[Hardcore]

The long and Short of it
caw! : an unkindness of ravens

review by Dan Clark

When the words “California” and “hardcore” are out together in a sentence bands such as Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys come to mind, after listening to San Diego band “The Long and Short of it All” I will never make that assumption again. The Long and Short or of it all (TLSOA) can best be related to Washington’s punk band of the 1980s if they played reggae and punk at the same time in the same song than The long and Short of it all would sound exactly the same. The only break downs that the band has seem to be written with Bob Marley and Reggae music in mind. Although not many things can be said about them they are a very musical band that knows what it takes write a melodic song. The drums seem to keep the guitarist and bass player in time with each other while adding a personal flare in a fill what seems to be every other measure, which is refreshing to hear today where most hardcore drummers play virtually the same beat throughout the entire song. The bass and guitar players of the band will play the typical chugging that you hear in most hardcore today, but will suddenly jump into a reggae pop riff when you don’t expect it. The only thing that is not musical in the band is the vocalist which can be said about most hardcore bands. However most hardcore vocalist at least write lyrics to match the music, though the timing between the music and the lyrics yelled and sometimes sung don’t seem to match up. This may be a good band, this may be bad band, either way they are a very interesting band who writes hardcore rock (which sounds more like reggae than rock) and they deserve a shot. I will credit vocalist Ben Johnson with writing about society which a lot of bands tend to veer away from these days. The song ABDOEL is about people worshiping the actors and actresses of Hollywood. They have a new CD out entitled “The long and Short of it caw! : an unkindness of ravens” which a few of those songs can be viewed on their Myspace including the band’s recently released video for their song “Turtle Island 2012”. Ultimately they have a very unique sound which can’t be said of most hardcore bands and if you like the songs “Banned in DC” and “I love Ja” by the Bad Brains, you will like this band.



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