Ira
These Are The Arms
Golden Antenna (2011)
I hate writing about underwhelming releases, always because I feel like I'm slighting the artist, even if I respect them as a band. That's why it was difficult for me to listen, and subsequently write, about Ira's album These Are the Arms: I believe the band is incredibly talented, but this release is just not that interesting.Most of my issues stem from the vocal performances. Though "Katapult" does feature some nice vocal work, contrasting with the spoken word passages rather nicely, I can't help but feel that the music would be better off without them entirely. Ira tend to overdo their vocal lines, making their presence much more pronounced than it has to be to make their point. "A New Profile" is a pretty solid piece of music, I am happy to note, but the vocals tend to be such an overbearing presence that it's really not nearly as enjoyable as it could be. Ditto that word-for-word about "The Gift". Then again, the transitional tracks, like "EPK" and "Score", tend to be more on the distracting side, even without vocals. They lean towards annoying, rather than acting as effective buffers or segues between tracks.Given that, behold the cause for my … Read more
My Ticket Home
To Create A Cure
Rise (2012)
Let me start by saying this is in no way an original album. It’s the same rehashed post-hardcore/screamo clichés you’ve … Read more
Mind Spiders
Meltdown
Dirtnap (2012)
Mark Ryan may not tour all that often, but you can’t fault the man’s productivity. Meltdown marks the second release … Read more
