Found Again // The Dream The Chase

I’m always really excited for EPs from smaller local bands, especially when they’ve put up a few tracks on MySpace which sound very promising. The Dream The Chase are a band from Brisbane, Australia and their debut EP Found Again is friggin’ epic! It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up an EP where I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every song on it.

The opening track “Chosen” is a very solid opener, it immediately launches in and introduces you to the band’s sound. I can’t help but notice in particular sections how each separate instrumental line is able to blend together so well as a whole, despite all playing different melodies/rhythms.

“Who Is Alone” and “When You Sleep” are both relatively fast songs, but the control of the players’ musicianship offers you moments where the texture just suddenly drops to a much thinner layer, which offers a fitting “slow moment” but also shows that they’re a band who know how to play more than just heavy and fast all the time. Plus, I love the fast ending of “Who Is Alone”.

“Faithless” and “Distance” offer something different by slowing down the verses, and the texture is a little thinner, but the drummer’s constant snare roll and the lead guitarist’s building melodic line stops it from being completely empty and keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for when the crunching chords will come in.

“Found Again” is a solid closer, and I love that it’s a little longer and a little slower and chilled in sections. The singer’s soaring vocals in the chorus is fitting for an epic end track. I’m a sucker for gang vocals and the ones on this track give me chills.

I know little about drums, but I think what I realised from this EP is that they’re really important, especially in the post-hardcore/hardcore genre. The drummer pretty much controls the texture of every song. He plays well at both a thick texture and at a thin one. I don’t think he’s necessarily playing anything difficult, he just plays really well. I enjoy the little interludes where he changes the rhythm up and plays a different pattern/on the offbeat, but still maintaining the rhythm of the song. He’s the standout musician on this EP for me. And I love the timbre of the screams. Sometimes you get growlers who just have the worst timbre and it’s awful to listen to, but this dude’s great. The attention to detail is also something that helps join verse to chorus and song to song. This is mostly carried by the lead guitarist, whose simple melodic lines help the transition between each section to be very smooth. As for the lyrics, I think they’re really well written so that people can listen to them and connect with them. The singer portrays the emotion of the lyrics really well too.

What this band does best, in my opinion, is texture. I think it’s the combination of knowing where to put a breakdown or a scream, and what to put in these sections. Where the texture is thick and full, there is just so much happening, you pick up something new every time. I’ll get mesmerised by just the crash one time and the bass line the next time. Where the texture is thinner, the rhythm section is always firmly accompanying whatever is happening, whether it’s a single guitar line or a bass line.

My only criticism of this EP is that I want more of the bass player. Bass is prominent on the first and last track, but other than that, nothing really stands out or interesting is happening. Bass just seems to sit back and support the guitars and drums in the rhythm section, which it’s meant to do, but I want more of you bass player!

The artwork of the EP is interesting. I really like the photo opposite tracks 5 and 6 (I can’t find a photo of it, so I guess you’ll just have to get the EP to know what I’m talking about). The lack of punctuation in the lyrics also confuses the hell out of me when I’m reading the lyrics and not listening to the song.

Overall, this is a great EP and it’s full of enough breakdowns, but also originality, to keep this band from being filed under “just another generic post-hardcore/whatever you-genre-nerds-wanna-call-it” band. It’s the kind of EP that will get you moshing to it and get your blood pumping. I know I’ve found a great disc when I almost crash my car because my friends and I are too busy thrashing around to notice what’s happening on the roads.

Best Track: All of them. Buy the whole EP. Listen to every track. Don’t you dare skip any. But really, if I had to choose…“Found Again”… it just wins out over the others. Why? GANG VOCALS!