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Band/Musician: CONTRIVED Album: blank, blank, blank Label: Hand Drawn Dracula By Eric Rosenhek To paraphrase a line from an old deodorant commercial, CONTRIVED’s blank, blank, blank is strong enough for a hard-rock fan, but made for sensitive ears. This is the third LP – and first since 2005 – from the Halifax/Montreal group, which is comprised of members from Wintersleep and Holy Fuck. It has a typical aggressive and hard sound, but doesn’t get to a point where one can’t distinguish the album from white noise. There are eight tracks on blank, blank, blank, all of which have the same style – a grungy, distorted presentation with a good pace. Even though each song is loud and pushes stereo speakers to their limit, the message – derived from the lyrics – is clear and not shoddy. This album gives the impression that CONTRIVED didn’t want to simply pump out a rapid collection of head-banging tunes. Instead, the band took their time and chose not to rush anything. This notion is supported by the runtimes for all the songs, with the majority of tracks lasting over four minutes. Yes, there is distortion and aggression, but it shares equal space with the lyrics and it’s never the primary focus, as opposed to other hard-rock albums. With strong tracks such as “Angels Rioting Against the Nothing,” “Celebrate” and “The War to Settle the Score” (possibly a reference to a wrestling event put on by the WWE in the mid-80’s), blank, blank, blank will feel like you’re listening to a soft hybrid of the Headstones and Soundgarden, with a small dose of Radiohead. However, don’t expect to hear tracks from this album on commercial radio (with the possible exception of 102.1 the Edge). This is strictly an indie recording and will likely be heard on stations such as CBC Radio 3. For more information on CONTRIVED, please visit www.contrived.ca. |