Monday 1 February 2016

#292: CRANSTON - STOATGOBBLER



2015.
Crust Punk.
Self Released.



You know what they say, you gotta start somewhere. The debut EP by Cranstøn (presumably named after actor Bryan Cranston) is a self recorded, one man in his bedroom, Bratty Lo-Fi Punk EP that is over in less than 8 minutes. In true Punk style, it doesn't sound like it took too long to write and record, and the somewhat humourous lyrics and song titles suggest it is a tongue in cheek effort. It's quite rough around the edges in terms of both songwriting and recording. The dirty, garage guitar and bass sound is certainly the highlight of this record, and to be fair Mr. Cranstøn can certainly belt out a few good riffs, the highlight definitely being "Macarena Murder Party", which has some lovely bass playing too. The drum sound (probably programmed) is rather basic and forgettable and the vocals need some refining. The EP ends with a Misfits cover that shows the direction Cranstøn could be heading in.


Overall I'd say this debut EP is a semi-enjoyable release that you might listen to once or twice and then forget about. But as for Mr. Cranstøn, I think the thing he will take away most from this experience is that he is on his way to writing and recording all by himself. Learning to record and mutli-track demos all by yourself is one of the most worthwhile things a musician can do. I think if he can find a like minded bunch of misfits and form an actual band playing this style, his craft will certainly improve. Hopefully in 5 years time he will listen back to this release and think "oh man, this sucks, the stuff I'm making now is 1000 times better!" 5/10.

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