Extra Life
Secular Works
Planaria Records

Extra Life’s newest release Secular Works sounds like a whale humping a dead manatee in an underwater church – it’s that specific sound that makes the record fail. It lacks any resemblance to rhythm. It lacks melody, generally not staying in any specific key. It lacks harmony – just one singer chanting his butt off. And it lacks dynamics – all the songs are about the same volume – annoying. Vocalist Charlie Looker sounds like a possessed Gothic church cantor. With his haunting chant-like singing and the rhythm-less rhythm-section, this album resembles being subjected to church as a kid. You are lost in the mass of weird possessed people, wondering what they could be talking about, wanting to be somewhere else, but unable. It doesn’t help that the average song length of the seven tracks is more than five minutes. After listening to the band, which has guitar, drums, bass, violin, keyboard, saxophone, and vocals, I wanted to listen to something more grounded. I didn’t understand what the album was trying to do – perhaps a combination of me not being in the mood, and them being completely shit. On the bright side, it’s their debut on Planaria, so there’s room to improve. – Jonathan Mendick, Mannerist Zine

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Category: music