Review
The Rememberables
The Rememberables

Is this bandname some sort of challenge the bandmembers set for themselves? A goal to achieve so to say: be remembered? Is this debut full-length their first step on a clear defined path? So many questions pop up in my head just by the name alone. This album was brought to my attention with the statement it was a great mix of Weezer and Dinosaur Jr. Both bands I have a love/hate affair with. A love/hate affair in the sense that if I love them, I play their albums way to much, to the point I start to hate them. And when I hate them, I ignore them for looooooong stretches of time (a couple of years usually). And I ignore not just the bands themselves. Oh no… Just say a band uses influences from one of them I will have instantly lost my interest. A bit silly perhaps, but there’s a limited amount of bands that just have this effect on me. And for both Weezer and Dinosaur Jr. it happens that I’m currently in the love stage of this cycle. Needless to say I just had to review this album. And I am not regretting it!

In The Rememberables we find a couple of familiar faces as the band includes memebers of (amongst others) Coke Bust and Walk The Plank. The experience is there and that experience pays off. The influences from those bands don’t shine through. Or it must be the preference for an album that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. With seven songs in half an hour you can’t accuse them of stretching out their songs or album too long. On top of that, The Rememberables keep things interesting by writing seven diverse songs. As such this album reminds me a bit of the Fly Towards The Sun EP by Swan Dive or the Shake EP by Diamond Youth. Musically only a bit, but those EPs had the same vibe with small surprises and musical changes from song to song.

With each song slightly different the band has a crafted a firm base to build on. The Rememberables mix Weezer pop-sensibilities with a guitar sound that indeed reminds me Dinosaur Jr. Add to that a singer that I can best describe as smooth vocals ala Beastmilk if they would play grunge. 

The album starts upbeat with “Miles”, one of the more fast-paced (relatively speaking) songs. On this song the singer immediately shows his range. Starting out with the deep and smooth style that is used throughout most of the album he goes into grunge mode (more specifically Nirvana-like) at the end of the song. If you should contains an immensely catchy guitar part straight out of the Weezer songbook. And it isn’t misplaced in this loud and grungy song. “The Stranger” is the first sow song of the album. It really drags you into it’s dark and sombre mood ending with a climax that allows the whole band to flex their muscles after holding back for most of the song. This type of build up is repeated in the last track even better and bigger. The faster songs are catchy and have a strong drive which contrasts nice with the vocals, while the slower songs really grab you by the throat.

The production of this album deserves a compliment, especially the drum sound. If you like your drums big and thunderous you’re in for a treat. Just: wow! And you can actually hear the bass, which gives this album a really strong foundation. 

I’ve listened to this album a lot the past week and I can only conclude that this is a contender for one of the top-spots in my yearlist. Now, do yourself a favour and check this band out. 

Tracks to check: “Walk” for it’s fast pace matched by an incredible catchy chorus and “She Said” for it’s dark mood; a good way to end this record.