When I hear the term "melodic hardcore" I think of something in between 7 Seconds, Gorilla Biscuits and Lifetime. But there's a new brand of melodic hardcore that strays from those influences while still being melodic and hardcore. Bands like Final Fight and Life Long Tragedy seem to be pushing this style with great guitar harmonies, driving punk beats and sincere sounding vocals. Ruiner's newest EP, What Could Possibly Go Right... runs with this style and pushes it in their own direction.
Throughout What Could Possibly Go Right... the melodies, while not being infectious, are very powerful. Take for example, the third song, "Adhering to Superstition," two minutes that end in a cascade of start and stop emotive aggression. The last thirty seconds of this song really put a dent in the album's listening replay value. The more I listened to write this review the more I found myself in enjoyment. At the same time though, Ruiner seems to tread on what's been done enough where they don't truly find their own voice. Parts like the breathtaking middle of "Getting Over the Overs" make the rest sound not as meaningful. It's obvious that when they finish their full-length heads are going to turn... bang or something to that effect.
Just like the cover artwork for What Could Possibly Go Right..., Ruiner sounds like one's thoughts spouting from their skull. In that sense the lyrical content is very introspective but broad to the point where most people could read them and find a connection. In "Getting Over the Overs" Rob Sullivan sings, "And all those moments I spent screaming at the wall... Hoping maybe your picture would answer back... and sometimes, and sometimes, I wish I didn't care." An ongoing theme of personal anguish exists throughout the lyrics. While it's difficult to pen emotional words without treading in melodrama, Ruiner succeeds. On the same note though, none of the lyrics rang out as memorable to me.
The What Could Possibly Go Right... CDEP compiles six songs from the What Could Possibly Go Right... 7" and tacks on two previously unreleased songs for eight new school melodic hardcore songs that'll wet your pecker for what's to come.
