Album Review: Heartsounds - 'Until We Surrender'

From death/thrash to punk-rock, a pretty drastic change, but for Ben Murray and Laura Nichol, the duo that are Heartsounds, the crossover was seamless. Formerly members of Light This City, the pair have released their debut album, full of dual vocal-led, aggressive melodic punk rock. One of most impressive things about this record is the fact that Murray recorded the guitars, vocals, bass and drums himself. He has done a top notch job as you could be forgiven for thinking Heartsounds were a well tuned band of musicians who have been playing together for years due to the tight performance, which is consistent throughout the entire album.

The songs take few risks, sticking to a pretty standard verse/chorus structures, this record could be viewed as the pair's shot at the mainstream, but thankfully they have kept some of the grit from their past saving the songs from becoming weak. The guitar melodies are a standout feature, and in most cases are more memorable than the vocal lines. The drum patterns are simple but effective, standard rock beats that compliment the rest of the instruments and provide the majority of the album's energy.

Vocally Murray and Nichol are the Method Man/Redman of the punk world, almost like an annoying romantic couple who finish each others sentences, it is difficult to hear where one ends and the other begins. This works well however and is one of the defining elements of this band.

Opening track 'The Song Inside Me,' is one of the highlights, starting with a balance of gritty and polished guitar tones and exploding with a fast punk beat and bright vocal melodies. Really you couldn't ask for much more from a melodic punk rock group, making these guys a band to discover.

The reasons for the pair's drastic genre change are only really known to them and really don't matter in the grand scheme of things as this record is good, and they seem better suited to this style. Heartsounds have released a solid debut and now have the tricky task of finding some band members and replicating this tight energy live.

1 The Song Inside Me

2 Highway Robbery

3 Until We Surrender

4 Reoccurring Grey

5 I Climbed For Miles

6 Walking Dead

7 Slave To A Heart That Strays

8 Piñata

9 Return

10 No Way Out

11 10,000

12 Our Last Hope