COLISEUM
No Salvation
(Relapse)

TERHEN
Eyes Unfolded
(Firebox)

OXBOW
The Narcotic Story
(Hydra Head)

THESE ARE:
Scare Tactics
(Hold True)

TOMAHAWK
Anonymous
(Ipecac)

CAPITAL
Homefront 

(Revelation)

GET BACK UP
Weathering the Storm

(Organized Crime)

MORE REVIEWS

This does what in my opinion hardcore records should do. First of all, this record doesn’t limit itself to the usual parameters of the genre. Second of all, there is a great sense of melody at work here.  Third of all, Crime in Stereo is Dead is totally void of bullyisms and dumbass ‘I’ll beat your ass just because I am a meathead’ attitude. Fourth of all, Crime In Stereo mixes a good dose of rock and roll into their punk and into their hardcore, making this a lot more palatable for the whole family. “Third Atlantic” for instance, is spacious, and dares to experiment with fragile layered vocals. Fifth of all, the production –courtesy of Mike Sapone- is flawless, round around the edges, bouncy and friendly, it lets the music speak for itself.  All that said, it’s not like Crime Stereo is Dead is a flawless piece of work, far from it, at times some of the vocals are too much on the friendly and easy side, but this sure beats all the conventionalisms of most hardcore bands quickly.

Being not all that familiar with this Levittown, LI band’s previous work, I can only imagine that the preceding two full lengths weren’t as accomplished as this.  Clearly a lot of work went into the making of these songs. The band’s sound is direct but from between tracks we can get a feel that Crime in Stereo was intentionally stretching its limbs into previously unexplored territories. The result has paid off, Crime in Stereo is Dead is certainly filled with tracks that range from the easy to the sprawling.  “Unfortunate Tourists” makes the intent to experiment with alternate tunings and filters; the guitars sound as if passed through a vocoder, but that’s only after the band has spent close to three minutes carefully laying down a paced beat and patient vocals. “Nixon” is emo-ish in its execution and power pop in spirit; enough to give all types of hard music fans at least a bit of what they like.

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