Description
ROME ASLEEP might be German punk’s best-kept secret. What you might call thinking person’s post-hardcore, theirs is a jittery aggressiveness with roots in 90’s California punk (particularly the San Diego variety charted by groups like PITCHFORK and SWING KIDS) coupled with a progressive structuring which brings to mind the best aspects of AT THE DRIVE-IN.
listen to the record:
Infused with sardonic wit and a self-deprecating awareness of just how fickle “the kids” really are, their debut 3-song EP captures the band’s live intensity and wastes no time in getting to the point. A hurricane of elastic rhythms and flailing vocals, “Disco Abortion” references groups like JR EWING and the BLOOD BROTHERS with thoroughly pummeling results; “We Are Digit”, meanwhile, has its tongue place firmly in its cheek, indicting the “dance-punk” phenomenon by out-Rapturing THE RAPTURE. The standout track, “Youth Grinder”, sarcastically suggests the endemic pointlessness of western civilization as evident to someone on the threshold of the rest of their life: “While adulthood stole a lot of our curiosity / I still wonder what my next drink will be”. ROME ASLEEP provide a glimmer of hope in a world full of FALL OUT BOYs, not to mention being an utterly convincing and inspiring live band. I’m really looking forward to a full-length LP.
