Short But Sweet, Polite And Respectful #44

Issue #44 of SBS contains the debuts of mira, portrëit and Newman as well as the powerful 5-way collaboration between Thisismenotthinkingofyou, Yotsuya Kaidan, Healing Powers, I Hate Sex and Ghostlate.

We’ve already seen lots of great split records in 2017 thus far and with the international collaboration between Thisismenotthinkingofyou, Yotsuya Kaidan, Healing Powers, I Hate Sex and Ghostlate - five of the most exciting screamo bands out there - we witness another powerful band fusion packed with five incredible songs by five elite performers. The centerpiece of the 5-way split consists of ’Hyperrealism’ by Yotsuya Kaidan followed by ’An Apparition’ by Healing Powers, two stand-out tracks, which are wrapped by songs of Shaun Hancock’s one-man-project Thisismenotthinkingofyou, Canada’s screamo sweethearts I Hate Sex as well as Ghostlate’s ’A Bouquet That I Held And You’, which makes for a fantastic final. Records will be available on 7 inch via Rubaiyat Records and Samegrey Records.

Newman is a Stockholm-based emoviolence outfit, consisting of members from Vivresavie and Kid, Veral. For their common project, Hedda, Tobias and Vile’s focus lies on short and intense songs, whereat distressed screams perfectly interact with the chaos, inflamed by the furious instrumental department of the band. A neat prologue paves the way for its follow-ups, two short-winded songs, which are characterized by some changes in tempo and with lines like "It's warping, the scenery surrounding me builds itself up again. Each feeling, reinvented, felt again.“ the threepiece is capable of creating an oppressive symbiosis between music and lyrics.

"I don't know if you noticed but lately I've been drifting aimlessly, disillusioned. My friends leaving me for someone better - bizarro days - I’ve lost count, I don't care, big deal!!"

Based in Bremen, mira includes former members of Manku Kapak and ilill. Those former projects clearly become noticeable within the three songs of their self-titled debut as well as the band’s fascination for emotional punk music of the nineteen-nineties. Since their very first recordings from last year’s fall, the four-piece turned some setscrews, polished their song material and finally established a sophisticated sound pattern, quite close to Emo’s blueprints from three decades ago. Mira consist of Johannes, Malte, Nico and Lela - and they are 300 light years away from earth.

"But no matter how far I've come, how far I run, how high I fly. I can't deny the pain."

With merely burbling guitar chords, portrëit’s first song starts cautious, as Guckert’s screamed vocals abruptly burst through the melancholic sound and all of a sudden you’ll find yourself within one of the strongest emoviolence debut records of the previous years. Recorded in their rehearsal room during a couple of weeks in February, the two tracks of the demo have a playtime of slightly more than 14 minutes, whereas bassist Sonja, drummer Timo and guitarist Dirk were able to merge them into one coherent piece of dark, violent art and without letting chaos gain the upper hand the foursome from Giessen convinced us with their well-balanced song-structure. Definitely watch out for the demo tape, which will be available via Dingleberry Records anytime soon as well as for the group’s upcoming shows with Coma Regalia and Drei Affen.