01. Tomorrow Is Never
02. Less Than Leviathan
03. Make Love Like Heros (Make Life Like Lovers)
Terminator 2 is one of my favorite moves of all time. In the third grade I was so obsessed with T2 that during class I would fantasize cutting off the skin of my arm to reveal my cyborg exoskeleton. I would then resist the urge of crushing human skulls while listening to Brad Fiedel's score for T2. Not since 1993 have I heard a band emulate the power created by Fiedel with this soundtrack. The two man combination of Jonathan Lee on keyboards/noise and Ken Rayher on guitars/drum machine levitates Souvenir's Young America; it's like travelling through a minimalist epic of Terminator 2 music.
The three song demo starts off with "Tomorrow Is Never" and a lot of fog. The music builds for seven minutes with a heavy instrumental/electronic sound. There's enough calculation so that the tension rises without getting repetitively boring. My favorite part is at 3:48 when Rayher loops a guitar riff that sounds like something a robotic ninja would play. My only gripe is that the crescendo, with its progressive intensity, never really goes anywhere.
In the second song "Less Than Leviathan" the guitar intro is similar to something City Of Caterpillar or A Day In Black And White would produce. The looping drum machine and synth noises underlying this post-rock/screamo guitar riff creates a very atmospheric texture. I can't stop visualizing 80s action movies.
Already Souvenir's Young America has played with greats like Mono and Eluvium. I'm not sure how their sound would translate live, but recorded it's really good for driving around or to put on in the background while you build a gun.
Recording Quality: 3/3
Format: CD
MP3s | Official site
Order from: rvayoungamerica@hotmail.com
