After cutting their teeth in the sweaty basement halls of the Long Island hardcore scene, Crime in Stereo decided to do something bigger. They released Is Dead in 2007, which was a polarizing sonic shift from the blistering hardcore they built a fan base on. On their latest effort, I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone, the band find themselves once again testing the limits of hardcore, ultimately shattering them through 40 minutes of darkly layered, ferociously energetic music.
With a producer and a hometown in Long Island, it's easy to draw comparisons to Crime in Stereo’s famed friends Brand New. Though they're far from imitating the band, the two acts leaped out of Long Island’s hardcore scene to make remarkably creative and eerie music. Vocalist Kristian Hallbert sounds like Jesse Lacey in his younger days, and both vocalists possess a scream as potent as their soft croon. Describe is like Brand New's Devil and God, but sounds far more guttural and experimental than its predecessors.
The sleepy electronics and silky chants of "Queue Moderns" give way to 30 seconds of grisly energy. The song seeps into "Drugwolf," a dreary tale of addiction that explodes into the biggest chorus the quintet have ever written. A logical step forward from the material on Is Dead, "Drugwolf" is packed with spooky undertones and soaring layers of melody.
The spiraling, schizophrenic "Exit Halo" features a gang chant before exploding into Hallbert's yells and augmented guitar riffs. It's this calm-before-destruction dynamic that keeps Describe enthralling throughout. "Not Dead" proves the band are just that, with Scotty Giffin's pounding kick drum driving guitarist Alex Dunne's buzz saw riffs. The scruffy, Nirvana-tinged chorus rivals "Drugwolf" for post-hardcore single potential, while the feedback-filled bridge is a reminder of the heavy scene that the five-piece grew out of.
A trip down a dark sonic alley, the spooky, anthem-driven chants of the chorus in “Odalisque” give way to the thrashing, bouncy guitars of the song's outro. Hallbert's evolution from basement screamer to poignant singer is more evident than ever on the stirring, stripped-down "Young," in which the vocalist channels the gruffness of Lifetime's Ari Katz and the touching earnestness of Lacey. The track self-destructs into one of the best loud/soft arrangements on the record, showcasing the brilliant soundscape crafted by Sapone.
"Republica" sounds like an angry dance party and packs one of the record's more melodically memorable hooks. With sarcastic lines such as "My starving artists all just bought in/We're going mainstream," the band give no apologies for their constantly evolving sound.
The up-tempo closer "I Cannot Answer You Tonight" is a return to form for the band, and is like a mix of material from their previous records. It's furious, soaring melodic hardcore, and epitomizes the kind of ferociously ambitious record that is Describe.
While hardcore purists might scoff at the massive choruses, copious experimentation, and lack of double-time tempos, fans of music will likely grow to love this brooding, endlessly melodic rollercoaster experience. Crime in Stereo made it clear that they are evolving artists with Is Dead, and this new record is an incendiary reminder of that. Describe is an acoustic achievement, one that few bands in the hardcore scene have the balls to create.
Rating: 9.5/10
Check Out: "Drugwolf," "Not Dead" "Young" "I Cannot Answer You Tonight"
Recommended if you like: Brand New's The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me, Taking Back Sunday's New Again, Polar Bear Club's Chasing Hamburg
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