Eniac |
 |
Eniac sit atop a fountain of energy. It’s always difficult to put your finger on the exact ingredient that makes a recording sound so full of life and energetic, but it’s something you always recognize when you hear it. So yeah, Eniac are a lively prospect who don’t allow you to sit still while they play. At the very least, your finger is going to be tapping…rapidly.
Coming out of Hamburg with less fanfare than many of their American peers, Oh? doesn’t lack at all in violent rock spirit, and from one angle they can sit perfectly comfortably amongst the modern hardcore alumni of The Blood Brothers or even the more commercial variant of Thursday. Shades of Refused even surface at times too (well, check out ‘Instrumentalist’), but Eniac offer something a little more quirky amongst the aggression. This is where the Les Savy Fav comparisons come into action, because there’s that playful arty aspect to tunes too, and even while you are being bombarded by noise, there is still the inclusion of humour and lightness amongst dark.
The perfect examples are the pair to end the CD, ‘Ken and Barbie’ and ‘Superfriends’. Both remastered from a previous single, they stand out as more lighthearted. However, they also lack the urgency and power of album opener ‘We Did Things’, which is probably the standout track here. In terms of mood, the songs feel like a world apart, when in reality it’s only an eight-song separation.
As a whole, though, Oh? passes in a blur. The pace is continually high charged with sinewy guitar riffs flying around like a hyper-active rodent, and solid metallic bass grooves holding the rhythm together with the vicious drumming. All that’s left then is for the screaming vocals to begin and complete the possible energy equation. So many bands never quite get it right, but Eniac caught the feeling and went with it. There is some bleeding between the tracks, and as it flies by it’s not always clear where one thing ends and another begins. However, with a mantra of “dance ‘til your heart starts to bleed,” Oh? is well worth a shot.
Steven McCarron
:: back to top ::