American Standards, tear down this wall, or all of these walls that are genre specific. On April 28th, the Phoenix, Arizona hardcore band American Standards released “Anti-Melody” via the DIY format!
DIY personifies what punk and hardcore music should be about, and that is setting your own agendas and doing things unconventionally without relying on others. American Standards are carving out their own niche in the hardcore scene with “Anti-Melody”.
American Standards has influences of At The Drive In, which should make old-school post-hardcore fans elated. You hear this influence of experimentation with tempo changes, guitar tones, and story-telling guttaral screams such as the track “Bartenders Without Wings”. I can definitely appreciate the chugging bass line, along with the change of pace. They go through an experimentation of hardcore punk in tracks such as “Cancer Eater” and “Writer’s Block Party”. “Cancer Eater” talks about the seemingly lack of relationship that he had with his father and how his death left a bitter taste in his mouth. The imagery is rather haunting in this particular track. American Standards pay homage to Norma Jean in the sudden tempo changes and math-core elements in “Carpe Diem, Tomorrow”, which is done with a tasty guitar solo in the instrumental break, which is a breath of fresh air in the hardcore music scene.
Thematically and lyrically, American Standards touch upon various subjects that are universally relatable, such as broken relationships, taking no prisoners, and overcoming challenges in life no matter how difficult the circumstances may be. Where American Standards land on the boat whereas some hardcore bands miss the boat is that they are not afraid to change up tempos, experiment with different vocal stylings, and even offering distorted sounds such as in the song “Chicago Overcoat”, which almost offers a post-grunge meets hardcore feel to it.
American Standards have rewrote the book on the hardcore scene. Their goal is to make music and holding up the integrity of being an artist, as opposed to the formula-based breakdowns and rhythms in the hardcore music scene. They wrote up a new blueprint. 4 star out of 5 stars overall! Check out the track listing below:
“Anti-Melody” by American Standards
- “Writer’s Block Party”
- “Carpe Diem, Tomorrow”
- “Church Burner”
- “Bartenders Without Wings”
- “Danger Music #9”
- “Cancer Eater”
- “Broken Culture”
- “Chicago Overcoat”
Check out the music video to “Carpe, Diem Tomorrow” below!
