Let’s Trade Records, Relaxor Records – 30 Sep 2022
Mish-mash makes for a melodic masterpiece (FFO: Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Youth of Today)
Whether it’s Quicksand, Power Trip or Fiddlehead, it seems like hardcore kids who move on to different genres knock it out of the park. Add Spell It Out to that list.
This five piece has members living in Northern Jersey and the Hudson Valley and, despite members having long ties to the metallic hardcore scene in that region, this album slipped under my radar until recently. It’s a shame, as the band has released 14 tracks of concise melodic hardcore on Out of Chaos.
The riff to opening track “Wrong Answer” wouldn’t sound out of place on Lifetime’s classic Jersey’s Best Dancers. Singer Jerad Mione croons like Jason Shevchuk (Kid Dynamite, None More Black) while occasionally snarling like the second coming of Ray Cappo (Youth of Today, Better Than A Thousand). Meanwhile, the rest of the band brings the track home with an extended two step outro.
Seemingly unwilling to lift their feet off the accelerator, Spell It Out immediately rips into “Stand Up!” Drummer Brian Labdua pounding out a beat that can only summon circle pits out of VFWs, while Jerad calls out members of the hardcore community who spread hate. I can’t help but think of “Soundtrack for Violence” from CIV’s seminal LP, Set Your Goals.
Album standpoint “TN50” sounds like my favorite Kid Dynamite song “Heart A Tact”. It’s short, sweet and catchy, with a single line for a chorus that you can shout at the band if you know the words—or bark along with the “hey[s]” if you don’t.
The instrumentation of the final track “Ol’ Yeller” evokes the sound of early Saves the Day and Movielife records. Guitarists Pat Lane and Greg Nolen trade off between power chords and octaves which build to the crescendo, where Jared begs the listener to put him out of his misery like the titular canine character.
While I’ve spent most of this review comparing the LP favorably to my favorite records, none of the songs manage to sound wholly derivative of the influences Spell It Out wears on their sleeves. The alchemy seems to emerge from their angular songwriting, where no song dwells unnecessarily on any given influence, thereby ensuring that the whole record sounds fresh in 2022. Give it a spin — or whatever they call it when you listen to music on Bandcamp.
Once hailing from the salty tundra of Syracuse, NY, Ben now calls the DC suburbs his home. He fell in love with punk after listening to Punk-O-Rama 3, Less Than Jake and MXPX in middle school. He loves to slam dance but is too large to stage dive.
When he’s not pretending to have exquisite musical taste, he’s raising two children, designing RPG products and practicing law. (Who knows if he’ll ever get the hang of it.)
