Album Review: Zeahorse - Let's Not (And Say We Did)
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
I think it’s reasonable to say that Let’s Not (And Say We Did) will not be the most Metal album you’ll hear in 2021. For here you’ll find little in the way of searing guitars, double-bass kicks or overly amplified distortion just about ready to strip paint off the walls – you know, all of those things that we love so much.
But, then again, there’s nothing in Zeahorse’s backstory that would lead one to believe their first album in four years would be anything other than a collection of heavy-indie noise with a punked-up attitude.
The Aussie-quartet do not shy away from the aggressive, although their take is more measured, more of a smiling assassin, hidden in plain sight among the clean guitar and hook-laden bass-lines.
Let’s Not (And Say We Did) is an album that is a bit like the odd bloke at the corner of the bar, respectable-looking and mild-mannered, but once provoked, turns nasty in an unnerving manner. A snotty punk vibe, akin to Slaves or Mr Carter’s Rattlesnakes, dominates Panic Laps, The Ladder and One of Everything, lending the tracks the kind of danceable attitude liable to see tents full of revellers bopping the afternoon away at a summer festival.
The overarching atmosphere of Let’s Not (And Say We Did) is a heavy-indie sound but on occasions Zeahorse demonstrate their dark side and allow a sludgy dirge to ooze through. Cut the Slack and Don’t Laugh deliver thick slabs of heavy guitar played over a rhythm section bouncier than Zebedee and more infectious than this new strain of the ‘rona.
When distortion does rear its head, it does so on the widescreen 20 Nothing, amid crashing instrumentation and a driving intensity.
As mentioned above, Let’s Not (And Say We Did) will not be the heaviest album you’ll hear this year, but it is undoubtedly a very fine record by a band who know how to use musical weight to their advantage. The Noise might not be quite at the ungodly level of Austin or Spencer but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run for cover when Zeahorse plug in.
