Coheed And Cambria. La Dispute. Blink-182. Placebo. What do they have in common? The statement “They would be good, if it weren’t for the singer’s voice”, to name but a few. State Faults are primed and ready to join this company with a record that musically hits all the right places, but with a vocal that could strip wallpaper at 50 paces.
‘Desolate Peaks’ is the band’s debut full-length released on Tiny Engines, a label with an extraordinarily strong roster for those who like their indie rock flecked with twiddly emo. Don’t think for one moment this lot are the new Look Mexico or Tiger’s Jaw, as they deal in the sort of cathartic, textured post-hardcore touted by the likes of Pianos Become The Teeth, The Saddest Landscape, Envy and the aforementioned La Dispute. There are moments where wave upon wave of passionate, heartfelt discordance wash over your heartstrings, like in ‘Teeth And Bones’, an album highlight. Hallways feels like the emotional weight of the world carried on one man’s shoulders, yet the vocal carries on scraping and gouging away like a harpy’s shriek, removing as much as it adds to the resonance of this record.
I fully understand why the vocals are the way they are – amongst the current spate of bands marrying post-hardcore to screamo, State Faults hearken back to the days of luminaries such as Ampere and Funeral Diner, both of whom had a similar approach to the desperate howls and wails found herein. I’m just one reviewer, after all – if you dig any of the bands I’ve likened State Faults to thus far, the chances are you’ll really love this record. However, even after coming back to it again and again, the vocals are still going to get in the way of me truly enjoying this. It’s like a wonderful roast dinner with a spider crawling on top – all the elements are there for it to be enjoyed, unfortunately, and to its ultimate detriment, marred by one thing.
OLLIE CONNORS