Brisbane’s pop-punk upstarts Two Times Shy are soaring lofty heights as they let loose their …
8
Pushing the limits
Make Them Suffer’s willingness to push the limits of their own sound isn’t given enough credit. They’re virtually unrecognisable from Neverbloom, and even Old Souls only bears similarities in varying moments to their new record Worlds Apart.
The groove of Dead Plains sees the new blood of Jaya Jeffery on bass made clear. Where often they’d run into blast beats, Worlds Apart is content to let piano keys drip, linger, and flutter. Uncharted’s keys, arguably the record’s standout track, dances around a riff that’ll easily please Old Souls fans (Tim Madden’s steady hand on drums keeps them grounded, as well as a crisp metronome in Power Overwhelming). It also allows new keyboardist/vocals Booka Nile to make an identity for herself on the album’s opener The First Movement. Nick McLernon’s guitar pops are catchier than the vocals in this aspect which is no small feat.
Make Them Suffer have proved themselves adept at reinventing their sound with each release; move on with them, or get out of the way.
When the riffs err closer to their older sound, that’s where Worlds Apart begins to falter. We become so accustomed to a new sound and suddenly it’s the same over again. No wonder Fireworks was the first breach into the fresh water. During a first run through, the eerie vocal similarities of Nile to her predecessor Louisa Burton cut a little too close. When she pierces through in Save Yourself and Grinding Teeth it’s a shock. We’re just not used to those soothing vocals turned into a contrast, but it’s a case of us having to adapt to change rather than a step in the wrong direction. They’re well done and infuse a new breath of life into the band’s sound.
Vocalist Sean Harmanis is still the beating heart of the band and his turn on Vortex and its clever morse code scream pattern is one of the best we’ve heard this year. Similarly his pained outro on Save Yourself may run dry a few listens in for some. But on its first (and still for us), it’s powerful to hear him break “I have been wrong!” Make Them Suffer have proved themselves adept at reinventing their sound with each release; move on with them, or get out of the way.
