Speakyourheart - This Is How We Communicate


Speakyourheart, a four piece band from Eastbourne UK aren't afraid to lump themselves into the dying genre that is emo and certainly aren't afraid to cite influences that perhaps, even I would have happily name dropped within the explosion of school friendly inoffensive emo six or seven years ago. Everything from the band name, to the album name ('This Is How We Communicate') and even the artwork is Speakyourheart's way of doing exactly what emo says on the tin and sadly, the music side of them is happy to follow suit.

Opening track, 'Oh Brother We're Art Now' is Speakyourheart's most challenging and defining track, clattering in with upbeat, uncompromising drums and acoustic guitar melodies that beg for the distortion to be let loose to spill it into a hardcore offering. It isn't long before you realise that this will never actually happen as the acoustic noise subsides to allow Anberlin-esque vocals to take over which while may not be especially terrible on the ear, they also aren't anything particularly new or worth swooning over unless you are a sixteen year old girl.

It is actually hard to feel engaged on a musical level on any other track because to a large extent, they mould into one song and not into a beautiful floating post-rock sort of musical act, just into a dull, they've obviously run out of ideas and perhaps should have just hammered out a good Ep rather than a painfully dull album. Jimmy Eat World mixed with Dashboard Confessional this attempts to be but comes off a tired version of The Scene Aesthetic and let's be honest, The Scene Aesthetic were never that great and the call for music like this really has passed, it just has no spirit and no balls, avoid.

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