Twelve Tribes - Midwest Pandemic
It sometimes seems as though Ferret Music only has one band on its roster and it keeps them chained in the studio churning out album after album of hardcore while hiring new sets of tight T-shirts, caps and scruffy facial hair to wear in the promo photographs and when out on tour with It Dies Today and 36 Crazyfists. It's good for a label to have a strong identity, but Ferret have a few too many interchangeable groups on their books in an already oversaturated scene.
Dayton, Ohio's Twelve Tribes certainly meet all of the Ferret Music criteria on this, their sophomore release for the label. Mid-paced hardcore without the heavy At The Gates fixation displayed by many of their contemporaries? Check. An organic, somewhat scratchy production? Check. The occasional cleanly-sung chorus? Check. Subdued, washed-out colours on the album cover? Check. One or more band members wearing a cap in the CD booklet photo? Check. Obtuse, clever-clever song titles? Check. Vocalist shouting with vein-popping passion yet still managing to sound characterless and monotone? Unfortunately, check.
Still, for all that Twelve Tribes sound like a band formed around an ultra-canonical reading of the 21st century hardcore rulebook, they're far from bad at what they do. Even your granddad has heard the songs on "Midwest Pandemic" before, but that's not necessarily a bar to you enjoying them all over again. In particular, the dark edge to Twelve Tribes' sound has a slightly more authentic flavour than in most groups of their ilk, something accentuated by the frequently moody and atmospheric instrumental passages. If you remain unconvinced by the noughties American hardcore invasion, however, or you've already had your fill of the genre, then there's little on offer here to tempt you to part with your cash.
The band's promo bio states that they're going to be touring hard for the next two years, which is admirable, and that they plan to make the UK and the rest of Europe 'their second home' during this time. I don't doubt that this strategy will make them lots of new friends on these shores, and Twelve Tribes deserve the success: they're clearly hard working, and have a strong belief and passion for the music that they create. However, to these ears they sound just a bit too close to that hypothetical Ferret Music band pounding out generic hardcore album after generic hardcore album for the label to release.