Things Fall Apart – We Are All… / 2006 Crustacean / 4 Tracks / http://www.thingsfallapartmusic.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 23 July 2006

Things Fall Apart come out with a pure EP this time; four tracks await listeners instead of the seven that were present on the first EP that they cut. The band is much more solid and polished than they were on their self-titled EP, coming forth with a blend of emo, punk, and hardcore. Hints of Strike Anywhere, None More Black, and even Against Me all are found during their opening track “The Least We Can Do”. A hardcore breakdown finds its way into the track as well, even as the rest of the band creates an emotional, instrumental backdrop that would impress fans of both Queens of the Stone Age and Deep Elm Records.

This means that the three minute-long “The Least We Can Do” is an equivalent to the atom bomb; it will blow listeners away in just a short time. The same solid instrumentation starts out “Inveterate”. This time, the swirling guitars of a Sunny Day Real Estate or an At The Drive-In assault listeners well before the vocals kick in. The only minor deflation of the hot air that lifts the band above the slew of other acts creating the same type of music is the lack of differentiation of the vocals on “Inveterate”. The style is indistinguishable from that that was so fresh and new during “The Least We Can Do”. The instrumentation meshing with the vocals on “Inveterate” is still interesting and new, so I cannot say that Things Fall Apart have fallen into a rut at this juncture.

Moving into the second half of the disc, Things Fall Apart adopt a much harder, hardcore type of style for “Mired in Lock-Step”. While this is a sea change from the rest of the tracks on the EP, the band’s newly-found fuzz does not seem to be as balanced as the previous tracks on the disc. Sure, the guitars are confidently soaring above the vocals, but there seems to be a discrepancy in the beat that the vocalist follows and the rest of the act follows. The tempestuous sound of Things Fall Apart at this time is listenable, but there are only a few moments on “Mired in Lock-Step” where all elements coalesce into something impressive. The band has made some inroads to creating an interesting and different sound from their first to their second EP, but Things That Fall still have a human side to them that shows weaknesses that are still considerable.

Top Track: The Least We Can Do

Rating: 5.8/10

[JMcQ]