I really want to integrate some football clichés into this review, because this split really is a game of two halves. The first half is a predictable long-ball effort from the Chillerton lads, playing Wimbledon-esque dully-repetitive emocore without a really biting striker upfront, frustratingly toothless when placed next to the second half performance by the plucky When All Else Fails mob. They put in 110% with their spirited melodic hardcore, playing to the whistle and going all in on the crunching tackles – shittiest review intro ever?
Chillerton are ruined by the fact that they simply cannot sing. The screaming isn’t too bad as screaming goes, but the nasal whine on ‘Connections Are Dead’ made me genuinely wince as the long, drawn-out vowels sound neither English or American and appear painfully strained throughout. The music hardly fares much better, with the embarrassingly predictable emo template being dusted off and applied for each of their five tracks, especially the shockingly average ‘Cider Justice‘. They’re a watered-down, cynical attempt to ride the wave and I couldn’t find a single moment of original spark on any of their five contributions to the split.
But When All Else Fails, now here’s a fucking stunning band. Packing each of their tracks with burning melodic hardcore and stinging riffs, they find their sound perfectly on the schizophrenic ‘Stands To Reason’, which straddles hummable melody and vicious riffing competently. ‘UN Peaceful Resolution’ has a rolling backbeat that punches through the abrasive guitars and throws the entire song into another gear, even if the vocals seem a touch flat. ‘Room With A View’ flashes around some interesting guitar riffs behind the main hardcore body of the song with a real Stretch Armstrong kick to the chorus, and it’s an understatement to say that this is a hugely impressive introduction to the band.
As a split, I can’t give this the rating that the When All Else Fails tracks merit, and they are a fantastic antidote to the mundane boredom fest that is Chillerton. It’s testament to WAEF that the CD is still worth buying if only for their contributions because Chillerton fall so far short of acceptable, non-shit music that they almost drag the whole CD down with them. But hey, WAEF are ace, and definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Ben
www.catncakeyrecords.com
Chillerton contact – www.chillerton.com
When All Else Fails contact – timdangav@hotmail.com