Live review from Underground 102:
Setlist:
1. 當需要變成習慣 Hold Up
2. 不知道失去了什麼 Don’t Know What I’ve Missed
3. 對未來認識了多一些 About My Future
4. 離分開不完 Not Far
5. 438
Say You Care was an oddly perfect closer to the show, or it was for me anyway. My ambivalence and confusion at the last set was echoed throughout their songs and it was reassuring in a weird way. Which works just fine – the bulk of bands that may be called post-rock rely on this very feature, to be able to start and end a song on the same note of uncertainty-inducing chords that are at the same time powerful. It’s interesting to me that they call themselves “indie power-pop”, because their sound appears to be the very antithesis of this notion. Lots of strangled-sounding prickly, jagged guitars set to near-soulful singing or high-pitched screaming. Their rhythm section is particularly adept at building up lots of momentum to propel the song through the sometimes disjointedly arranged vocal bits. At many points they were reminiscent of the lostprophet’s first album (Fake Sound of Progress) but with way better (if slightly unsettling), somewhat Billy Corgan-like singing – which is a terrific place to be, really. They also appear to have the habit of teasing the audience by starting off songs with non-sequiturs; 不知道失去了什麼 started off with a super-saccharine acoustic-pop like bit, only to move into the tumultuous and grinding waters of their regular sound. 438 too started off startlingly jazzy but moved into a chugging head-bangable song really quick. This habit, I strongly endorse because if done well it makes songs that much more interesting. 離分開不完 was so much a colourful and chromatic song that it almost sounded like another awesome local band, Hungry Ghosts, and was a welcome change of mood. Overall, an engaging and highly charged set which was a great way to close the night (even if it didn’t provide much closure).
— Shashwati Kala
