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Long on dissonance, short on songwriting is how I’ve found Retisonic and their Levittown EP. Connection to Dischord aside, the main point that Retisonic has not taken away from bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring is the ability to above all, write a memorable song. That’s why while I wouldn’t go so far as to use a word like “bad;” forgettable, however, certainly springs to mind.

And it’s hard to pin down just where this ship went astray, because many of the pieces are ones that would normally add up to an EP that’s solid at worst. The jarring rhythms and accompanying vocals just simply don’t carry the kind of spark needed for this kind of music. Rather than a post-punk swagger, the feeling that comes across is much more comparable to garage rock and the image of “cool” that genre and its bands are forced to maintain. The listless manner in which the vocals are delivered by singer Jason Farrell evokes such a feeling of laziness that it’s hard to give any aspects of this EP the time of day. When he sings "Attempts to throttle control have led to nothing more than / A clear understanding of just how loose and careless things have become" over the hum-drum of the guitar, bass, and drums, I can’t help but agree with his position.

It’s hard to care about songs as a listener when the overwhelming feeling is that the band didn’t care themselves. “Curses” is the band at their peak but unfortunately, it’s the first song of the record. The guitars churn at a fevered pitch with drums rolling right in behind, but even then, the vocals seem on a different (read: not good) plane entirely.

A review to match the record -- entirely forgettable.






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    Posted by thing on 2007-02-02 13:44:31

    Totally disagree with this review. Not their best work, but a very enjoyable EP.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 8:10 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Jason, your design is insane (don't believe this reviewer for a sec) and i actually like retisonic a lot more than Bluetip-no offense, i just think retisonic knows how to write melodic stuff where as bluetiip (101 is amazing) was just great at dc style punk...keep going!!!
    jay

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 5:26 PM (EST)

    no.. i mean, like.. REALLY hard
    jason

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 5:25 PM (EST)

    in our defense: writing songs is hard.
    jason

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 12:03 PM (EST)

    i havent heard this yet, but their last lp was awesome. and yes, they are SICK live. i sort of expected them to be the next big thing in their genre. i guess they jsut need the right push from the right people.

    Posted by benz on 2007-01-11 00:17:56

    Just to defend the Justin Timberlake in top of 2006...

    It actually is a solid record. It's really Timbaland's album anyway, he wrote all the music, my boy JT just sings on it. It all adds up to a respectable work... about stuff like doing it and dancing.

    That being said, "Futuresex/Lovesounds" was NOT better than Converge's new album. No way.

    -benz

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 7:53 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Joe--No need to defend yourself or Jason. I bought this ep a while ago and it fucking rules (love these new songs) and you guys live are one of those most intense live bands i've ever seen. Jason nearly killed himself climbing atop his amp and your drumming is just sick. Fuck reviews anyway-- they really mean almost nothing...people, just buy this and judge for yourself.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 5:33 PM (EST)

    This is Joe from Retisonic, I was also in Garden Variety and toured with Jason in Bluetip. I could care less about this reviewer's retarded sense of any record let alone a record I was on and an ep we released on the heals of what we feel is gonna be a great new record. Jason Farrell is one of my favorite singers and lyricists in all of music. I am always floored when someone considers anything he writes "forgettable" but I guess any press is good press so either way I'm all smiles. The strange thing about this review is that the title song is a favorite over in Europe/Spain/Italy etc...so I'm always confused by people's opinions.

    "Bluetip-lite" is a funny way of not understanding what the fuck we're actually doing up there but if it makes you happy to slag us off as more of the same well go right ahead, the people who get it, get it.

    Posted by Scruffy on 2007-01-10 14:35:50

    I saw this band open for Jets To Brazil something like four years ago. They bored the crap out of me. The other opener, The Love Scene, was awesome, however.
    Also, every single Retisonic CD I've seen looks like it's the same one. It's bad repetitive artwork. I thought this was a review of the CD they were selling at that show, until I saw the date.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 7:09 AM (EST)

    Shoot, is this EP really that bad or what?

    I mean Retisonic may play like Bluetip-lite, but I can't recall Mr. Farrell ever writing a record that let me down before.

    Posted by mustard on 2007-01-09 20:21:46

    Is this band even from Levittown? Ive never even heard of them.

    Posted by sweetsuperior on 2007-01-09 15:43:20

    retisonic has never topped bluetip, but i stil have high hopes for future releases. nevertheless, i have a man-crush on jason farrell.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 11:36 AM (EST)

    While this record very well be exactly as this reviewer says, I'd like to remind everyone this tool had Justin Timberlake in his top record of 2006. This site revolves around independent (if not the label, then the mindset behind the artist/band) bands so the reviewer is a bit of a fuck-face to begin with.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 11:23 AM (EST)

    If this is the song that starts out with just guitar and simple muted bar chords, then I agree that song is great. Not sure what the point is in putting out an EP, usually seems like filler put out inbetween full lengths. The singer/guitarist was the guy from DC hardcore band Swiz, Sweetbelly Freakdown and Bluetip and I think fans of his guitar playing and song writing would also be into Retisonic.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2007-01-09 00:42:03

    Crime in Stereo, The Movielife > this EP

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 12:09 AM (EST)

    The title track on this EP is really good.

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