It’s uncharitable (and increasingly unfair, given the way the record industry is mutating before our very eyes), but I always find myself a little suspect of bands whose press releases mention that they had interest from a label but decided to go their own way. I mean, you can’t have it both ways, right? If the label’s interest is worthy of mention to boost your reputation, why didn’t you sign with them? Subliminal implication: the label got cold feet, and now you’re shopping around the musician’s equivalent of an on-spec portfolio that got bounced by the client in the consultation phase.
Like I say, very uncharitable… and We Are Fiction make a decent enough noise to make me feel a little guilty about it. But their self-titled EP suggests that the label in question (Rising Records, apparently) may simply have decided that there was no point in trying to compete in an already crowded marketplace, namely that of the slightly-beefier-Lostprophets-with-screaming genre. The end result might well have worked in We Are Fiction’s favour, though, because the end result seems to be an EP that takes those chart-friendly tropes but renders them in a lightly more gritty and believable format.
Of course, it may be that We Are Fiction would have preferred the sugar-glazed production style that seems to be all the range for young men in tight trousers with daft haircuts these days, but simply couldn’t afford it. Well, it’s money well saved – despite sounding a smidgen more raw, We Are Fiction’s tunes make better pop than their over-polished competitors.
Yeah, I know, I’m still not sounding very gracious, am I? But for the last two years people have been sending me records that keep treading this same well-worn ground, and I’ve reached a point where I’m just thoroughly bored of the format. That said, there’s plenty of people who aren’t, and I can tell that We Are Fiction have got the chops to impress them if given the chance – they’re a good, ballsy band of musicians. And I wish them the sincerest luck I can… while offering the suggestion that viewing that gritty underproduced edge to this EP not as a failing but as a feature might help them stand out from a crowd of clones.
Posted in Music reviews | 3 Comments »
Tags: pop metal, post-hardcore, punk, We Are Fiction
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
“an on-spec portfolio that got bounced by the client in the consultation phase”
Oh, you and your bizniz speak! ;P
Gotta agree on the production front. I find that glossily over-polished sound a real musical turn-off.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I love the honesty and humbleness of this review with exception, i must say, of the somewhat pre-conceived impression you have of bands writing, recording and performing in said genre. However being involved in the ordeal, i must say that the dilemna with our previous label was purely a time scale issue on their behalf leaving us with a 9 month gap in our career. We infact paid a solicitor a silly amount of money in order to rid us of the contract in question. The inclusion of it in our press package was purely as an insight into our ‘making’ over the past two years. We thank you very much for this article and appreciate you taking the time to review our product.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
And thank you for the candour in return, Andi – it’s appreciated. This may be where independent web press differs from the big boys of print and digital; I’m not bothered about how long a band has been kicking around or their background. All I care about is how the record sounds, and while your stuff isn’t really my thing I can tell you’re doing it well. Good luck to you.