The Better Death ...
The group name and eponymous EP inspires thoughts of whiny emo like this:
I realize that a Radiohead song from 1993 is an outdated reference to the genre -- so what. The Better Death defines their music as, "Sounds like L7 without the Vaginas... Radiohead with the Balls... Math rock without the calculations... Bruce Lee before Seattle... Rebellion without the eyeliner... Old School for the future." Alrighty then (in fairness to them, they did qualify their L7 comment in their CD Baby description).
"Message To Your Rival" starts off "The Better Death" with a spastic progressive alt rock adventure. Check out the "live" version ...
I was cognizant of the fact that this track is badass, but had no idea why, so I repeated it and realized that "Message To Your Rival" was a prime mutant jolt of Queensrÿche and At the Drive-In.
What I did fear was that The Better Death made the mistake of sequencing their best cut 1st. Even if the rest of "The Better Death" is decent, it will feel like they wet my bed.
Disaster averted! Although "Message To Your Rival" is my favorite track on the EP, their sequencing logic is sound because the song does not have the most commercial potential. "Devoted Like Flies", the 4th of six tracks, is the rendering that can play immediately on modern rock and college radio. Here's its snippet ...
See what I mean? This At The Drive-In and Alice In Chains hybrid is even more captivating "live". If you attend one of their performances, you would likely leave with this song stuck in your head regardless of its order in their set list.
For a self-produced debut EP, "The Better Death" is incredible. Each member of the four-piece outfit adds to its convincing dynamic. There is no mistaking that the sound is late 1990's/early 2000's alt rock, but their footprint and adroitness in the genre propels a provocative experience.
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