NEVER LOOKING BACK “Fragile Hearts”
Tacoma, Washington’s NEVER LOOKING BACK play a hearty amalgamation of powerful, mid-paced, Northwest hardcore not unlike scene forebearers STRAIN, and the recently defunct BLUE MONDAY. Not quite as old-school as CHAMPION or as melodic as SHOOK ONES, NEVER LOOKING BACK accentuate their plodding tunes with belligerent screaming and earth-tearing breakdowns. Fragile Hearts is fierce, but it comes up a little short in breaking free from the pack. Lead singer Jeremy Bushnell has a monolithic growl at his disposal, but one would be hard-pressed to select his frothing style from thousands of other hardcore shouters. However, NEVER LOOKING BACK impress with tight-knit songwriting and a deliberate, pow-pow-pow rhythm section. These guys (and gal) really grind out their guitar chuggs and toss double-bass javelins with laser precision. Similar to the richness of MODERN LIFE IS WAR, you can almost feel the gears and levers clicking along as this nine song full-length plays out. Despite a couple of lyrical and thematic cliches here and there (notably another/ song that includes yelling the line “It’s All I Have!!!” — zzzzz…), NEVER LOOKING BACK undoubtedly turn in a solid effort, and hopefully it won’t be their last.
Detonate Records
