Bars

Bars: Introducing...Introducing... (2004)
Equal Vision Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

User Rating:

Contributed by: pwfanaticpwfanatic
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Published on November 2nd 2004When I saw on the FrontPage that Give Up the Ghost broke up, I wasn't too happy. With Hope Conspiracy's long legal influenced hiatus, my hardcore world has been a bit empty. Enter with such a force that it makes me want to cry tears of joy, Bars. Featuring the screams of Kevin Baker (Hope Consp.

When I saw on the FrontPage that Give Up the Ghost broke up, I wasn't too happy. With Hope Conspiracy's long legal influenced hiatus, my hardcore world has been a bit empty. Enter with such a force that it makes me want to cry tears of joy, Bars.

Featuring the screams of Kevin Baker (Hope Conspiracy), the guitars of Tim Cossar (Give Up the Ghost), and the maniac that is Jarrod Alexander (ex-Death by Stereo, but more importantly, Suicide File - damn, I miss that band) along with a couple of other hardcore guys filling up the other guitar and bass, Bars are a hardcore heavyweight that the world has never seen before.

The opening track off Introducing… "Bright Lights For Demise" starts off fast and furiously, properly dictating the pace of most of the album to come. It features some excellent genre bending guitar riffs with some of the solos reminiscent of the rock and roll influenced styling of Suicide File. Baker has a scream destined for hardcore, and he is perfectly complimented by the rest of the band. The drums don't just simply rely on double bass or constant crash cymbals, the guitars are doing more than simply chugging along, and the bass follows splendidly. At only 29 minutes, the boys of The Bars do not waste anytime with fancy intros, outros, or mindless filler. Introducing… is a lethal barrage of stripped down rock and roll that never decides if it is hardcore, hardcore punk, or metal.

However, they don't really need to decide anything. Many of the guitar hooks are subtle little ones that almost get drowned out by the subtle touches from all the other musicians. "Up To My Neck" features some excellent guitar work, but most of it doesn't take center stage until Cossar launches into a little simple guitar solo that leads into an excellent finish to the song. Other songs like "Toecutter" plod along with the weight of the world on their shoulders. It slowly beats along with Baker screaming "day by day by day/take us to the grave/day by day by day/how can I be saved?" There isn't much special about the song and one of the few instrumental outros on the album is well suited to the song as it plows along and fades into nothingness.

But just as quickly as it fades, "The Frequencies are Fucked" comes blistering in with fast paced hardcore punk/hardcore that relentlessly batters you back into a frenzy. The way in which Bars are able to make these transitions is fantastic. Each song is no longer than it should be and the album manages to flow completely through despite the genre shifting throughout its entirety. This slow and steady to loud and heavy shift is more evident in the transition between the last two tracks on the album, each at over four minutes.

With Introducing… The Bars have made quite the album. Even with all the slight genre bending that takes place, these guys truly are a hardcore band, as their place on the Equal Vision roster might suggest. Fans that mourn the loss of Suicide File, Give Up the Ghost, and (to a certain degree) the Hope Conspiracy as I do have to drop everything and check these guys out. This album has done a better job of staying in my stereo more than anything other new band I have listened to lately.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (November 19, 2004)

This band sounds like the Bronx... no complaints, just not quite what I was hoping for in a hardcore "supergroup". oh well.

Piebalding (November 19, 2004)

Oh yeah, and Matt Woods plays bass, who also played bass in GUTG, so put him in that namedropping part of the actual review.

Piebalding (November 19, 2004)

This is one badass album! I was a little down that Give Up The Ghost broke up and that The Hope Conspiracy aren't really doing much as of late. This album makes me forget those woes. An awesome punk n' roll album w/ the members' hardcore influences definitely showing on this album as well. Think a heavier version of The Bronx and you're on the right track.

Anonymous (November 8, 2004)

judge rules but this shit isnt girl jean hardcore. you probably like embrace today and one up. this shit fucking rules.

Anonymous (November 8, 2004)

Yo this is hardcore for kids with long fringes and girls jeans.
Go listen to Judge you motherfuckers

Anonymous (November 6, 2004)

HOLY CRAP. I just bought this album (thanks to the review) and it's fucking rocking my world.

OC

Anonymous (November 5, 2004)

This record is like Stove-Top stuffing. Crusty on the outside, and razory goodness in the middle.

Victory Records is the new "pink" this year. Better buy up!

-healthymon

dazed (November 5, 2004)

Actually this sounds very interesting, and I like the mp3.

Anonymous (November 5, 2004)

Has Scott really liked anything lately? I also don't remember him being so tactless when he was part of this site... now he just dispenses grade school insults.