Showing posts with label *The Number Twelve Looks Like You. Show all posts
Showing posts with label *The Number Twelve Looks Like You. Show all posts

Friday, September 9, 2011

The Number Twelve Looks Like You - 2007 The Number Twelve Looks Like You [Hot Topic Exclusive][EP]


Band : The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Album : The Number Twelve Looks Like You [Hot Topic Exclusive][EP]
Release Year : 2007
Genre : Mathcore | Progressive | Experimental

Tracklist : 
1. Car Commercial (intro)
2. Sleeping With The Fishes, See?
3. Clarissa Explains Cuntainment (demo)
4. Like A Cat (demo)

The Number Twelve Looks Like You is an odd band, and not very well classifiable under a single genre. They themselves have stated that each time they play a show it amazes them to see what kind of audience their music attracts. Pretty well known for their cover of My Sharona, the band have earned themselves a reputation for sounding nothing like anyone but themselves.

With their debut recording, the EP entitled Put On Your Rosy Red
Glasses they entered the musical scene as a frantic technical grindcore band boasting dual vocalists. Soon after, with their debut LP on eyeball records, they proved to be something different. Starting off the record with a riff that could easily be from an indie record, they immediately showed their diversity and their technical skills. If this trend is any indication of what the upcoming record Mongrel is to be, we’ll surely be expecting, to say the least, progression.

With this short 3 song teaser (the intro is just a ridiculous prelude to the music to follow) to their upcoming record, tntllu have proven this trend true. The first track, Sleeping With The Fishes, See?, taken off of Mongrel showcases the frenzied spastic nature of the band while showing a progression in both technicality in instrumentation, vocals, and song structure. The vocals have changed enough to be noticeable to one paying attention, but in no way divert from the overall atmosphere the band puts across. Basically, it’s all just a little more developed; deeper growls, more emotional screams, and a better intertwining of the two vocalists. As the song comes to an end (after breakdown after breakdown), the dual vocalists finish the song off with a great attempt at singing a calming outro (yes, singing).

The remaining two tracks aren’t so much a teaser for the upcoming record, but rather filler to keep the adoring fans of the band satisfied until the release date of Mongrel in late June. The first of the two is a demo of Clarissa Explains Cuntainment from Nuclear,Sad,Nuclear. Almost reminiscent of what their first two offerings of the band would sound like when thrown into a blender, it is chaotic enough to satisfy anyone in search of it and structured enough to be enjoyed by others. The second, a demo of Like a Cat off of the same record follows the same pattern of raw emotion and chaos. Both of the songs’ final mixes prove to have not changed much from these demos, other than a good polishing and tone adjustment. These tracks should surely interest fans of the band, but don’t offer all too much for any newcomers. The main selling point of this EP is that it only costs $1.99. The main downside to this EP is that it is only for sale at Hot Topic stores.


 
 
 
 

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Number Twelve Looks Like You - 2005 Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear


Band : The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Album : Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear
Release Year : 2005
Genre : Mathcore | Progressive | Experimental

Tracklist : 
1. Devil's Dick Disaster
2. Texas Dolly
3. Clarissa Explains Cuntainment
4. Track Four
5. The Proud Parents Convention Held In The ER
6. Ap Aptly Fictional Description
7. Like A Cat
8. Rememberance Dialogue
9. An Exercise In Self-Portraiture: Go Shoot Yourself
10. Opertaing On A Re-Run Episode
11. Track Eleven
12. Category

The Number 12 Looks like you's first full length on Eyeball records. I am so glad these guys got signed to somethign because they rock. Imagine Between The Buried and Me without the lame intervals of mindless wanking and prog rock dickery, then add more creativity and some more spazzyness. That is The Number Twelve Looks Like You (yes, I am inconsistent whther to spell it out or just write 12, herefore, they will be referred to as TNTLLU). Basically, they are a very eclectic blend of genres with grade A in musical proficiency.

