I Kill Giants - I Kill Giants

01. Traveler
02. Larry Jr.
03. Calender
04. Part 1 / Part 2
05. Pigskins
06. Lucky Shirt
07. Collector
08. Windmills
09. Part 3
10. Boys Of Bummer

I had never heard this band before, but for some reason I was under the impression that they were a hardcore or screamo band. When the opening chords and vocal melody of opener 'Traveler' hit my ears I was pleasantly surprised. The guitars on this record switch back and forth from chunky overdriven chords to slightly noodly lead lines wonderfully, making instrumental passages interesting while not crowding verses and choruses that rely heavily on vocal melody. To me, this release takes what has been good about the Cap'n Jazz style emo revival (slight noodling, shouty almost off key vocals), and runs it through a more punk filter to create a really catchy rough around the edges sound. In the catchiest bits the vocalist pushes his voice to a hoarse breaking point, keeping the pop from taking too much precedence. A trumpet makes an appearance in 'Windmills', creating just enough texture to break up the rest of the album and create a good thematic introduction to the guitar and vocal only intro to 'Part 3', which breaks into a fuzzy out spoken word bridge before continuing the mid tempo catchy flow of the album. Group vocal breaks like "If I'm not breathing, you can just assume I'm doing fine" will undoubtedly create crowd pleasing moments at live shows, and this album stands as a worthy document.

Reviewed by Justin.

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