I seem to have a run of writing up reviews about bands that i know nothing about till i go see them at Blackwire because of another band that I want to see, and they end up leaving enough of an impression to buy their music and write something up about them. Maybe because it's more interesting to write about bands that i have no prior knowledge of. And just like Mr. Sterile Assembly, these guys who are dubbed thee Jurassic Penguin, are also from our "wannachupbro" neighbours of New Zealand, yeah i know, i could've think up of a million and one stereotypes and i went for the most obscure one, so sue me.
I wish i had something interesting to write about their live performance, but i had a few drinks that night so here's what i remember of it...chaotic, exciting and very good, enough to incite me to buy some merch and talk to them for a while. and they are good dudes, they make all their merch, CDs, tours, everything! Thats something i can appreciate, seeing as how they are fairly young dudes as well. Okay, onto the album/EP/whatever.
I forgot how much i paid for the CD, but it must've been alot, probably, cause there are 15 tracks on this album, and maybe its my unhealthy sharp attention to detail, but there seems to be a pattern of the order with the length of the songs
1-2 is 2:10ish,
3-5 is 1:55ish,
6-7 is 0:59ish,
then it seems like it sort of breaks the pattern with
8 being 3:55,
9 is 2:52,
10 is 2:10,
11 is 3:19 and
12 being 3:50
before i realised that in itself contains another sort of up and down pattern.
Then the last 3 tracks are 5:00, 1:42 and 11:44 respectively. This EP is all in all 46.24 minutes long, but i don't think the pattens even mean anything so whatever.
You don't have to think too hard as to where Jurassic Penguin got their influences from, its basically oozing out of the speakers, however saying Converge is too easy and unfair since Jane Doe has basically started a new generation of hardcore music and millions of bands are emulating their sound and presence, so that doesn't give J.P any credit. That being said it is the sort of hardcore punk that would fit the Deathwish lineup, and whenever thats a good thing or not would be entirely up to personal judgement.
So as i hinted earlier, this is the metallic-twinged emotional hardcore that fans of Hope Conspiracy, Poison The Well and Coliseum would enjoy, and these guys sure know how to pack the punch in their tunes, further enhanced by an omission of slick production, though it seems a bit obvious that this album was recorded on different days in different settings.
One profound extent here is that Jurassic Penguin know how to write up some satisfying wall-smashing melachony hardcore hits, complete with crushing riffs and menacing vocals, but when every song they write is top quality, it can be quite counter productive.
The only thing that lets the album down here is that as many rememberable songs are here, there are some forgettables here too, but it isn't because there are filler tracks here, theres plenty of variety, doesn't fall under the trap that many bands do and drags unnecessary parts out and there's enough momentum to keep your attention. I found however that it was a problem when i had a hard time picking out my favourite songs because there was so many and together they all meld in too much with each other.Had this maybe been split up into smaller EPs the individual songs would have a bigger impact than altogether where some tunes hog up more spotlight than others, which is a shame because most of, if not all of the songs here are winners but having them all together just misteps that magic of intensity that is well captured here.
That is my only constructive criticism though, and maybe it crawls along personal judgement i was talking about earlier with this particular sort of hardcore music, and yes i know Jane Doe was also roughly the same length, but thats like comparing your brothers small speed metal band to Iron Maiden. Maybe they put all the songs on one album because of reasons other than creative intuition. For the record I have nothing against long albums, i listen to Sunn O))) for crying out loud.
Jurassic Penguin should have more bigger exposure, and this album will lead them on the right path. It's the likeable and accessible hardcore that would win many people over. It's got everything that you want in all of its tense-drenced glory. And like i said earlier, every track here are winners and there's nothing more you could ask with a collective of music full of strength, vigour, angst and youth. If you had a mountain-pushing machine you wanted to use to push a mountain over, put this on as fuel and it will knock it down and reduce it to pebbles. Through and through it is utterly relentless, even if ofttimes a bit misguided, Jurassic Penguin can very well be the next band to take the torch of metallic hardcore.
http://jurassicpenguin.bandcamp.com/album/your-ideas-are-getting-worse
UPDATE: I gotta tell ya, you don't get more chilled and awesome guys than Jurassic Penguin, i had a chat with Chris from JP and theres also the comment below this post from Matt.
I had a hunch that this was more of a collective of songs than a proper written album, and to be blunt i was worried that what i said would break these guys hearts or something, maybe make for good inspiration to start a emo/metalcore band perhaps but still.
However my fears were more than naught, they really seem to appreciate that someone has taken the time to write up a review of their material, and i still mean i say its got some amazing tunes on it, but when you buy this album, which you totally should, instead of expecting an album, instead try expecting a collection of songs written by young dudes going through this crazy thing called life and how releasing an album at all is worthy of achievement.
So yeah thanks heaps guys. They will be coming back to Australia sometime around early next year, they also have some new songs up aswell as another release in the works. Keep an eye on it!
