Appleseed Cast
The End Of The Ring Wars
[Deep Elm]
Rating: 4.0
Upon reading The End of the Ring Wars on the spine of the new Appleseed Cast
disc, I immediately thought of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. However, aside from
the vague Hobbit-like visage of the child on the cover, there were no other obvious
Tolkienisms on this record. Please humor me as I extend this metaphor to its
extremes.
If the indie music scene is J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle- Earth, with each
race (dwarf, human, elf, troll, etc.) representing the various sub-genres of indie-
rock, emo-core would most definitely be Hobbit. Hobbits are an amiable, peaceful
race with furry feet. Emo is inoffensive, melodic rock with shaggy bowlcuts and
sideburns. As Gandolf the Wizard explains, Hobbits once had an adventurous and
nomadic past, but eventually settled down into tunnels, smoked pipes and got lazy
and fat. As Brent the Critic explains, emo kids once offered a refreshing,
energetic take on loud melodic rock, bleeding through their fingers and larynx,
spiced with quiet, plaintive moments, but eventually settled down into clichés
and patterns and cannibalized the genre.
Following the breadcrumb trail of Sunny Day Real Estate and Mineral, Appleseed Cast
instinctively churn out what they should play instead of what they could play. The
vocals stress "feelings" (e.g. sad, lonely, mournful, sorrowful, etc.) over
comprehensibility. The monotone uni- dimensionality becomes robotic. Don't these
kids ever get silly? These boys produce more unleavened, flavorless, mass- produced
product than the fine folks at Maneschewitz. The only distinguishing characteristic
that Appleseed Cast can claim as their own is the ubiquitous "farty" bass tone.
"Stars" floats above this batch on a cloud of originality thanks to tidal feedback
and smooth sax. The sax pops back up in the finale, a bit more gimmicky, and
clashes like Kenny G. over the Smashing Pumpkins. But after the final cymbal crash,
the music leaves my brain, immediately washed clean by the more interesting ambient
sounds of the air- conditioner.
-Brent DiCrescenzo