Ah yes, Texas hardcore. In spite of the recent loss of many of its key bands, the various scenes within Texas continue to strike back with more young and promising hardcore bands. Decades, from the greater Dallas region, is amongst this new crop of bands bringing new life.
Numbered is the band's debut effort, a six-song EP. "Caravel / Mediastinum" starts things off with three minutes of mid-tempo riffing and drum work that is occasionally accented with the occasional meandering guitar melody. It's a building piece that shows definitely influence from the Boston rock-meets-hardcore sound of the first half of this decade.
"Late Night, No. 708" picks things up with a much faster approach, think This is Hell or The Backup Plan. The faster pace suits the tone of scratchy, coarse vocals a bit more than the previous track. "Looking Out / Looking In" follows and continues with the faster pace, but taking a bit more of a melodic take - think the more poppy material from Comeback Kid.
Decades continues to move back and forth between the faster hardcore tunes and the most mid-tempo cuts. The fact that they're mixed up helps keep the songs from sounding as one, which is good. Though I do prefer the faster-paced songs to the slower-moving ones.
Lyrically, the subject matter tends to focus on self-analysis of life choices - mistakes made, friendships/love lost, placement in society, and the choice to be drug free, among others. The personal nature and substance of the lyrics is much better than standard fair scene politics lyrics and definitely adds to the songs.
Numbered is a solid debut from this young Texas outfit. They've got the knack of writing some catchy hardcore. Occasionally the songs can become a tad predictable, but for the most part the album is fresh and fun.
