CD: Songs To Scream At The Sun Artist: Have Heart Label: Bridge Nine Records Rating: 4/5 Best Song: No Roses, No Skies Reviewer: Keith Rosson

So I went through a period where I had just had it up to here with reviewing records in general and hardcore specifically. Everything sounded the same and none of it sounded very good. Sometimes you need to take a break and just listen to stuff without automatically trying to classify it or denote who it sounds similar to. So I took a break.

As a result, Have Heart definitely grew on me over the past while; I’m goddamn glad I took that break, because I’ve been listening to Songs To Scream At The Sun with some frequency and have come to the conclusion that this stuff is downright excellent. With lyrics as topical as alcoholic parents, oppressive relationships and the taxing nature of touring – coupled with buckets of plain old existential angst – and God City Studio’s relentless production, the howls and crashes these dudes are laying down are pretty fucking awesome. Mean and smart, full of soaring guitar lines and breakdowns that never become mockeries of themselves, this is a band that initially didn’t have me expecting much and then surprised me repeatedly throughout these ten songs and my repeated listens.

They’re similar to bands like Modern Life Is War and Killing The Dream – in that they’re smart and they have the ability to make even hopefulness sound wonderfully bleak as fuck – while never going for quite the same wall of noise relentless that those bands often shoot for. There’s a restraint to songs like “No Roses, No Skies” and the layered vocals of “The Same Sun” that allows the songs to breathe – if anything, it makes the material more punishing because the listener’s allowed to catch their breath.

Songs To Scream At The Sun is one of those records that would be easy to pass off as archetypal for the genre – I mean, this is a hardcore record – but it also does that rare thing that so few bands can manage to pull off: it comes at you with heart and the sense of the forlorn, while simultaneously sounding just bad-ass, you know?

I’m glad I took that break.