 seconds from the end as a few chords on a guitar is strummed in order to finish the album in a truly beautiful way.
A couple of years ago, I never thought I'd enjoy a Pears record as much as I've enjoyed this one. I think the band themselves would probably concede their sound has changed a little, but it's still gutsy and raw, and I'd still say hardcore fans will like it. With 14 songs crammed into just over 30 minutes, you can't escape this is still blistering Pears.
The band had planned to tour extensively on the back of this record. I hope that still happens, as I'll now be making sure I catch them at a rescheduled show.
And by the way, I'm sure you're not wondering, but I did manage to score the colour vinyl but had to import it from Australia!
Stream and download Pears on Bandcamp here.
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This review was written by Chris Bishton.
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