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| widowdusk - "selftitled" Label: Zegema Beach Records |
WIDOWDUSK are the sort of phenomenon that's simply possible in a genre like Screamo. They were/are a huge part of the most exciting, local scene right now, the scene in and close to Apple Valley, California. Built on the shoulders of self versed records, the success of its founder's band VS SELF, and the subsequently popularity by KNUMEARS, WIDOWDUSK became something like the first "stars" of said scene. That's the beauty of something like Screamo. The amount of people listening to this -objectively speaking- weird kind of music may be small, but for once, all of this people are passionate about it (you're either "in" or you're "out", you know?) and secondly, they're connected like fuck. The one dude from the Fiji Islands that's listening to Screamo will check out the demo by this new Screamo band from El Salvador, the day it was uploaded on Bandcamp...
Plus, Screamo always was a young movement, so we'll probably don't have to worry about new bands or listeners going forward. So, the hype was real with WIDOWDUSK. In their local scene (at least judging from video footage) as well as on the internet. They didn't release much music up to 2023, tho their defining output definitely was their EP "I know where we're at, not where we're going". Stylistically they roughly settled inbetween VS SELF and KNUMEARS, not as close to Midwest-/Twinkle-Emo as the former and not as close to desperate Screamo like the latter. The community seemed to love their style. And personally I liked it too... tho, I didn't get the hype.
Until now, I guess?! Cause their debut album (and presumably last release) is on another level. However, I can see why these tracks already polarized, as the guys from WIDOWDUSK made some changes. Instead of holding on to the screamy, Midwest-ish Emo from before, they rather head in the direction of JEROMES DREAM, ORCHID or LOVE LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. Meaning, more "Screamo" and Emoviolence, more aggression, shorter tracks, a mostly faster pace, breakdowns, mosh parts and some chaos thrown-in. In that way they also moved closer to some of their local buddies, like ONEWAYMIRROR, VERSERA or LETSMAKENOTHINGHAPPEN (with members by WIDOWDUSK).
This new Screamo generation is really goofy, so they do things like WIDOWDUSK do at the beginning and the end of this album. The positive thing about the opener "Take a Trip" is that it actually is kinda funny, like a parody of a Folk-/Country-track with those stereotype lyrics "no money in our pocket, but that's alright". It's alright and all nice, but the context isn't right. Let it start with the second track and everything is really alright! With the last two tracks they get back to being funny, with another, pretty messy Folk ballad and the outro that is them singing "Stand by me" in a car. This is the stuff where they'll look back at in 20 years and say to theirselves "how stupid and pointless was that?".
Luckily, these three throw-away cuts are at the beginning and at the end of the record. The seventeen and a half minutes inbetween are downright perfect and some of the best Screamo I've heard in years! Those seven tracks fit together and just flow naturally. The cool thing, however, is that they differ a lot from each other, so ultimately every one of them can stand for itself and is important to the whole record. The 45-second blast that is "Fucking assholes and their compact cars!" as well as the more melodic, and totally epic "It's a Kurt thing, YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND", with its irresistible rhythmics. The supreme rhythms and the groove of all these cuts is what sets this album on another level. They too got way more dynamic in their songwriting compared to where they were with the EP from 2022.
WIDOWDUSK continue with "Australia hates you (JVB song)", that starts as a distorted beauty in best JEROMES DREAM-fashion. They soon get to melodic territories, before wrecking the track up completely and drifting into pure chaos. And all that in 89 slim seconds. The cautious "Sleep through it" is next and this one stands out with spoken words by a female voice. That voice guides through the whole song, but is occasionally interrupted by a few screams and a crescendo near the end. This is like the Screamo-version of MERCHANT SHIPS' "Sleep Pattern", I'd say. Once again, WIDOWDUSK turn it upside down with "Siamo Cowboy Senza Pistole!". A track against war and all the blind violence that is going on in the world. That song is among the most memorable on the record and a cult classic in the making. Again, awesome drum patterns, a cool and bleak guitar, sick screaming and on top of it a nice western feeling from time to time, to make it something special. "The One where we chant" is the longest cut on the album, clocking in at 4 minutes, and follows a pretty classic structure. Sensitive Emo-melodies to get things going, then a Screamo-part and the catchy crew shouts, that get furious, leading to a climax and a nice, melodic conclusion. "Meow!" ends the 7-track-string and kinda melts everything from the six tracks before together. From the fast, screaming parts to the Post-Rock-ish crescendos, from the chaos to the reduced, sensitive melodies. As I said before, I really like the rhythms and the grooves on this record... though it's not like WIDOWDUSK's full length is a full on assault. In fact, it's really fucking melodic. The clash of "the beautiful" and "the ugly" is done to near perfection here. It's nothing new, and they never try to reinvent the wheel of emotional Hardcore, but it's a timeless formula that will always work.
You can probably feel my excitement with this record and that definitely comes as a surprise to myself. As much as I love everything that is going on in and around Apple Valley, I always felt that WIDOWDUSK's back catalogue is a bit overrated. But this one here, seems to be underrated by some. I can see why their older fans don't like this album as much, but for me, they totally stepped up to their reputation. If it wasn't for the three fillers this would be a hard contender for AOTY already...
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