by Ryan Haughey
Toronto band Greys adds the electro post-punk Age Hasn’t Spoiled You to their discography. This blend of instrumental slamming and electronic fuzz wavers through dark melodies and jam tracks.
The drums bang with the intensity and rhythm that is sometimes reminiscent of classic hip-hop records. Vocals drone through a sarcastic critique of social stress in “Constant Pose.” The song opens up with feedback laced bass tones and clean guitars and a screeching lead solo.
The first half of the record is fast paced with classic punk-rock motifs. “Kill Appeal” diverges from these motifs with a clipping electronic drum beat, and builds up energy with sparse, reverberated guitar riffs, culminating in a chaotic breakdown of random noodling on saxophones, trumpets, and drums.
The second half of the record showcases the use of some acoustic guitar mixed with the echoing buzz of the rest of the band on “Western Guilt.” Simple progressions allow Greys to find the sweet spot and stab the hell out of it with piercing intensity. “Aphantasia” transforms from breakneck punk to a dark slow jam and flows right back into a high energy tune.
On the slower sections of the album, Greys fills in all the spaces with reverberated feedback, synth tones, and delay effects. Age Hasn’t Spoiled You is constantly finding new tones to bring aboard on the endeavor it undertakes. Simple but never plain, Greys outperform themselves all the way throughout the album.