Wednesday, February 18, 2009

THIS MONTH IN AP

VANNA
A New Hope
Epitaph

A New Hope is interesting for about 30 seconds. The first guitar riff heard on Vanna's sophomore full-length is unsteady, slightly distorted and painstakingly detuned. You can't quite tell what direction the band are heading; will they be ripping off Sonic Youth or the Foo Fighters? The anticipation is almost tantalizing. Then "Into Hell's Mouth We March" starts, and funtime's over. The remaining 41 minutes of A New Hope are achingly pro forma screamo/post-hardcore. Every riff and breakdown is a copy of a copy of a copy; there's absolutely nothing of note to say about the album itself, only that it exists. The only thing left to wonder about this gray lump of by-the-numbers bark 'n' croon is whether they meant the title "The Sun Sets Here" to refer to their genre, or just their careers.

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