Hipbones - You Think You're Helping​.​.​.

01. Friend (The "How-To" Guide)
02. Optical
03. Relate
04. Breached
05. Gain
06. Filth

Hipbones does a pretty cool job of mixing screamo influences with more punk rock structures to create a neat hybrid version of the two. The vocals are the part that seems the most screamo influenced to me, while the music underneath them jumps back and forth between punctuated riffy passages and straightforward galloping punk rage. This is evidenced most clearly in the second track 'Optical', where screamed vocals trade back and forth over a riffy start stop pattern before jumping into what I will here refer to as the "circle pit part". The next song 'Relate' slows the tempo down a bit, featuring a cool melodic bass intro adorned with distant vocals and guitar feedback. I think my favorite part of this release is the way the bass is featured so prominently. It largely follows the chord progressions, but does so in higher octaves or adds chord voicings that stand out really well. This is the only release on the band's Bandcamp page, so I will assume it is their first, and as a first release this creates an extremely solid footing for the band moving forward. Hipbones is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Reviewed by Justin.

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