Ruin Everything!:We Versus the Shark

Title: Ruin Everything!

Label: Hello Sir!

Genre: angular post-punk

Rating: 7 of 7

Just when I have given up on the whole angular post-punk movement of my life, some pretentious band comes along and completely astounds me beyond belief. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am talking about Athens’ We Versus the Shark. The four piece consisting of Luke Douglas Fields (baritone/microtone/guitar/vocals), Samantha Erin Paulsen (guitar/vocals), Jeffrey Daniel Tobias (bass/keys/vocals) and drummer Scott Philip Smith aren’t reinventing the genre, but they are utilizing it’s best characteristics and tossing out all the rest of the bullshit. While the comparisons could be endless (Fugazi’s punk aesthetic, Q and not U’s experimentation, Black Eyes’ perfectly balanced dual-front man, Pretty Girls Make Graves’ punk emotion, At the Drive-In’s energy, Bear vs Shark’s off-the-wall lyrics, early Cursive’s guitar wails, Gang of Four’s dance moves, Trail of Dead’s scratchy screams, Hella’s math rock break-downs…), the band is distinctly their own. The only thing that could be better than this album has to be their live show, complete with dance punk breakdowns and instrument swapping Dischord style. This album will not only put We Versus the Shark on the map, but the up and coming Hello Sir Records as well. I think I am going to stop ranting and start the album over again.

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