BASEMENT - 'Promise Everything' review

BASEMENT - 'Promise Everything' review

So after a short hiatus, BASEMENT are back with another ten tracks of their heavily 90s-influenced grunge / emo sound, and to be fair, I'm pretty glad they reformed because this is as good as anything that I've heard them do before. It's thick on the guitars with some great, emotive chordwork (that's brighter than what I recall of 'Colour Me in Kindness'), straight and heavy on the bass and drums, and as well as having some really good vocal melodies, the vocalist still plays on that dynamic between his slow, soft, and droney voice, his bigger, fuller singing voice, and that almost-shouting that he does, which gives this a lot of depth and helps to pace the songs and create some pretty big moments. There's something really cool about the simplicity of BASEMENT's stuff; it eschews any technical flare in favour of quite basic playing styles and arrangements, so it's easy to get into and will stick to you really quickly. If you liked their previous stuff (I really liked 'Colour...', and this is a great, if a little brighter, follow up) then you should have no problem getting into this, but if you're not already a fan but you like MILK TEETH, TIGERS JAW, or grunge / emo from the 90s, then this is as good of a place to start as any. My favourite tunes on here are the opener 'Brother's Keeper', the catchiest number 'Aquasun', and the closer 'Halo' which is simple but wonderful, so they might be a good place to start.

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xox