Frank Passantino is the person behind Library Hours. His self-released self-titled release Library Hours contains five songs. On his Bandcamp page he describes it as a screamo solo project.
The EP gets going with “Faceplant” and his label as screamo certainly seems justified within the first minute. I literally couldn’t understand a word that he was screaming. It really takes over the song to such a degree I wasn't focusing on the very cool instrumental parts. The screaming is usually manic and aggressive. It often sounds like he is in pain and this is the cathartic scream.. Up next is “Sink” and it opens with some great musical instrumentation. It was again hard to concentrate on that however as soon as the ultra intense vocal screaming came into the mix. That being said I loved the intensity. He takes it down a couple of notches on “Better Luck Next Year” which ends up sounding like pop punk with more slurred words that don’t have much separation between them. “NYC Sweater” was so lo-fi and distorted at times I couldn’t make out much besides white noise, vocals and a distant drum beat. “Burden” is also lo-fi but also had some great melodies and emotion. As an engineer myself I would say this release was occasionally too lo-fi for me to analyze properly. I think working with an engineer and producer would be an obvious next step so the tracks can be treated for more fidelity. That being said his talent still shined and really loved his approach. I was impressed he handled this all on his own. The instrumentation was often underplayed and he has some skills as a guitarist and drummer. I would say he could utilize his vocals a little differently in terms of the engineering and delivery in a way where the whole package could gain equal attention instead of just the often dynamic vocals. Overall, this album has some really good songs and ideas. I think working with a full band would be an interesting next step as well. This felt like a project that would benefit from playing live in a room with other people at some point. I wish him luck in his evolution with this project.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Critique/insightWe are dedicated to informing the public about the different types of independent music that is available for your listening pleasure as well as giving the artist a professional critique from a seasoned music geek. We critique a wide variety of niche genres like experimental, IDM, electronic, ambient, shoegaze and much more.
Are you one of our faithful visitors who enjoys our website? Like us on Facebook
Archives
April 2024
|