REVIEW: Linebacker Dirge – Low self-esteem engine | The Gown - student newspaper at Queen's University Belfast.

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REVIEW: Linebacker Dirge – Low self-esteem engine

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Genres of music come and go with the passing of time, and as such, people are always striving to find the next sound, whether it is via experimentation, a carefully captured moment of inspiration, or the union of different genres. In this case, Linebacker Dirge takes the bold, ill-advised move of merging folk rock with angst-ridden emo, creating ‘Low Self Esteem Engine’: the sound of someone obstinately forcing a square peg into a round hole, producing disastrous results.

BY CHRIS JOHNSON

The title of the opening track, ‘The Start of Something Awful’, is regrettably accurate. Jason Gibson clumsily rasps vocals seemingly through gritted teeth and wired jaws, often rhyming off as many words as possible in one breath, resulting in an unbalanced muffled mess.

‘Quarterback Spy’ sounds as though the master tapes were shredded and sewn back together. Guitar and piano lines are often ground into an atonal paste through poorly chosen effects. Again, the vocals here are utterly intolerable, auto-tuned beyond decipherability and recognition, far surpassing the possibility of enjoyment.

Gibson’s grating lyrics attempt poetic sentimentality, but sound obtuse and reek of the melodramatic tones of an upset teenager. This leaves listening to ‘Low Self Esteem Engine’ a tiresome task, and to find a redeeming feature is just as exhausting.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Arts + Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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