SLOW MASS

Band: SLOW MASS

Genres: Punk / Rock / Post-Hardcore / Emo / Alternative / Indie Rock / Pop
Related artists: My Dad and Into It. Over It..
Country: Chicago, Illinois USA
Years Active: 2015-present
Song: "Dark Dark Energy"
Album: "Treasure Pains"
Year: 2016
For fans of: Slint, Worst Gift, Cursive, Sonic Youth, North Of America, Riddle Of Steel, Hot Water Music, Life In Vacuum, Nada Surf, Weezer, Mates Of State, An Horse, Jimmy Eat World, Animal Faces, Victor Shores, Modern Rifles, True Widow, Hum and My Dad.

Label(s): Landland
This post's artist is from the November 2016 Mix. This is track #1.

You can download: the November 2016 Mix#11 right here or get the new December 2016 Mix#12 here.

First things first, Dave, don't overthink this. This is basic, but it's done oh so well.

Second things are second...? That's not an expression. I asked four friends what bands they would have listed in the "for fans of" section of SLOW MASS and their responses were as follows:

"Oh boy, I don't even know."
"Hmm, shit that's a tough one."
"I honestly can't think of anything."

Well, SLOW MASS sounds kind of like a poppy indie post-hardcore band. I guess. They released 'Treasure Pains' in 2016 and have been doing a lot of touring in support of it, which is how I found out about the band. "Dark Dark Energy" is the opening track and was also the opener live. The song begins with some catchy ass guitar plucking that goes back and forth with a massive wall of post-hardcore and leads to a heavier and yelled chorus, as opposed to the sung verses. As someone who loves heavy music I actually find myself gravitating more towards the bands melodic material because it hits every chord, literally and figuratively, perfectly. The album kind of follows the song, as I enjoy tracks 1, 3 and 4 which are the three softer jams on the record, save for maybe the first song. The guitars are also well worth noting, as the interplay here is absolutely ridiculous. My wife said something along the lines of, "they guitars sound like So yeah, "Dark Dark Energy" is one of the best songs I've heard in 2016, easy.

My next favourite is the back and forth vocals in "Nice But Not Kind" as well as the song in general. The beginning 1:15 of the track are a lulling Hum of the deeper croons of guitarist Dave Collis while the following 30 seconds belong to bassist Mercedes Webb and the remainder of the song is generally them combing their vocals. And good god, it works so fucking well. The chill first half gives way to a noisier but equally catchy finale that makes this a beautiful balance between the male and female vocals.

My final pick is "Clint Eastwood", which belongs mostly to Mercedes digging those smooth hooks into your ears, but as per a lot of the album the instrumentals are also excellent, mixing Worst Gift, Cursive and My Dad (Dave's old band) into a shining example of poppy indie rock mixed with post-hardcore. The remaining songs are good but I'm not drawn in awe the way I am to the three aforementioned tunes.

The only reason I know about the band is because I had the honour of opening for them in August of 2016 as The World That Summer with Shahman and Fond. I knew Dave already from My Dad but this shit blew me the fuck away. It should be noted that the drummer is unreal live and is mesmerizing to watch, but really the entire thing was stunning to behold. While compiling this review I also came across an official music video that was premiered on Funny Or Die, which is pretty fucking crazy (linked here). There will be another four live videos posted with the upcoming The World That Summer tour diary in December.

So that's my take. This band is fucking great. Give them a shot.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2016 - Treasure Pains 12"LP (stream/buy here)

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(2016) SLOW MASS - "Dark Dark Energy" (from 'Treasure Pains')

(2016) SLOW MASS - "Dark Dark Energy" (from 'Treasure Pains') live video

(2016) SLOW MASS - "Clint Eastwood" (from 'Treasure Pains')

(2016) SLOW MASS - "Nice But Not Kind" (from 'Treasure Pains')

(2016) SLOW MASS - "Portals to Hell" (from 'Treasure Pains') official music video

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SLOW MASS additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

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