House Vs. Hurricane’s newest album ‘Crooked Teeth’ is the band’s first full length since their complete lineup change. New lead vocalist Dan Casey leads this Australian post-hardcore effort in an unrelenting, hardcore rock fest that never stops punching you in the face with everything you love about post-hardcore music.
‘Crooked Teeth’ is an interesting mix of super heavy guitars, drums, and vocals with melodic choruses sung by clean vocalist Ryan McClerie, and the songs that are able to balance these two sides of the spectrum. ‘Big Trouble’ employs technical guitar elements and McClerie’s clear voice in the chorus, which smashes up against Casey’s gruff screams and the chugging guitars and pounding drums. The same goes with ‘Lost World,’ which has so many layers that keeps it from getting lost in the album.
Perhaps the best track, though is ‘Moon Shine,’ which is more centered around McClerie’s clear, almost pretty voice. The music on this track is simple and doesn’t overpower either McClerie or Casey’s voices. Casey screams surprisingly beautiful lyrics and the instruments remain restrained, but retain the heavy elements the band excels at. It is hard to find post-hardcore bands that are able to strike such a perfect balance between melodic and heavy elements, and it is refreshing to find it on ‘Crooked Teeth.’
On the other side of these beautifully balanced tracks is ones filled with heavy elements that only serve to drown out the technical and more melodic elements that make them stand out. Constant chugging guitars and unrelenting pounding drums may sound good in theory, but it’s way overused and heavy-handed on some tracks, like ‘Get Wrecked’ and ‘Haters Gonna Hate,’ which end up sounding bland and overdone. Focusing more on the technical elements and arrangements instead of relying on loud sounds and rhythms will take House Vs. Hurricane to another level.
House Vs. Hurricane is talented beyond doubt. They use very interesting arrangements that are able to make their songs unique and they aren’t afraid to mix styles and genres within their songs. The last track on the album proves this, as ‘Bare Bones’ relies on simple electronic music and McClerie’s simple vocals for a romantic ballad type song, full of crescendos and piano melodies that leave you in a completely different place than where you started. It’s a beautiful song done with such delicacy it’s hard to believe it came from the same band that previously gave you Bring Me the Horizon-esque ‘Dead Lizard.’
‘Crooked Teeth’ proves that House Vs. Hurricane isn’t phased by their new lineup and the challenges that inevitably come with such an upset. While some moments feel heavy for the sake of being heavy, others are technical and powerful. If this band can strike a more coherent balance, they will be one to watch in the future.
3.5/5
‘Crooked Teeth’ by House Vs Hurricane is out now.
House Vs Hurricane links: Website|Facebook
Words by Jenny Gagas.
