Another great band that comes from mighty Southamerican scene, from Santos, Brasil. Soul Mate are from there and they play a mixture of melodic punkrock and hardcore. This e.p. contains 6 songs, one of them being kind of intro to the rest of the material. The music changes from fast skatepunk, to more calmer and emotional atmospheric moments like in slower and more pop oriented Instead Of or fast and superb instrumental New Birth. The vocals are good, the musicianship is tight with some progressive almost metalic technical elements in the songs. The singer reminds me at some moments of Chris from Propagandhi and that is a good thing, not trying to copy but having that similar colour of voice. This is a complex and a bit different e.p. than your typical skatepunk, so enjoy it as I did.
I still remember the fantastic show Much The Same provided at last years Punk Rock Holiday headlining Thursday edition at Beach stage. I still remember the goosebumps it gave me to listen old hits and also fantastic new songs from the comeback album. Now, thanks to good people at Lockjaw Records I am listening to remixed and remastered re-issue of the Much The Same classic Quitters Never Win.
If you are already a fan of this band, you will only love this one more. If you did not listen to them until yet, this is the perfect opportunity to grab this one and enjoy excellent melodic punkrock, full of emotions, full of energy and heartfelt lyrics to which any of us can relate to. Many people compare Much The Same to No Use For A Name, so I love them even more, because I can hear that NUFAN warm and sad vibe in their music, but with originality and drive and I am sure Tony would love them. My personal favorites here are Hits Home, One Of A Kind, Father & Son. Go get this one!
Chief State are coming from Vancouver area, Canada and this is their new one, that is out for couple of months now. There are seven songs on this record. The music on this record is beautiful pop punk/melodic punk played with lots of energy and vigour. The strongest point of the record besides awesome songwriting skills are the vocals. They sound fantastic, almost ethereal and backing vocal harmonies are so sweet, that I wish to hug someone while listening to the record. The lyrics of the songs are something that all of us can relate to. The songs that are somehow personal favorites of mine are Reprise and Peace of Mind. Great record by the great band.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 