This band sounds like they have fun writing and playing which I think is key and their name suggest that they aren't another core band that takes themselves too seriously. If anyone knows what it means, do tell because I haven't yet found it. It's not joke music, but it's not exactly serious either.... You'll understand. The album opens up with a quick little strumming that could open an indie rock record. But it doesn't. What it does do though is show that this band is all over the place and write excellent songs that make their way through some sort of musical spectrum while staying tight and uncliched. They also use a lot of melody without sounding boring which is super because if I hear one more 1-4-5 progression, I'll shoot somebody. Like any good opening track, The Devil's Dick Disaster shows what this band can do.

Throughout this album, TNTLLU pop in an out of discordant riffs and timings into somethign that makes a little more sense without the listener cringing at the odd timing gaps. They slide in and out of acoustic passages and grind spots and then shredfests. It's great. They also have a strong sense of the fact that one does not have to have a clear verse or chorus or any repeated part at all. They are there but few and far between. Each song feels like a true composition rather than a predictable piecing together of all too similar sections.

Lyrically they are pretty solid but they don't take anything too seriously. Because you can't really understand the lyrics everyou'd have to read them and trust me when I say they sure as hell aren't boring, they just aren't conventional (detect a theme?). The use of two vocalists is also very cool. Listen to Like a Cat to hear this best. They use a lot of interplay which makes things interesting. I hope the new drummer is this good. The drummer left the band sometime in august or september of 2005 and apparently they have found a new one but man does this guy rock. He writes interesting parts and fits the music very well. He was an asset but I suppose if the new guy can do this, New Jersey just has a higher ratio of good drummers than central New York.

The guitars also use quite a bit of interplay and are quite good. They have some sections where they show off (solo in The Proud Parent's COnvention Held in the ER, most of Clarissa Explain Cuntainment). My favorite spot is probably from about 30 seconds in to Clarissa Explains Cuntainment to around 1:15. It is just cool. Texas Dolly also has some cool spots. Hell they all have cool spots. The guitars are very noticeable and good. The bass is usually not that prominent and I have trouble hearing bass anyway but if the rest of the band is any indication of his skill, he is quite good.






Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Number Twelve Looks Like You - 2008 Here At The End Of All Things


Band : The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Album : Here At The End Of All Things
Release Year : 2008
Genre : Mathcore | Progressive | Experimental

Tracklist : 
CD :
1. Jay Walking Backwards
2. Don't Get Blood On My Prada Shoes
3. The Weekly Wars
4. Texas Dolly
5. The Proud Parents Convention Held In The ER
6. Grandfather
7. Texas Dolly (J. Kale Gilgore Tribute)
8. Weekly Wars (Endor Remix)
9. Imagine Nation Express (Jesse Cannon Remix)

DVD (Audio) :
1. Jay Walking Backwards
2. Don't Get Blood On My Prada Shoes
3. The Weekly Wars
4. Texas Dolly
5. The Proud Parents Convention Held In The ER
6. Grandfather

The Number Twelve's highly unnoticed "Here At The End Of All Things" exhibits the ferocity of one of the most (seemingly) disorganized, unpredictable, and fun bands in metalcore (mathcore? grindcore?). Within the recordings, we find the six-piece doing what they do best (no, not wanking), putting on one hell of a live performance.

Not much can be said about the music inside that hasn't been said by other reviewers. What is really noticeable though is the accuracy of the playing that is well-known as technical skull***ery. It really would have been better had the recording been cleaner though, as the sound can be pretty fuzzy at times. What is heard very well though is the relentless dual vocals of Jesse Korman and Justin Pedrick who both make the album worth listening to. Utilizing their spoken/crooning/whatever vocal approach, the two offer a performance that will be very pleasing to any Number Twelve fanboy.

Featuring not only songs taken from a live performance recorded in their home state of New Jersey, there are also a couple remixes included. The remix of "Imagine Nation Express" isn't necessarily much of a remix, but a remastering and lengthening of the song with the use of added effects. "The Weekly Wars (Endor Remix)" can go both ways with the listener. Changing the order of the formula of the song is the main thing here, and honestly it's passable. The live recorded tracks easily overshadow the remixes since the remixes hold very little relevance.

Here At The End of All Things is what every Number Twelve fanboy needs to acquire, but is not something that a casual listener should bother downloading. The live tracks can give the listener a taste of what a Number Twelve show was like before their breakup and the remixes are possibly the least important things they have ever released.