{"id":65210,"date":"2018-07-20T15:00:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=65210"},"modified":"2018-07-22T14:16:46","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T13:16:46","slug":"review-trailblock-think-or-be-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-trailblock-think-or-be-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: TailBlock &#8211; Think or Be EP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-65211 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-300x298.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"298\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-300x298.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-600x596.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-768x763.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-1024x1018.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-465x462.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be-503x500.jpg 503w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TailBlock-Think-or-Be.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Life is all about the journey, not the destination&#8221;, or so the famous quote says. \u2018<em>Think or Be<\/em>\u2019, the second EP from Dartford three-piece <strong>Tailblock<\/strong>, embodies this perfectly. Over six tracks, we\u2019re taken on a post-hardcore tour. And, while they haven\u2019t quite reached what they\u2019re aiming for, this is a journey worth taking, with much to enjoy on the way.<\/p>\n<p>Opener \u2018<em>Think or Be<\/em>\u2019 features a driving mechanical riff (bringing to mind Taking Back Sunday\u2019s \u2018<em>What\u2019s It Feel Like to be a Ghost<\/em>?\u2019) It gets the toes tapping, drawing you in. Subsequent song, \u2018<em>Heavy Arms<\/em>\u2019 continues this theme. Only it isn\u2019t quite so effective, trading pace for a forced chorus and a fuzzy thrash-around outro. Yet, this is a journey, each stop offering a different take on their sound. After trying something, they move on.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout, a real highlight is the vocals of Gary Ptaszek. With a similar style and feel to the Sleeping\u2019s Doug Robinson, wringing melody and emotion from the lyrics. During <em>\u2018Rocket,\u2019 <\/em>his changing emphasis, frequent yelps and drawn out notes, allows drummer Martyn Kingsmill to weave in affective harmonies. While bassist Jak Coleman also provides backing vocals, adding power when needed. Lyrically, it\u2019s not a happy record, but neither does it wallow. Countering every forlorn \u2018<em>Give me a sense of purpose<\/em>\u2019 with a hint of optimism. An approach that works well with the subtleties of Ptazek\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Tailblock - Heavy Arms\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zk4akXNTEc8?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The biggest leap in style doesn\u2019t arrive until \u2018<em>Blisters<\/em>\u2019. Showcasing the band\u2019s heaviest side, it crams 99% of the EP\u2019s aggression into its opening. The ragged guitar delivery sounding like Reuben at their noisiest, until it suddenly tails off, leaving it feeling rushed and unfinished, unlike follow-up \u2018<em>Listen<\/em>\u2019. Here they play to their strengths; atmospheric verses broken by punchy distortion, instrumental passages filled with angular feedback, drumming that builds, all complimenting the bassy rumble. And that voice. It\u2019s thrilling! Before, finally, we\u2019re left with the optimistic and almost shimmery <em>\u2018100\u2019.<\/em> A coda to the journey. With its refrain of\u00a0 &#8220;<em>I\u2019m here for you&#8221;<\/em>, it\u2019s the sound of comfort, of arriving home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tailblock<\/strong> have <em>almost<\/em> got it. A varied EP overall, \u2018<em>Think or Be<\/em>\u2019 is very strong in places. Showcasing how good they can be and teasing where they will head next.<\/p>\n<p>3\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Think or Be&#8217;<\/em> EP by <strong>TailBlock<\/strong> is out now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TailBlock<\/strong> links:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tailblockband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tailblockband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Life is all about the journey, not the destination&#8221;, or so the famous quote says. \u2018Think or Be\u2019, the second EP from Dartford three-piece Tailblock, embodies this perfectly. Over six tracks, we\u2019re taken on a post-hardcore tour. And, while they haven\u2019t quite reached what they\u2019re aiming for, this is a journey worth taking, with much [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":65211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2269],"tags":[15621,15637,15571],"class_list":["post-65210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-ep-review","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-tailblock","tag-think-or-be-ep"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: TailBlock - Think or Be EP - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Life is all about the journey, not the destination&quot;, or so the famous quote says. \u2018Think or Be\u2019, the second EP from Dartford three-piece Tailblock,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: TailBlock - 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