Excalaim.ca on CELLOS' "Standard and Poor"

Cellos are an emerging modern noise rock trio from the always-gritty Windsor, ON heavy music scene. The bass and guitar tones on Standard & Poor are thick and intense. A rock'n'roll vocal approach in the first song is more melodic than noise rock contemporaries in a way that set Nirvana apart in the original wave; bright, simple guitar leads break up the very aggressive riffing. Cellos aren't afraid to get a little weird with the guitar parts, bringing to mind Kittens in the level of distortion and patterns of the vocals, which, though the occasional jarring word surfaces, often act simply as texture. 

The final track opens with a long vocal and drum passage, which is compressed and gated beyond reason. The riffing begins like a noise rock circus until the song slows into a wall of sludge with a big captivating surge and a tense drum arrangement, invoking a Melvins vibe. Incidental or not, track sequencing on this record gets darker as it moves along, like a gathering storm. 

 

Find the original article on Exclaim.ca ... here.

Author: Steve Reaves

Tags: Cellos, Review